| We entered Namibia's namesake, the Namib desert, world's
oldest
arid region. Avid geologists know that the desert conditions are
caused by
the Benguela current running beside Namibia's coast. The current
flows from Antartica
and its freezing waters do not evaporate easily, thus keeping
moisture locked offshore. Inland, the
air is dry and hot. We drive on a lonely road. Flat-topped
hills, called inselbergs, break up the featureless plains and look
like scattered, mini-table mountains. Scrub
brush and hardy plants eke out an existence in the gravel soil at the
desert fringe, living off water carried by
fog that rolls overland from the ocean during the early morning (fog
created when warm air hits cold water). Plants
grow here that are found only in Namibia, such as kokerbooms,
tree-like aloe plants, and elephant trunk trees, so-named
for their uncanny resemblance to an elephant's proboscis. |
