Live Stream from the Namib Desert
38 comments
·October 17, 2025genmon
toomuchtodo
Consider contributing to Peertube!
bookofjoe
This came out last month: https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/live-updates/
nxor
Less youtube is my next big thing. My screen time is too high.
fishstamp82
I had this problem for a long time, the only thing that worked was installing an ad on that removes recommendations. The only thing I use youtube for today is intentionally following ASL (starcraft broodwar) in korea.
The ad-on makes the home screen completely white/empty, meaning I just get reminded constantly ohh, yeah I am not supposed to use youtube unless there is something particular I want to watch.
darthcircuit
You can do this without addons. I turned off recommendations and history, so I get nothing in my feed and YouTube wont even give me a queue of shorts to scroll through. I have to be very intentional on YouTube now and it has cut my usage down a ton.
dj_gitmo
I'm in the exact same boat. I spend too much time on YT and only thing I really want it for is ASL. I'll probably try the plugin.
szundi
[dead]
seclorum_wien
In my opinion this is one of the most productive uses of the Internet.
It can really help to have this running on some spare screen while trapped in the deep, deep depths of cubicle hell.
Even the wind is soothing.
Another great Namibian destination is the "Ocean Conservation Namibia" channel, where one can witness the rescue of ocean life (mostly mammals, i.e. seals) from the plastic trash of humanity.
https://www.youtube.com/@OceanConservationNamibia
This has been a constantly soothing device in my life for a few years. There is something so cathartic about seeing the little pups being chased down to have their bindings removed.
basilikum
The Namib is also home to this rather strange but extremely adapted plant: Welwitschia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welwitschia
reaperducer
People tend to think that deserts are lifeless wastes to be readily exploited because who cares, right?
If you've ever actually lived in or explored a desert, you quickly learn that they are full of life. More than most urban landscapes.
seclorum_wien
Can confirm, have ventured all over the deserts of my homeland, and every time I do, I am filled with awe at the temerity of life on the brink of hardship.
It is a spiritually rewarding activity to look out over a landscape, be still for a while, and notice the absolute abundance of life, as robust as ever.
Even in the dustiest Earth voids, there are colours and growth. It pays to look for it.
whiplash451
Why especially on HN?
johnny_canuck
Does anyone know what type of camera the stream uses? Or recommendations of an outdoor camera/microphone that could accomplish the same thing? I'd love to do this sort of thing in our rural backyard
_def
How does this kind of watering hole work? It doesn't look like it's just a hole where rain ends up
burkaman
This one is artificial and is kept full by a solar-powered well system (according to the stream description).
ch4s3
A barn like in Philly used to put this up on their TV at night if there wasn’t a game on and it was really popular. It was always cool to see large animals show up.
alexpotato
I love that YouTube lets you jump back up to 12 hours on live streams so that you can see what happened recently/overnight etc.
xnx
And you can jump back 5 days(!) with ytarchive: https://github.com/Kethsar/ytarchive
Havoc
This also works well for safari lodges. They worked out you can just put a pond there and elephants etc will come while guests are having breakfast. Reliably present fresh water in a dry area = animals
danielfalbo
Do you know when you look for a restaurant on google maps and you see a "Popular times" map of people density throughout the day + live updates like "Less busy than usual"? Would be fun to build such a thing for this
arkensaw
how often does it rain there? I seem to have joined the feed just as a shower started
astral_drama
Same
It made me think of The Who - Love, Reign O’ Me.
Only love can bring the rain
That makes you yearn to the sky
Only love can bring the rain
That falls like tears from on highnvahalik
Same. What are the odds?
oblosys
I was kind of expecting to hear Toto in the background. https://maxsiedentopf.com/toto-forever/
matthew-craig
Interestingly, I see that the watering hole is available on Google street view: 24°04'29.7"S 15°53'14.7"E
Fellow fan of the Namid Desert waterhole here!
As it happens, I made this wrapper for it
https://waterhole.genmon.partykit.dev
This single-serving waterhole:
- makes the YouTube stream fill the browser for an Immersive Experience(TM)
- shows how many people are watching in real-time
- provides ephemeral chat with other people present
I know at least one team at an unnamed big tech co who would all have it open on their second screens for shared ambience + chat...
(If anybody from YouTube is reading, I have a ton of idea about how ambient live steams are the Next Big Thing and how to lean into that.)