Spitskoppe
Out fairly early to find the Benguela’s Lark and Ruppel’s Korhaans nearby, and then back for breakfast before going on to Spitskoppe. We stopped a few times along the way to get the scenic shots of the koppe, as well as a brief stop at the gate where the guides were helpful in showing us the ……rat.Then we took a “short” walk around the Spitskoppe in a vain search of the Herero Chat – only came out with lots of scenic shots of rock formations and trees – should probably have taken our 50mm lens with instead of lugging the 300mm. Also no chat to be found at the camp site areas, so back to the gate we went for the assistance of one of their guides, Frans. (why men can’t ask for directions in the first place I’ll never know). Frans took us on a much shorter circular pattern around the chat’s home successfully which was indeed a relief to find. On a drive around the Pondocks there weren’t any gray’s larks, but I did manage to spot a family of meerkat.
Then a bit of a race to get to Swakopmund before nightfall. Just as well the sun sets rather late here. We found our hosts Mark and Sandra easily and Mark had prepared a splendid butternut soup for dinner. One of the great things about travelling around a different country is the opportunity to meet super people – and their pets of course, apart from the two friendly dogs here, there were also 3 penguins being rehabilitated in the backyard!