The Living Desert Tour: meet the creatures of the Namib

Meet the unique creatures of the Namib Desert on this educational tour. Our aim is to get people to see the dunes with a different eye and realise they’re not just a pile of sand, they’re home to incredible wildlife. From Swakopmund, we’ll take you in a 4×4 to the coastal dune belt just outside of town. This area is part of a protected national park; we’re one of just four tour operators lucky enough to operate in the area.

During the drive, your guide will be looking for tracks and signs in the dunes; we call it reading the daily newspaper. We’re looking for scorpions, spiders and the group we informally call the little five: the palmato gecko, sand-diving lizard, fog-basking tok-tokkie beetle, sidewinder snake and chameleon. These secretive animals are tough to spot without the help of an experienced local guide.

When we do spot something, we’ll jump out of the 4×4 to investigate. I really enjoy watching people’s reactions when we find a lizard or a snake – there are lots of oohs and ahhs and plenty of great photo opportunities. We’ll tell you all about the special adaptations each creature we meet has to survive in this inhospitable environment.

Everyone’s favourite animal is the cute, bizarre chameleon. You never know what you’re going to encounter in the desert though. Once, I had a strange sighting of a brown hyena carrying a seal deep into the dunes – the sheer strength that took was impressive. We love to end the trip with some exciting big dune driving in our custom-built safari vehicles, it’s like a rollercoaster ride.