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The year 2006 brought paradise to the Namib desert

with dunes reflecting in water.

this blog's entries
Every year the grass seeds are blown from the grasslands in central South Africa over the desert up to the west coast of Namibia.  Many small animals and birds benefit from the seeds and dry grass, but in the year 2006 the seeds were stopped by rain. The desert turned into grassland creating nourishment that will last a long time.
The rain started January, it is now end March and the grass are already in seed.  Nature knows when to rush.
grass.scene.jpg (117029 bytes)
mountain.scene.jpg (59494 bytes) The naked rocks and sand are covered in a lush grass coat.
The mountain monitor lizard with his best suit on, out looking for a mate. searching.a.mate.jpg (49486 bytes)
corn.cricket.jpg (38700 bytes) This corn cricket joined us for a beer.  He sipped a few large drop-mugs and walked away as if he had nothing but water to drink.
sossusvlei.water.dunes.jpg (21594 bytes) Dunes reflecting in the water. Sossusvlei gets some water every few years. The water dries up very quickly.

Photo taken from the top of the dune

sossusvlei.jpg (9050 bytes)
Photo right shows only a small part of the floodplain which was very much larger than the pan of water from previous good years. Plants and seeds try to make the best of the opportunity.  Maybe one of the seedlings below will end up like the camelthorn tree Acacia erioloba on the photo bellow right. dry.mud.jpg (151252 bytes)

sossusvlei.flood.on.road.jpg (26550 bytes)

A narrow strip of road was not under water.  The flood water was not deep but wide.

new.life.short.life..jpg (199400 bytes)

    tree.kamelthorn.kameeldoring.jpg (54207 bytes)

Photo right:-  The rain and water did not reach very far,  for the most part the desert was still dry.

for more tree photos click here

sossusvlei.dunes.jpg (18754 bytes)

 

 

Mariental in the green but a touch too wet.  Apparently this small town should never have been build right next to the riverbed in this low area, but it seems to be easier to clean up every 30+ years than to move the town.  This year had the worst flood in a century.

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mariental..jpg (26716 bytes)

 

this blog's entries
Namib desert paradise   good rains
Namibia trees natural styles for bonsai or garden
Namibia south  interesting stalls and lovely aloes
Namibia Windhoek wildlife   Small neat city in central Namibia.
 
 

 

 

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