Namibia
Skeleton Coast National Park
I have been to Namibia twice. In May 2008 I spent 9 days there on a family holiday with my two small kids. In December 2017 I spent 4 days on the back of a work trip looking for bats, rats and a Black Mongoose.
Namibia is large and wonderfully sparsely populated. It is an easy country to travel round, with friendly people, wonderful scenery, good roads, little crime and prolific wildlife. Accommodation can be a bit more expensive than in South Africa, though there are some fabulous places to say.
The landscape – and adventure – reminds me very much of outback Australia.
Patrick and Katy hit the roof in 2008
Arnhem Cave
Striped Leaf-nosed Bats, Hipposideros vittatus
Arnhem Cave, Namibia’s largest cave system, is an hour from Windhoek Airport ands well worth a visit if you are interested in bats. In three hours here in 2017 I saw Striped and Sundevall’s Leaf-nosed Bats, Dent’s and Damara’s Horsehoe Bats, Natal Long-fingered Bats and Egyptian Slit-faced Bats.
I spent the night at the nearby Eningu Lodge and saw Steenbok, Warthog, Black-tailed Tree Rats, Bushveld Gerbil, Cape Serotine Bats and Southern Multimammate Mouse.
Erongo Mountains
Erongo is a beautiful lodge, nestled among boulders on a rocky plateau. I visited here in both 2008 and 2017.
Black Mongooses are seen every few days (but not by me). Rock Hyraxes are abundant, and it is a great place to get a good look at a Dassie Rat. Im 2008 I saw a Western (Smith’s) Rock Elephant Shrew, Damara Dik-Diks, Chacma Baboons, an African Wild Cat, Kudu, Cape Hares and Small Spotted Genet. In 2017 I caught several Namaqua Rock Mice and a Pygmy Rock Mouse.
Dassie-Rat, Petromus typicus
Etosha National Park
Lion, Panthera leo
I spent a couple of nights here in 2008. One of Africa’s finest national parks, helped by the fact you can drive yourself around.
Mammals included Springbok, Gemsbok, Burchell’s Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, Black-faced Impala, Steenbok, Red Hartebeest , Kudus, Southern Giraffe, Lions, African Wild Cat, Cape Fox, Yellow Mongoose, Black-backed Jackals, Spotted Hyenas, South African Ground Squirrels, Black Rhinos, White Rhinos and Elephants.
Black-backed Jackal, Canis mesomelas
Hobatere
Southern Giraffe, Giraffa giraffa
I spent a night here in 2008.
We saw Mountain Ground Squirrels, Klipspringer, Hartmann’s Mountain Zebras, Springboks, Gemsboks, Southern Giraffes, Black-backed Jackals, Cape Hare, an African Wildcat, Cape Fox, Jameson’s Rock Rabbit, Klipspringers and Striped Tree Squirrels.
Jameson’s Red Rock Rabbit, Pronolagus randensis
Omaruru
Bushveld Gerbil, Tatera leucogaster
I spent a night at Roidina Nature Farm in 2017. At some rocks nearby there were Dassie Rats, many Western Rock Elephant Shrews, Slender Mongoose, Rock Hyrax and Namaqua Rock Mice.
On the farm there were Bushveld Gerbils, Damara Dik Diks, Bush Duikers and Cape Hares.
The Skeleton Coast
Terrace Bay
Torra Bay Camp, just south of Terrace Bay
A night here in 2008 produced Gemsbok, Springbok and Black-backed Jackals
Cape Cross
South African Fur Seals, Arctocephalus pusillus, Cape Cross
I stopped in here in 2008 to see South African Fur Seals and look for Brown Hyenas. No hyenas but there were several Black-backed Jackals at the colony, and a Hairy-footed Gerbil on the beach at Jackkalsputz that night.
Spitzkoppe
Black Mongoose, Galerella nigrata
I spent a night at Spitzkoppe in 2017. A beautiful place to camp and the best place I know to see a Black Mongoose. Rock Dassies and South African Ground Squirrels are common and a brief spotlight produced Steenbok, Spring Hares and Cape Hares.
Tandala Ridge
Tandala Ridge, is a great spot to poke around and look for small mammals.During a day or two here in 2008 we saw Kudu, Warthogs, Damara Dik-Diks, Egyptian Slit Faced Bats, Stone Dormice (in the rooms), Namaqua Rock Mouse and Kaokeveld Rock Dassie’s (Procavia capensis welwiitschii).
Stone Dormouse, Graphiurus rupicola, Tandala Ridge
Community Reports
Damaraland and Okonjima, 2024: Murray T’s notes focusing on camps and lodges where species can be seen close to accommodation. Species include Bushveld and Western Rock Sengi plus Dassie Rat..
Namibia, 2024: Luke Tass’s short report features several mammals including Black Rhino.
Namibia & around Cape Town, 2023: Ben Balmford, 3 weeks & 53 species including Sable, Honey Badger & Ground Pangolin.
Safari in Namibia, June–July 2023: Robert Crawford’s very short report with images of a Cape Pangolin and a Caracal.
Swakopmund, 2023: Kyle Finn’s short report of a week in Swakopmund with mammals including Littledale’s Whistling Rats and Hairy-footed Gerbil.
Namibia, 2021: Samuel Marlin, 14 days & 48 species including Bushveld Sengi, Black Mongoose and Ground Pangolin.
Etosha and Damaraland, 2019: Jean Dille, 4 weeks & 40+ species including Cape Pangolin, Honey Badger and Aardwolf.
Namibia, 2019: Chris and Mathilde Stuart’s note on a few interesting sites for a few interesting species including Jameson’s Red Rock Rabbit, Congo Rope Squirrel and Damara Ground Squirrel.
Kakoveld, 2018: John Weir’s account of a trip to the Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp, with desert mammals including Lions and Elephants.
Namibia, 2018: Michael Kessler, 2.5 weeks & up to 100 species seen including Greater Cane Rat, Gray Climbing Mouse, Angolan Water Rat, Black-footed Cat and much more.
Namibia, 2018: Hugh Lansdown, 2 weeks & 30 or so species including Bushveld Elephant Shrew, Aardvark and Honey Badger.
Namibia, 2017: Jon Hall, 4 days & 25 species including a Black Mongoose, Black-tailed Tree Rats and Striped Roundleaf Bats.
Namibia, 2017: Mike Richardson, 17 days & 61 species including Bushveld Sengi, Swamp Musk Shrew and Setzer’s Hairy-footed Gerbil.
Namibia, 2017: Matt& Maureen Steer, 12 days & 51 species including Brown Hyena, Black Mongoose, Wild Dog and Black-tailed Tree Rats.
South Africa and Namibia, 2017: Vladimir Dinets, 3 weeks & many mammals including White-tailed Mouse, several molerat species, some nice bats and an apparently good spot for Brown Hyenas.
Namibia, 2017: John Weir, 2 nights & 10 mammals including Black Rhino and Mountain Zebra.
Namibia, Botswana and Zambia, 2016: Wise Birding, 18 days & 55 species including Brown Hyena, Caracal, Wild Dog and Bushveld Sengi.
Namibia, 2016: Royle Safaris, 10 days & 40 species including Brown Hyena, Caracal, Honey Badger and some nice bats.
South Africa & Namibia, 2016: Stuart Marsden, 60 species including Aardvark and Zorilla (both at a site that I hadn’t heard of but seems to give Marrick a run for its money), Brown Hyenas and Honey Badgers.
Namibia, 2016: Manuel Baumgartner and Sophie Bétrisey, 20 days & 53 species including Aardvark, Caracal, Brown Hyena and Honey Badgers.
Namibia & a bit of Botswana, 2016: Richard Webb, 2 weeks & 53 species including Honey Badger, Spotted-necked Otter, Dassie Rat and Western Rock Sengi.
Namibia & a bit of Botswana, 2016: Félix Serrano López, 16 days & 57 species including Aardvark, Aardwolf, Spotted-necked Otter and Honey Badger. (In English and Spanish).
Namibia, 2014: Royle Safaris, 2 weeks & 45 species including Heaviside’s dolphin, Woosnam’s Desert Mouse and Honey badger.
Namibia and Botswana, 2012: Steve Anyon-Smith and Barry Sean Virtue, 1 month & 50+ species including Honey Badgers and some interesting rodents.
Namibia, 2012: Sjef Ollers, 16 days & 45 species including Aardvark, Cape Fox, Honey Badger and Aardwolf.
Namibia and Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, 2010: Steve Babbs, 1 month & 42 species including Caracal, Honey Badger and Black Mongoose.
Southern Africa, 2009 (Botswana, Namibia and South Africa): Coke Smith, 7 weeks and 118 species and subspecies including Caracal and Aardvark.
Southern Africa, 2008-09: Vadimir Dinets’s notes of a long trip through 9 Countries. Many mammals including a bunch of interesting rodents and Heaviside’s Dolphins in Namibia.
Namibia, 2008: Jon Hall, 9 days & 37 species including Dassie Rat, Western Rock Elephant Shrew and Stone Dormouse.
Namibia, 2008: Trevor Hardaker, 2 weeks and 45 mammals including Damara Ground Squirrel, Western Rock Elephant Shrew and Dassie Rat.
Don Roberson’s trip reports for trips to Kenya, Gabon, Uganda and South-West Africa (South Africa, Namibia and the Okavango).
The Kalahari and the Cape, 2002: Richard Webb, 2 weeks & lots of mammals including a Brown Hyena and a Caracal.
South Africa and Namibia, 1999: Richard Webb, 3 weeks & 50+ mammals including an Aardvark.
Also See
Small rodent ID request in Sesriem, November 2024
Bat ID request, Etosha NP, July 2024
RFI on Aardarks in Namibia, March, 2022
RFI on cats in Namibia and Botswana, May, 2018
Black Mongoose RFI, October, 2017
Tips for a trip to Namibia and Botswana, April, 2015
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