What are the opening hours?

Monday 08:00 - 17:00 Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00 Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00 Thursday 08:00 - 17:00 Friday 08:00 - 17:00

Gobabeb

If you are interested in visiting us, please send an email to [email protected]. Gobabeb is a research institute in the Namib Desert in Namibia.

It is located on the northern bank of the Kuiseb River, an ephemeral river that runs through the Namib-Naukluft Park, between the Namib Sand Sea to the south and the gravel plains to the north. It lies 85 km SE of Walvis Bay and 232 km SW of Windhoek, as the crow flies. Great Southern Bioblitz Registration:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/great-southern-bioblitz-2023-zambezi-region

05/06/2026

The GHNA hyperspectral radiometer at Gobabeb helps ensure that satellite data is accurate and reliable. By measuring the Earth’s surface and atmosphere from the ground, it provides a trusted reference for validating observations made from space.

Ground verification stations such as this one are essential for improving climate monitoring, environmental research and Earth observation around the world.

04/06/2026

We recently captured this interesting interaction between two unidentified carpenter
bees, which appears to be mating behaviour! Male carpenter bees are known to use
a dispersed lek mating system, where they establish hovering territories around
landmarks such as bushes or other vegetation. They advertise their presence and attract passing females by hovering at these sites.

03/06/2026

Dear Friends, Followers

We would like to inform you that we have been experiencing some communication breakdowns with the landline over the past few months. While this remains part of a broader technical issue, our service provider is aware and we are optimistic that the matter will be resolved in the near future.

To ensure uninterrupted communication, we kindly request that you make use of the alternate number below for enquiries and urgent bookings:
📞 +264 81 812 5745

This number is available for both offline and online (WhatsApp) bookings and will be the most reliable way to contact us until our landline service is fully restored.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience, understanding and continued support.

Thank you

01/06/2026

Was your Monday morning as exciting as ours?🐍

We woke up to this impressive 2.1 kg young male Puff Adder (images 1-5) (Bitis arietans) right here on the station. While many would consider a snake of this size intimidating, it's actually quite modest considering they can exceed 5 kg.

Encounters with Puff Adders are relatively uncommon in our area, making this a particularly noteworthy sighting. Needless to say, our visitor ensured the day started with a bit of excitement and definitely gave us a workout this morning!

Interestingly, this is not our first unusual snake encounter in recent years. Five years ago, we came across a rare hybrid between a Black Spitting Cobra and a Western Barred Spitting Cobra (images 6-7). While not as aggressive as either of its parent species, it was more beautiful and noticeably agile in the trees.

The Puff Adder, on the other hand, was removed and relocated to a safer area where it will continue to grow and hopefully pay us another visit some other day

27/05/2026

Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting a wonderful school group from Rundu Senior Secondary School at Gobabeb. During their visit, we enjoyed an inspiring nature walk through the desert, where the students had the opportunity to learn more about the unique Namib environment and the fascinating world of desert research.

Thank you for visiting Gobabeb. We hope to welcome you back again soon!

26/05/2026

First SASSCAL/FRAMe Graduate: Chester Silavwe

Gobabeb proudly congratulates our Student Associate, Chester Silavwe, who graduated on 21 May with an MSc in Tropical Ecology and Biodiversity from the University of Zambia (UNZA). Chester is the very first graduate from the SASSCAL/FRAMe project, a special milestone worth celebrating!

His thesis, "Phenotypic Characterisation, Ethnobotany and Resistance to Prevalent Foliar Fungal Diseases of Citrullus Landraces and Wild Relatives in Selected Districts of Zambia", was completed under the dedicated academic supervision of Dr David Chuba. Some of Chester’s research findings are available here: https://ethnobotanyjournal.org/index.php/era/article/view/7396

Following the completion of his degree, Chester has taken up the role of Botany Curator at the Livingstone Museum. He has also been awarded a Staff Development Fellow position at UNZA, which is an important step toward achieving his dream of becoming a lecturer.

With passionate young plant scientists like Chester leading the way, the future of botany in Zambia is in excellent hands.

Congratulations, Chester. We are incredibly proud of your achievement and excited for what lies ahead!

22/05/2026

Celebrating International Biodiversity Day, Gobabeb-style!
Each year, the Gobabeb team marks 22 May with a special activity celebrating the importance of biodiversity. This morning, we piled into the truck and headed 10 km downstream for a mini bioblitz in the Kuiseb riverine system.

Fueled by the delicious treats prepared by Chef Naftali and interns Sarah and Monika, the team put their sharp observation skills to the test, photographing organisms both large and small for upload to the iNaturalist platform. Any Namib biodiversity enthusiasts out there are warmly invited to help identify the uploaded images (See https://www.inaturalist.org/)!

Every species recorded today in the Kuiseb by Gobabeb observers and identified with the help of specialists from around the world, contributes to a growing global understanding of life on Earth...... perfectly reflecting the IBD 2026 theme: “Acting locally for global impact.”

21/05/2026

“Hard work plants the seeds, while patience brings the harvest”. This is an update on the progress of the greenhouse side project that’s currently being carried out by Vianda Kauzuu, a B.Sc. in Agriculture from NUST. We are looking forward to a bountiful harvest in a few months.

20/05/2026

Gobabeb Student Associate Iipumbu Shilongo recently presented his Masters research findings on how atmospheric aerosols influence solar radiation over Gobabeb using long-term ground-based BSRN and AERONET measurements.
His study is among the first to estimate the long-term direct radiative forcing effect of aerosols on the solar radiation budget over Gobabeb from 2014–2023. The research revealed clear seasonal aerosol patterns, with stronger aerosol impacts during late winter and spring, mainly linked to biomass burning activities across southern Africa.
The findings showed that aerosols generally produced a cooling effect at both the Earth’s surface and the top of the atmosphere, while contributing to atmospheric warming through light absorption during peak aerosol seasons.
This work contributes valuable insight into aerosol-climate interactions in the Namib Desert and southern Africa region.
Stay tuned to hear more from his Masters research journey.

19/05/2026

Gobabeb was pleased to recently welcome the Executive Director of SASSCAL (Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management), Prof. Dr Nelago Indongo, together with members of her team responsible for Open Access Data Management.

SASSCAL and Gobabeb have been collaborating since 2015, particularly regarding the initial establishment of the Gobabeb Meso-Net. Subsequently, Gobabeb has continued to maintain and expand its array of weather stations with the steadfast support of our Research Associate, Dr Roland Vogt from the University of Basel.

We sincerely appreciate this SASSCAL engagement (hopefully the first of many more to come!), which focused on exploring opportunities to strengthen our collaboration and reaffirming our shared commitment to making weather data freely accessible for the benefit of science and society.
, data

Address

P. O. Box 953
Walvis Bay

Opening Hours

Monday	08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	08:00 - 17:00
Thursday	08:00 - 17:00
Friday	08:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+26464205555

Website

http://www.gobabeb.org/, https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/great-southern-bioblitz-2024-tsau-khaeb-namib-namibia

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