Wildlife in Africa. We have been heading north through Namibia and will soon spend time in the Etosha National Park where we hope to see the big guys – lions and cheetah and rhino and elephant and all that. But, in the meantime, there has been lots to keep us interested.

We have passed herds of Oryx with their stunning long straight horns like two pronged unicorns. Seen the beautiful and elegant Springbok roaming and, on occasion, leaping magnificently across the road to avoid our entourage of bikes. We have seen Wildebeste, Kudu, Ostrich and eaten most of the above on more than one occasion.

Here are also a couple of sights that have amazed me completely ….

First the Sociable Weaver birds that made this enormous nest. These are the largest structures made by birds and are permanent structures for more than a hundred pairs of multiple generations of birds. Each pair has its own chamber and there are shared areas for roosting and for getting shade during the day. The nest here in this photo is about 15 feet across and 10 feet deep. Why these birds decide to share the task of home building but another species, African Weaver, decided to go it alone, I don;’t know – maybe they should be called the Anti-Social Weaver. The nests in this photo are right outside my room in the courtyard of the Fort Sesfontein Hotel.

Then there is the Rock Dassie – the furry guy here is about 18 inches long and seems to move like a rabbit. This one was cruising the ground of Mowani Mountain Lodge. Looks totally ordinary but the ancestors of this little guy (properly the Rock Hyrax) evolved in several different ways – one branch ended up looking like this – like a big rodent – but others took to the water and begat ….. get this …. elephants (pachyderms) and dugongs and manatees (sirenians). So this guy’s nearest relative is the elephant. Amazing.