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Category: nature and travel

Char char char (#15 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 18, 2022 by Pelidoug

Char char char (#15 in Namibia single-image series)

 

 

A Wikipedia list of 182 counties, ranked by average annual precipitation, has Colombia allegedly wettest and Egypt driest – respectively, 3,240 mm and 18 mm.

155 nations are allegedly “wetter” than Namibia; its reported annual average of 285 mm is a little more than half of the figure given for nation #141 – Australia.

Yet Namibian-harvested hardwood is the basis for an industry which currently yields more than 70 million Australian dollars worth of annual export income…and that figure is set to soar.

It has nothing to do with construction timbers or wooden furniture.

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Emblematic, delicious (#14 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 17, 2022 by Pelidoug

Emblematic, delicious (#14 in Namibia single-image series)

 

Southern Africa’s oryx – Oryx gazella, aka “gemsbok” – is the largest of the world’s four oryx species.

This handsome antelope is prominent on Namibia’s coat of arms.

Oryx is also a firm favourite of Namibian diners; if Namibia had a “Paul Hogan”, he’d surely entice tourists by offering to “throw some gemsbok on the braai”.

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“Ugly Beauty” – warthogs rule, ok? (#13 in Namibia single-image series, with musical bonus)

Published December 15, 2022 by Pelidoug

“Ugly Beauty” – warthogs rule, ok? (#13 in Namibia single-image series, with musical bonus)

 

 

 

Arguably, this particular oxymoron nicely describes Phacochoerus africanus – the common warthog.

Ugly Beauty is also the title of an unequivocally beautiful composition by one of jazz’s greatest composers.

This post’s kneeling hero was neither injured, nor pious, and although the fire in this image was part of a lovely dinner experience, warthog was not on the menu.

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Rare, shimmering…with musical bonus (#12 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 14, 2022 by Pelidoug

Rare, shimmering…with musical bonus (#12 in Namibia single-image series)

 

 

Khowarib Gorge is one of very few Namibian places through which water flows, visibly, “permanently”.

This post’s (Tunisian) musical bonus was doubtless inspired by larger waves, dancing somewhere else entirely, but Anouar Brahem’s Dance With Waves dances well with a desert river’s rippling.

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Kunene River daybreak, with musical bonus (#10 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 11, 2022 by Pelidoug

Kunene River daybreak, with musical bonus (#10 in Namibia single-image series)

 

 

Photo was taken a few hundred metres upstream of Epupa Falls.

At 6.37 am on 11 November 2022 I was standing on the Namibian side of the Kunene River.

In Angola it is the Cunene; above, you are looking at both nations…and the moon.

The Kunene and the Orange (which is the border between Namibia and South Africa) are the only two of Namibia’s rivers that “permanently” have water flowing – above ground, visible – all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

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Featherlight, superabundant (#8 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 7, 2022 by Pelidoug

Featherlight, superabundant (#8 in Namibia single-image series)

 

 

 

Most Australians have never heard of – let alone, seen – a member of the species pictured above.

Quelea Quelea – the Red-billed Quelea – is, however, almost certainly the most abundant bird on “our” planet!

It is a significant agricultural pest. Sometimes in flocks of millions, billowing in the sky like smoke…

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Heaviest living flying thing (#7 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 5, 2022 by Pelidoug

Heaviest living flying thing (#7 in Namibia single-image series)

 

On average, this (contested) title probably rightfully belongs to males of a species widespread in southern Africa: Ardeotis kori – the Kori Bustard.

They commonly weigh 18 kilograms apiece.

The so-called “World Wide Web” is in fact more than a tad Northern Hemispere-centric/ USA-centric/ Eurocentric; I strongly suspect that Africa has the biggest bustards.

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Sand “sea” at Namib’s seaward end (#6 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 4, 2022 by Pelidoug

Sand “sea” at Namib’s seaward end (#6 in Namibia single-image series)

 

These dunes are just behind the Skeleton Coast, not far from the generally-dry mouth of the Hoarusib River.

Their appearance changes radically, as the sun’s position shifts, clouds form, move or disappear, and as fog rolls in, intensifies, or “burns” off.

Generally reckoned the world’s oldest desert, the Namib is “another world”, albeit part – a singular part – of “our” planet.

Humans cannot yet directly experience the Martian landscape, but a few of us are lucky enough to have experienced the Namib.

read moreSand “sea” at Namib’s seaward end (#6 in Namibia single-image series)
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