Books & Music

and are both experienced wildlife photographers and authors. Their latest offering, is an informative tome that will enrich your next visit to Namibia, and also fit easily in your cubbyhole.

When did your interest in Namibia’s wildlife begin? Neil: When I started guiding in Namibia in 1992. I was a general guide, and eventually I developed a special interest in birds and the local wildlife.

Nikos: My first visit to Namibia was in 1995 – Neil was our guide! Since then, I’ve been coming back continuously, often several times a year, to visit this special place and my good friend.

What makes Namibia’s wildlife exceptional? Namibia is a land of contrasts, far more than any of its neighbouring countries. It’s home to the world’s oldest desert, the Namib, where some life forms date back to the Jurassic period; where plants have evolved to survive periods between rainfall that might last years or even decades; where beetles extract water from fog; antelopes have adapted to breathe 45° C air; hyenas hunt seals; and where miniature ecosystems exist with scorpions and lizards as apex predators.

Yet the Namib covers only a small part of the country. Namibia also offers marine mammals and seabirds. In the Zambezi Region there are floodplains and swamps, and game concentrations to rival any in southern Africa (including the Big Five). You’ll find the only freeroaming wild rhinos in the world (unconstrained by fences), a globally important floral biodiversity hot spot, and a wealth of endemic species for those with specialised interests.

There are many books about animals on bookshelves. What makes yours unique? Most of the available guidebooks are about the wildlife of southern Africa, maybe with a section about Namibia. Previously, a nature enthusiast would have had to carry several books to identify the different groups. Our book includes the most conspicuous animals and plants the average traveller will encounter, all in one place.

Did you two take all the photographs? Almost all of them. The only photos we sourced externally were of some rain-dependent insects and smaller animals. We waited for rain for almost a year and a half before publishing, but Namibia is in the midst of the worst drought in 100 years and those species never made an appearance.

What are your favourite places in Namibia to see wildlife? Neil: Anywhere from the Orange River in the south to the Kunene in the north! Seriously though, the differences between north and south are so great, and no matter where you go you’ll find splendid diversity. I love Damaraland for its ruggedness, and for all the desert-adapted species there. Nikos: For me, the Zambezi Region is stunning and so different to the rest of Namibia, highlighting the contrast between the desert and the wetland habitats.

Tips for readers who want to improve their wildlife photography? Prepare beforehand:

Try to find out as much as you can about the area you will visit. Once you’re there, source local knowledge – hire a guide or chat to the lodge staff. Predators, especially, often only make fleeting appearances. Interesting behaviour can be over in seconds. Knowing the best spots to look for the animals will maximise your chances of getting a good shot. Also, go out as early as you can.

Keep an eye on the sky: Fog in the coastal zone, and airborne dust in the interior, frequently creates a washed-out sky that can detract from your photos. Get closer, frame tighter, or change your angle to include an interesting backdrop. Beware of dust and sand: Driving conditions can be very dusty; fine sand can work its way into lenses and camera bodies. Keep your gear in your camera bag and keep it closed or covered up, and be especially careful when changing lenses.

What are the main threats to Namibia’s biodiversity? There are so many: Unsustainable water use, uncontrolled mining and prospecting, habitat changes from land management practices, desertification, alien invasive species, pressure from increasing tourism and recreation activities, population growth…

Namibia is also extremely vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Take the quiver tree, for example, one of Namibia’s flagship species: Changes to its distribution are already evident.

Etosha is obviously a huge wildlife drawcard in Namibia… Neil: I once watched a black rhino come to drink at the Chudob waterhole. It walked very slowly, lying down every few metres, and eventually it ended at the waterhole, not drinking at all. There were two hyenas at the waterhole, and they went over and started sniffing…

Unfortunately, it was just before sunset and we had to leave to be back at camp before the gate closed. The next morning, we went straight to Chudob waterhole to see what might have happened to the rhino. There were more than 50 hyenas around the carcass, all calling and howling.

What projects lie ahead? Neil: Thanks to Struik Nature, we’re busy working on a similar guidebook for Botswana. I’m also busy on a similar project for Madagascar.

Nikos: I am working on a book about the birds of Greece.

Wildlife of Namibia – A Photographic Guide is published by Struik Nature and costs R250 in bookstores.

By Denis Beckett Saga Press, 2004

Advocate, publisher, political activist, TV producer… Denis Beckett (73) is a household name in South Africa, mostly thanks to his TV show Beckett’s Trek, which aired on SABC from 1994 to 2001.

In the Preface, Beckett describes Forty Million Footsteps – South Africa Up Close and Sweaty as follows: “In one way this book is a tribute to the people who pressed pedals, trod tar, arranged, backed and otherwise sweated over this strange and lovely trek across the nation. In another, it is a tribute to, a reflection on, and a dipstick reading of that nation.”

The book is a reworked collection of articles that he wrote for The Citizen newspaper about the Long Run – an 18-day, 2 300 km relay through South Africa’s most scenic areas, accompanied by a multi-coloured four-seater tricycle named Sizanani. The Long Run, an initiative by the erstwhile Business Trust, had about 600 participants in 50 teams, making it the longest corporate relay in Africa. Beckett was the project’s embedded reporter.

He writes candidly about the launch event in Illovo:

There was vibe – spirit, gees, ubuntu – crackling in the air. There was fun and laughter but there were also many reminders of the effort: that while this activity is high on Djoll it is finally about a thing that matters, making a better country. And there was the famous diversity, showing off beauty-spots and nary a wart. Diversity talk is supposed to be out of fashion now, but I know what to do when things you like go out of fashion. You carry on regardless. (And in due course the fashion rolls back to where it started.)

The Long Run wasn’t really a race. It was a celebration of South Africa’s people and scenery. Whenever Beckett was asked “Who’s winning?” he would respond with “everyone” or “South Africa”.

A visit to Harrismith gives a great example of this winning spirit and positivity:

Harrismith welcomed the Long Run with woema. The town square was packed with new and often unexpected entrepreneurs (one thing the Trust has pushed), kids demonstrating their reading prowess (another), drum majorettes both Africastyle and Western-style and choirs classical and vernacular. The scene burst with buoyancy, and were it not for some terrible architecture around the square – the usual culprits, national retail chains – might have been too hearty to believe. Last I saw it, Harrismith was barely visible beneath the For Sale and To Let signs. What happened? Well, many answers, but one guy gave me one that stuck. “A bunch of women,” he said, “just stood up and decided to make the place work. Barbara, and Leona, and Alison, and Joyce. They slapped the rest of us around until we woke up. Now here we go, forward.” I met those women. They were all there, making this rather good event happen in the way they’d already made much else in this town happen. I asked: “how do you do it?” One said: “We don’t wait around for someone to say we’re approved, or we’re allowed to do this or that or the next thing. We decide what kind of country we want to live in, and go for it.”

Perhaps South Africa could do with another Long Run in 2020?