• Category Archives namibia
  • Cape Fur Seals

     

    We made it back to the coast where there were lots of these guys laying around. image

    The smell was a wall that you slammed into as soon as we stepped off the truck.

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    Most of these are juveniles or females.

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    And some pups that were only a few months old.

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    Even they found it a bit cold out and needed to cuddle.

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    Many were sleeping, as it is a hard life being a fur seal.

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    Having to spend most of the daylight being looked at by these strange creatures.

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    We were a bit early, but some bit males were already claiming areas of the beach as theirs.

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    Most of the smaller sea lions didn’t really care what the males were doing.

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    The main goal was to stay out of the way.

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    Always trying to find good napping spots after a swim.

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    Sometimes some felt crowded and would be vocal about it.

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    The young ones were still nursing and would wander around looking for their moms.

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    Although this is hard work and sometimes requires additional naps.

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    It isn’t hard to notice the big males. They are way bigger than any other individual around.

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    These ones may have gotten in too early and will have to work hard to keep their harems.

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  • Etosha Waterhole at Night

    The waterhole in Etosha is really busy at night. Unfortunately a bit dark for pictures, but really cool to watch. This is a male lion.

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    This is the roar he made before coming to the waterhole. It sounds very uncatlike.

    This is a mom and baby rhinoceros. But not the littlest babiest one. He came later.

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    This one went right into the water for a bath.

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    When they came out you could see the wet line really well in the dark.

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    Another rhinoceros came by after their bath. Mom was not very happy with him and they wrestled with their horns for a bit.

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    Then he turned his back, and Mom ran at him and stabbed him in the bum.

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    They weren’t the only ones fighting at the waterhole that night. Two groups of elephants also came down at the same time and they got into a tussle.

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    They locked trunks and locked tusks and pushed each other around. They were very quiet. Elephants trumpet when they are scared of other things (like our car) but apparently not when they are fighting with each other.

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    And then when one let go the other one pushed his head with his tusks.

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    After they left another mother and baby rhino came along. This was the littlest ittiest bittiest one. He doesn’t even have a full horn yet.image

    Look how small he is next to Mom.

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  • Night at Spitzkoppe

    At Spitzkoppe there are no predators so we got to sleep out under the stars.

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    As the sun set in the west.

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    The supermoon rose in the east.

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    So it was not a very dark night when we went to bed.

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    But then after midnight the moon began to go reddish.

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    And it got redder and darker until it was in a full eclipse.

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    And then you could see all of the stars. And tons of shooting stars.

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    But we were lazy and it was cold so we didn’t get up to find the tripod. So that’s all the pictures you get.

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  • Spitzkoppe Animals

    This is a female namib rock agama.

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    And here is the male chasing her.

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    He looks very different from her.

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    The rocks at Spitzkoppe had a lot of rock hyraxes.

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    You could spot their pee rocks from very far away.

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    They are pretty cute.

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    They like to hide in the shade in the cracks.

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    And poke their heads out to keep an eye on you.

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  • Spitzkoppe

    Spitkoppe is a bunch of rocks sticking out of a flat desert.

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    It has some weird aloe trees but not much other vegetation.

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    This is the actual Spitzkoppe mountain, in case you speak German and are wondering.

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    There are a lot of rocks.

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    And they make pretty shapes.

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    This one kind of almost looks like a hippo. But not a happy hippo.

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    This is Kerri trying to hold up the arch. She doesn’t understand that jumping to hold something up is not very effective.

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    Here is Matt showing her how to properly hold up a rock.

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    It kind of looks like Uluru in some places.

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    But it is rough granite, not sandstone.

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    And it has more small bouldery bits.

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    It made Matt feel very adventurous.

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