Batis Birding Safaris

Join the Batis team for an exciting day outing. We offer half day and full day activities and for those wishing to experience something completely different we even offer a Night Walk. Our guides are all round naturalists and enthusiastic on sharing their knowledge. They are also renowned Photographers and enjoy sharing photography tricks to those wishing to leave with extra special photos.

Our tours are child friendly and weather dependent. Advanced bookings are advised to secure your seat with us. The Living Desert tour is by far the most popular activity in Swakopmund.

Our half day Eco Dune tour takes place along the eastern part of the major dune belt which lies between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. Here the ecology of the dunes is concentrated on explaining the evolutionary aspects and the uniqueness of these adaptations. The theory part is dealt with in an informal way and the various desert adapted creatures are then searched for and the various interesting adaptations are pointed out to you.

The main animals looked for are the Namib Sand diving Lizard, Web-footed Gecko, Namaqua Chameleon, Peringuey’s Adder(Sidewinder), Namib Sand Snake, Namib thicktailed Scorpion, the fog basking Tenebrionid Beetle and several other insects only found along the dune belt.

From the dunes we walk through a place known as ‘The HorseGraveyard’. Here, the mass slaughter of South African military horses marked the turning point of Namibia’s (then South West Africa) involvement in the First World War. This area, holding some 1,600 carcasses, signifies the key role that Swakopmund and Walvis Bay played in the development of Namibia.

A brief description of the minerals found in the dunes is also explained as well as the formation of the dunes and the importance of the coastal fog to all the living organisms and vegetation found along the dunes.

The only birds that may be encountered here depending on rainfall are Tractrac Chat, Red-capped Larks, Gray’s Lark, Stark’s Lark, Burchell’s Courser, Ludwig’s Bustard, Rock Kestrel and Rufous-eared Warbler.

Our family run company also offers professional Bird Watching, Wildlife, Photographic, Entomology, Herpetology and Botany tours within Namibia.

Batis Birding Safaris are specifically designed with birdwatchers in mind, but we wish to stress that our tours offer far more than just birding. Our aim is not to only cater for the real twitcher, but also for beginner birders as well as the general layman who would like to learn more about this fascinating hobby.

Our knowledgeable guides have a wide range of experience in the natural history in Namibia and it is their aim to provide you with a first class interpretive tour of the natural wonders of Namibia.

Batis Birding specializes in small group tours, as we believe it is essential to have a high leader-participant ratio if you are going to get the most out of the tour. It ultimately ensures that everyone gets full value from the tour in terms of seeing the birds, learning from the experience and getting the individual attention of the leaders.

Visit our Facebook link for updated information on trip reports and other interesting news, sightings and information. Follow the links to find out more about our interesting day excursions and the fascinating Namib Desert!