Dessert trip dead horses and snakes

The first things we saw on the living dessert tour was the bones of many horses. Horse graves of the WOI , 13.000 troups from South Africa, with Jan Smuts, came to fight against the Germans in Namibia. The horses got horse flue, and there was no cure. It turned out to be transferable to people. Because of that huge trenches were dug. The horse were led into the trenches and the were shot dead. 2500 horses were shot and buried with all the gear. Dead dessert.

Now to the living dessert. Gekko's, Scorpions, all endemic.

The lichens fields are very easily damaged. Tracks from hundreds of years ago are still visible. Nowadays it is protected area, one of the many nature reserves in Namibia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichens_in_Namibia

The first living creature that we came across was a Peringuey adder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitis_peringueyi

This small creature is very toxic. The toxin is both cell destroying and it is neurotoxic that specifically effects the eyesight. It has a 315 km an hour strike speed. And its eyes are on top of its head. It can get 3 or 4 years old. And less than 30cm long.Læs mere