While the focus on our northwest Namibia programme is always giraffe, we are occasionally treated to some other incredible sightings and we wanted to share these with you.
Here are 12 of our favourite animals (other than giraffe of course) that live in the survey area that we spotted in 2021. Do any of these surprise you?
1. Desert adapted elephant
Seeing elephants is always a treat – they are fascinating to watch. On most trips, we are lucky to see these amazing “desert-adapted” elephants. Watching this big bull stretch his trunk up as far as he could to reach the tips of the Ana tree was amazing to watch, and he was well rewarded for his efforts.
2. Chameleon
We have seen a couple of chameleons this year, always in the middle of absolute nowhere! Driving along dusty, bumpy tracks, we always try to scan the rocks on the sides of the road for any reptilian shapes. They are obviously very hard to spot, but always a great reward to see them up close when we do!
3. Cheetah
Cheetah sighting! This was our first cat of the year and one of our personal favourites. We knew a very small number lived in the area, but they are very shy and elusive. We stumbled upon this individual who had found a nice bush to rest in – we took a few photos and admired her beauty and then left her be.
4. Springbok
Springbok are a common sight in NW Namibia, but it was a lucky shot to get one of this springbok taking a bathroom break right in front of a giraffe we were trying to take an ID photo of!
5. Meerkats
This photo won’t win any Nat Geo awards, but we can say we saw meerkats! They were a little nervous of our car so we did not approach too close, but when we were at a “safe” distance the group was happy to go about its early morning routine. How special to watch this little group forage, eat, play and do sentry duty. How many meerkats can you spot?
6. Owls and Eagles and Vultures, oh my!
African eagle owl 
Martial eagle Lappet-faced vulture
We are slowly becoming “twitchers” and really enjoy trying to identify any birds we see. It was quite special for us to see some gorgeous birds – highlights including an African eagle owl, martial eagles and lappet-faced vultures to name a few.
7. Lion
Coming across very fresh, and very large cat tracks one morning, we then didn’t have to drive far to find a small pride of lions! What was even more special was the terrain they had settled themselves on – a very large, very rocky mountain. It was incredible to watch these majestic cats make their way effortlessly across this massive mountain, all the way to the very top!
8. Gemsbok
Gemsbok isn’t just one of Namibia’s most beautiful animals, but the national animal too. We often see them hanging out with giraffe. In the latter parts of 2021 we have been lucky to see several baby oryx too and they are SO cute!
9. Ostrich
Ostrich are a pretty common sighting in northwest Namibia and this is easily one of our favourite ostrich sightings!
10. Honey badger
Anyone who has heard of a honey badger knows what a cool animal they are! We were very excited to see this incredible animal making its way up the Khumib riverbed. It was moving fast, so it was hard to get good photos, but it kept turning around to check on what our strange large vehicle was doing!
11. Klipspringer
We were very happy to spot some klipspringers on one of our trips this year. They were quite close to the road and initially checked us out, before deciding to leg it up a massive mountain. It was fascinating to watch these tiny, amazing antelope make their way up the steep cliff edge with such speed – it would have taken us 2 days to climb that mountain! (with lots of rest breaks). They made it to the top in a few minutes. Can you spot the klipspringer in these photos?!
12. Kudu
Kudu are one of the rarer antelope to see in NW Namibia. We occasionally find a small group in the Khumib river area – how impressive are those long, spiral horns!
Isn’t it incredible just how many species can survive in such harsh conditions, we certainly think so! We are holding out for more amazing sightings in 2022, and keeping fingers crossed that we can manage a sighting of the critically endangered black rhino too!
Thanks for sharing the details & pics, it’s really interesting to see what other species you come across whilst looking for giraffe