by Michael Lorentz
On their first safari, most people want to see fur and fangs. I quite understand that.
But over time, I find that some of the most rewarding safari experiences are in unusual places and with some unexpected species.
The beauty of Namibia is hard to put into words. It’s unlike anywhere else: arid, monochromatic landscapes. Hot, silent, deserts. There’s something epic and vast about it.
In the deserts along the coast, fog is often the only source of water. A morning mist rolls in from the sea and penetrates about 20 kilometeres inland.
There’s a species of tenebrionid, the ‘fog-basking’ beetle which climbs to the top of the sand dune in the fog and does a headstand.
Fog condenses and runs down a special groove along the beetle’s body into its mouth. It can take on a third of its body-weight of water in this way.
This adaptation is quite extraordinary. The phenomenal drive that life has to exist never ceases to move and astound me.
