By Julia Petzl-Berney, UNE Discovery

I’m Julia, the UNE Discovery booking officer, and I have just been on an exciting trip to Namibia and South Africa.

During my trip, I learnt many fun science facts about the animal life, plant life and geology of this part of the African continent.

Scorpion fluorescing under UV light at night
Photo credit: Julia Petzl-Berney

For example, I learnt that African scorpions glow in the dark – and while the other tourists were relaxing at the bar, I was hunting around rocks with my UV torch looking for glowing scorpions. There are a few species of scorpions in Namibia, but as a rule, the ones with a short, fatter body are highly venomous, and the long skinny ones are harmless. Nevertheless, it is always good to exercise caution, and I did not handle any scorpions, or turn over rocks with my hands.

Another exciting animal encounter was the docile but well camouflaged Namaqua Chamaeleon. Found in the desert dunes on the coast, the Namaqua Chamaeleon lives a solitary life in small scrubby bushes, where they hide and hunt small insects for prey. Like other chameleons, the Namaqua Chamaeleon has eyes that move independently of each other, it moves very slowly and can change colour – turning dark when it needs to warm up and taking on a lighter shade when it is warm. We were lucky enough to find a female in the bushes we were looking at, and then a male close by, heading in a very determined fashion towards the female.

Female Namaqua Chamaeleon
Photo credit: Julia Petzl-Berney

Male Namaqua Chamaeleon
Photo credit: Julia Petzl-Berney

The dunes were also home to a very well-adapted insect, the Darkling Beetle, also known as the Head-Stander Beetle. These beetles live in an area so arid that most of the water in the environment comes not from rain, but from sea-fog. The fog condenses on the wing case of the beetle, where built-in channels allow the precious moisture to run towards the beetle’s mouth, as it stands with its head down and its tail-end raised thanks to its long legs.

The Darkling Beetle stands on its head to drink water droplets from seafog that condenses on its wing-cases

As I am a keen birdwatcher, I was determined to see as many different kinds of bird as I could, resulting in some sighs of impatience from other members of the tour group. One highlight was a large flock of Greater Flamingos – some pink and some in their immature grey –  feeding in a lagoon at Walvis Bay. You could see them paddling their feet to stir up the sediments, while filtering the water through their bills.

I also sighted a Pygmy Falcon, the smallest species of falcon in the world. These nest in the nests of Social Weavers, a bird which builds large, communal nests. In return for letting a predator live in their nest, the Pygmy Falcons protect the weaver colony from snakes and lizards – presumably very small snakes and lizards, as these birds are smaller than a pigeon.

From the smallest to the largest, on my very last day I saw a Martial Eagle, the largest eagle on the African continent. By the end of my trip, I had spotted over 70 species of bird, including bustards, starlings, woodpeckers, wood-hoopoes, cuckoos, parrots, sea birds, thrushes and raptors.

I feel very privileged to have gained an insight into the survival tactics of the many different animals and plants that live in such a harsh and arid environment as the deserts of Namibia.