Cycling the Coast-to-Coast
On the 5th and 6th September, 2011 my brother Ken, my son Andrew and I cycled the Coast-to-Coast across northern England, starting at Whitehaven on the west coast and ending at Tynemouth on the east coast....
Bird of the Week – Week 90 – Double-banded courser
In the drier areas of southern Africa, particularly in the semi-desert of the Kalahari spreading from Namibia into Botswana and central South Africa, the Double-banded courser is not an uncommon sight. Preferring open plains...
Bird of the Week – Week 89 – Black-collared Barbet
Whenever we leave Windhoek and travel north to the wetter part of Namibia, one of the sounds that is guaranteed to bring a smile to our faces, and a flood of memories to mind,...
A Southern Vine Snake Drops In
There are a number of tented lodges in Namibia that give guests the experience of camping, but on a more luxurious scale, with proper beds and usually a nice bathroom attached to the tented...
Bird of the Week – Week 88 – Chinspot batis
The beautiful little Chinspot batis is a fairly common bird, found throughout large parts of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. In the southern Africa region it is found in the wetter west and...
Bird of the Week – Week 87 – African openbill
The side view of the African openbill presents an unusual picture as its large bill appears badly constructed and doesn’t close in the fashion of other birds. There is a clear gap of approximately...
The Bird of the Week – Week 86 – Brubru
The Brubru is a fairly unobtrusive shrike that is quite difficult to see clearly as it hops about in the thickly leaved tree canopies that it favours. It is found through most of sub-Saharan...
Go ape about Chacma baboons
It’s sad when humans encroach on the habitat of wild animals and it’s not often that they can live side by side without conflict. Here, on the outskirts of Windhoek, we live beneath a...
Bird of the Week – Week 85 – Helmeted guineafowl
One of the most common of the larger, easily recognized birds often seen along the quieter roads in southern Africa is the Helmeted guineafowl. They gather in fairly large flocks and are somewhat reluctant...
Gamsberg – Namibia’s Table Mountain
We had a weekend with a difference recently when we decided to hike up Gamsberg, a Namibian mountain with an elevation of 2347 m above sea level. This flat-topped mountain closely resembles Table Mountain...
Bird of the Week – Week 84 – Familiar chat
The Afrikaans name for the Familiar chat is “Gewone spekvreter” which means “Common fat-eater“, a strange name that it apparently earned during the 1800’s when the Voortrekkers were migrating northwards from the Cape of...
Bird of the Week – Week 83 – Rock kestrel
Rock kestrel used to be considered a sub-species of the Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), but on the basis of recent genetic findings it is now considered to be a separate species. As the classification...
Camel Thorn Trees – Stalwarts of the Desert
I have to confess that I am known to hug beautiful trees. Not wanting to appear loopy, I usually first have a good look around to make sure that no-one is watching me! Namibia,...
Bird of the Week – Week 82 – Ruppell’s korhaan
The Ruppell’s korhaan, previously known as the Ruppell’s bustard, is near endemic to the southern African region where it is limited in distribution to the dry, sandy and gravel plains of the Namib Desert...
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