By Roxanne Reid
He was a whirlwind of energy, sand flying as he dug in search of creatures that had left tiny hints of their presence, wiggling his bare feet into the sand where it was cooler than the hot surface. This was Tommy Collard leading us into the dunes of the Dorob National Park outside Swakopmund, Namibia, proving that the dunes are more alive than you think.
He was a whirlwind of energy, sand flying as he dug in search of creatures that had left tiny hints of their presence, wiggling his bare feet into the sand where it was cooler than the hot surface. This was Tommy Collard leading us into the dunes of the Dorob National Park outside Swakopmund, Namibia, proving that the dunes are more alive than you think.
The first stop on our Living Desert Tour with Tommy was in the Swakop river bed to let down the tyres of the 4x4 from 2.5 bars to 0.8. That’s when we knew some serious sand driving lay ahead. ‘It’s like snow shoes,’ he explained. ‘Low pressure increases the area in contact with the sand so you don’t sink in as easily.’
By the time the tour spat us out of the dunes within sight of the waves of the Atlantic Ocean five hours later, we’d had a morning of fun and excitement. We’d also got an insight into the ingenuity of the desert-adapted creatures that make their homes in this harsh environment.
By the time the tour spat us out of the dunes within sight of the waves of the Atlantic Ocean five hours later, we’d had a morning of fun and excitement. We’d also got an insight into the ingenuity of the desert-adapted creatures that make their homes in this harsh environment.
FitzSimons burrowing skink 'swims' through the sand
‘The Namib is the oldest desert in the world,’ he said. ‘And what makes a desert? Lack of water. Here we get just 3-15mm of rain in a year.’ Fortunately, for two-thirds of the year, the dunes are blanketed in fog that comes off the Atlantic and everything either directly or indirectly benefits from the moisture it brings.
Take, for instance, the Tenebrionid beetles. ‘They stand at the top of the dune, arse in the air,’ said Tommy. ‘Their wings are fused together, their back waxy and the water from the fog condenses and runs down their back and into their mouth.’ They can drink 40% of their body weight in water in a single morning. That’s like a full-grown man drinking 16 two-litre bottles of water, so Tommy calls them ‘mobile water bottles’. He also calls them ‘chameleon hamburgers’ because when a chameleon eats one it gets the benefit of both food and water.
Take, for instance, the Tenebrionid beetles. ‘They stand at the top of the dune, arse in the air,’ said Tommy. ‘Their wings are fused together, their back waxy and the water from the fog condenses and runs down their back and into their mouth.’ They can drink 40% of their body weight in water in a single morning. That’s like a full-grown man drinking 16 two-litre bottles of water, so Tommy calls them ‘mobile water bottles’. He also calls them ‘chameleon hamburgers’ because when a chameleon eats one it gets the benefit of both food and water.
Beetles are 'mobile water bottles'
Desert and dunes
The Namib includes three types of desert – mountains, dunes and gravel plains. The gravel plains contain gypsum so vehicle tracks make scars that can last for 50 to 100 years. ‘This is an ecological Red Zone, which means it’s supersensitive, especially the gravel plains,’ he said.
When quad biking first started here they used to go anywhere, which annoyed Tommy no end. Not one to complain without taking action, he took the guides on a tour of the dunes to show them all the creatures that live there and explain about the damage quad bikes can cause. Now the tours stick to fixed routes and don’t make new tracks. ‘If you drive over a small chameleon or gecko it will have a case of acute depression,’ he joked, but his message was a serious one.
The Namib includes three types of desert – mountains, dunes and gravel plains. The gravel plains contain gypsum so vehicle tracks make scars that can last for 50 to 100 years. ‘This is an ecological Red Zone, which means it’s supersensitive, especially the gravel plains,’ he said.
When quad biking first started here they used to go anywhere, which annoyed Tommy no end. Not one to complain without taking action, he took the guides on a tour of the dunes to show them all the creatures that live there and explain about the damage quad bikes can cause. Now the tours stick to fixed routes and don’t make new tracks. ‘If you drive over a small chameleon or gecko it will have a case of acute depression,’ he joked, but his message was a serious one.
Stick to the rules to keep the desert creatures safe
‘Although private individuals aren’t allowed here, on the weekends you sometimes get people coming to tear up the dunes in their 4x4s for sport,’ he said. ‘There are primitive lichens that like the gypsum plains, and if you drive over them, some will take 40 years to regenerate.’
Also, chameleons bury their eggs and if you drive over that spot you compress the ground so the youngsters won’t be able to dig themselves out and they’ll die. ‘The fine for making new tracks is much too low so we’re working on getting that increased significantly,’ he said.
Also, chameleons bury their eggs and if you drive over that spot you compress the ground so the youngsters won’t be able to dig themselves out and they’ll die. ‘The fine for making new tracks is much too low so we’re working on getting that increased significantly,’ he said.
Every dune has two sides – a gradient of 11-14 degrees facing the sea and the slip-face which is at 32-34 degrees. The slip-face usually faces away from the sea and is always warmer. This is where you find most of the animals, as well as detritus made up of dead plant material, grass seeds and other organic matter. Tommy called this ‘beetle muesli’ because beetles eat it and can turn it into energy.
Most protein coagulates at 55ºC and here surface temperatures can reach 75ºC, so desert creatures have had to adapt to survive. Just 14mm below the surface the sand is usually 14ºC cooler, so when there’s no shade from plants or stones many of the desert creatures burrow into the sand.
In all his years of exploring, it would appear that Tommy has also adapted to the desert. He brought along an instrument to measure the surface temperature of the sand, to show us the difference between the two sides of the dune. Even in winter, by 10am the slip-face was 53ºC and shortly after noon he clocked it at 63ºC. Still barefoot, he just burrowed down with his feet to the cooler sand.
Most protein coagulates at 55ºC and here surface temperatures can reach 75ºC, so desert creatures have had to adapt to survive. Just 14mm below the surface the sand is usually 14ºC cooler, so when there’s no shade from plants or stones many of the desert creatures burrow into the sand.
In all his years of exploring, it would appear that Tommy has also adapted to the desert. He brought along an instrument to measure the surface temperature of the sand, to show us the difference between the two sides of the dune. Even in winter, by 10am the slip-face was 53ºC and shortly after noon he clocked it at 63ºC. Still barefoot, he just burrowed down with his feet to the cooler sand.
A young horned adder
Adapting to harsh conditions
There are other adaptations to this hot surface temperature too. To prevent its feet from burning the shovel-snouted lizard will do a thermal dance, lifting one front leg and the opposite hind leg in rotation. It has two bladders, one for urine and another for water. This feisty little guy will bite and hang on to anything in range, so Tommy had fun with the kids in our party, attaching one to their ears or fingers for a few moments before setting it free unharmed.
There are other adaptations to this hot surface temperature too. To prevent its feet from burning the shovel-snouted lizard will do a thermal dance, lifting one front leg and the opposite hind leg in rotation. It has two bladders, one for urine and another for water. This feisty little guy will bite and hang on to anything in range, so Tommy had fun with the kids in our party, attaching one to their ears or fingers for a few moments before setting it free unharmed.
Shovel-snouted llizard
Peringuey’s adder (sidewinder) uses a side-winding motion that sees only half its body touching the sand at any time as it travels across the hot sand. It will do a belly dance to bury itself in the sand with only its eyes showing to scan for prey. The tip of its tail is black and its uses it to lure a lizard into coming closer, thinking it’s a seed. Then the snake catches and swallows a shovel-snouted lizard to get the benefit of the water in its second bladder, which can carry about 12% of the lizard’s body weight in water.
Peringuey's adder, or sidewinder
The Namaqua chameleon has also learnt to deal with the heat, turning white to reflect the heat and flattening its body to expose as little as possible to the sun. It will climb into a small bush or stone to get away from the heat of the sand. Even a few centimetres makes a difference.
Namaqua chameleon
Noting a small disturbance in the sand, Tommy hopped out and found a tiny palmato gecko, which his kids rather sweetly used to call a tomato gecko. It has webbed feet that give it excellent traction in soft sand and serve as shovels for digging.
Palmato gecko
You may think there’s nothing here but a few plants, but Tommy’s mission is to show how ‘every plant is a city’ with lots of creatures living on or in it. For instance, the succulent dollar bush grows only in the fog belt from the sea to about 90km inland. It provides protection for spiders to lay their eggs and shade for small creatures. Most importantly it provides moisture for animals that eat it, like gerbil, hare, ostrich, jackal, hyena, springbok and gemsbok.
Dollar bush with spider eggs
The sand sea
By mid morning the temperature in the dunes had soared till I could almost hear my skin roasting as moisture evaporated. I was trying to stay close to the vehicle for its small patch of shade, but Tommy was still striding up and down barefoot, dropping to his knees and digging here, poking around gently in a small bush there, determined to find as many of his desert friends as possible to show us. His energy in the heat was undiminished, his knowledge mesmerising.
There was lots of excellent driving too, full speed up steep dunes, cutting the throttle just as we got to the top so we didn’t fly over and do any somersaults. At one point we got stuck at an angle in the deep soft sand and it felt like we were going to topple, but within a minute Tommy had driven us out again and over the last dune to where we could see the sea.
By mid morning the temperature in the dunes had soared till I could almost hear my skin roasting as moisture evaporated. I was trying to stay close to the vehicle for its small patch of shade, but Tommy was still striding up and down barefoot, dropping to his knees and digging here, poking around gently in a small bush there, determined to find as many of his desert friends as possible to show us. His energy in the heat was undiminished, his knowledge mesmerising.
There was lots of excellent driving too, full speed up steep dunes, cutting the throttle just as we got to the top so we didn’t fly over and do any somersaults. At one point we got stuck at an angle in the deep soft sand and it felt like we were going to topple, but within a minute Tommy had driven us out again and over the last dune to where we could see the sea.
View out the back window as we reached the sea
Suddenly it was much cooler thanks to the sea breeze. Out came Tommy’s temperature gauge to measure by just how much: the surface of the side of the dune facing the sea was 39ºC, the slip-face on the other side 55ºC – the difference between being merely hot and being roasted alive.
After a fun morning, the best was that we weren’t even dirty. ‘There’s no dust in the white and yellow sand of the dunes,’ said Tommy. ‘Kids can play here all day and then at night you just have to vacuum their ears and put them to bed.’
After a fun morning, the best was that we weren’t even dirty. ‘There’s no dust in the white and yellow sand of the dunes,’ said Tommy. ‘Kids can play here all day and then at night you just have to vacuum their ears and put them to bed.’
Note:
There are other companies offering tours of the dunes although Tommy’s was the first, started in 1997. The names of the various companies can be confusing, many incorporating the term ‘living desert’, so if you want the most knowledgeable guide who can rattle out fascinating facts about this environment like a high-speed machine gun, make sure you book with Tommy’s Living Desert Tours. I can promise you won’t be sorry.
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There are other companies offering tours of the dunes although Tommy’s was the first, started in 1997. The names of the various companies can be confusing, many incorporating the term ‘living desert’, so if you want the most knowledgeable guide who can rattle out fascinating facts about this environment like a high-speed machine gun, make sure you book with Tommy’s Living Desert Tours. I can promise you won’t be sorry.
Did you enjoy the article? Pin this image!
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Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
