BIG SHOUT GOING OUT TO THE DUNG BEETLE...

Let's hear it for the dung beetle. One of the smaller, yet most important, animals in the world.

The ancient Egyptians knew this- that's why they didn't call them dung beetles, but sacred scarabs. Much better.

Without dung beetles, the world would be a very different place. In fact, it would, in a very real sense, be a load of crap.

Dung beetles, like vultures, are nature's clean up crew. They feed on the excrement of herbivores and break it down, improving nutrient recycling and protecting livestock and wild animals from aggressive pests such as flies which would normally find a habitat on a plethora of poo.

Without dung beetles, the world would be a much smellier place.

They roll their ball of dung away from its origin (because when you've got hold of a really good poo pellet, you just KNOW some other ba*tard's going to try and steal it...) and then bury it, laying their eggs inside so that the larvae have a tasty treat to consume upon hatching..

And they're strong. One species, Onthophagus taurus is particularly so. I'm reliably informed by Wiki that in human terms it can push and pull the equivalent of six fully loaded double decker buses.

That's a good weight of faeces, even by a curry addict's standards. Certainly enough for a batch of larvae.

Most dung beetles don't eat or drink anything else at all during their lifetime- sadly for them, the dung contains all the nutrients and water that they need.

So let's pause for a moment to thank the dung beetle, and also to offer it our sincere condolences. Because to a dung beetle, the phrase 'eat shit and die' isn't a good-humoured insult - it's all there is to life.

And you thought you had problems.

ORYX

For me, the Oryx (Gemsbok) is the animal that defines Namibia. To cope with the incredible heat, the Oryx has developed a cunning cooling system. There's very little water to drink, so sweating is a bad thing. To reduce the need to sweat, Oryx pant heavily, which causes air to flow over the carotid rete - a network of blood vessels around the nose. The nose is also coloured white to reflect the heat. The blood running through the carotid rete is cooled by the air and from there the cooler blood is directed to the brain, keeping it at a reasonable temperature. Simultaneously, the body temperature is allowed to rise. So the Oryx doesn't need to perspire and so lose valuable water. Clever, eh?

SOSSUSVLEI, NAMIBIA

Scenery in Namibia is big. I mean, really big. And orange. These are the biggest sand dunes in the world, at Sossusvlei in the Namib Naukluft national park. There isn't a vast amount of wildlife around here, but the scenery more than makes up for it. It's difficult to get a sense of perspective, but to give an idea, the trees at the base of this dune are full-on trees, not little shrubs.

All the dunes have numbers rather than names. You drive down the road, and there are little signs like mailboxes telling you which dune you're passing. Number 26 is particularly photogenic, but suffers from over-touristing. When I got there, about a gazillion fitness freaks were busy proving their climbing abilities to themselves and leaving unsightly footsteps up the knife edge ('blade') of the dune.

So I simply drove on a bit until I came to number 33 (I think) which was picture perfect. Why, I have no idea.  Maybe 33 isn't as macho a number as 26. Maybe 26 was a better climb. Not having the mental fortitude to clamber up bloody great piles of sand in the heat of the desert, (a shorter way of saying this would be 'lazy') I can have no answers....

Here's another dune, this time with Oryx at the base. These attractive antelopes are about two thirds the size of a horse, but next to the dune they appear utterly insignificant. It's difficult not to simply stand there and stare at these dunes with your jaw hanging down. Surely, they must qualify as being one of the natural wonders of the world.

UNEXPECTED ZEBRAS

The pounding hooves of this herd of zebras could be heard from a long distance as we enjoyed the sunset in Namibia.

As they raced past us, we looked for predators. None were visible but the zebra were in a tearing hurry, anyway. What were they running from? I've no idea. Where were they headed? I haven't a clue.

It was a magnificent sight as they thundered past at full throttle. The vibration from the ground travelled up my body, and the clouds of dust played havoc with my nice clean lens fronts. But it was one of those unexpected moments that will stay with me forever.

You get a lot of them in Africa.