Namibia and Botswana
The Lost Paradise: Botswana and Namibia
The northern Kalahari is dominated by the Okavango Delta and the Makgadikgadi Pan, vast expanses and ecosystems which are subject to continuous change as a result of the dynamic shifts between rainy and dry periods. Torrential rivers flood arid areas, islands rise from a maze of meandering streams, interwoven lakes evaporate and leave patches of wetlands as survival ground for the next population. From its origins in Angola, the Okavango flows to the south and forms a huge inland delta. In the north and east of the Kalahari Desert, the Chobe and Zambezi rivers create habitats for a rich variety of wildlife.
The never-ending storms of the Kalahari blow sanddrifts to the south where they form sediments in the Oranje River which are transported to the Atlantic Ocean. From there, the Benguela Stream takes these sediments north, and south-westerly winds drive them towards the Namibian coast where they have formed the Namib Desert, a nature reserve of extraordinary beauty. The Kunene, Namibia's border river with Angola in the north, encompasses the circle of these vast eco-systems.
A series of photographs will lead the visitor into the Makgadikgadi pan, the Fish River Canyon, the unique sand dunes of Sossusvlei, to Mount Spitzkoppe, the Messum Crater near Brandberg Mountain, the Erongo Mountains, the Hartmann Valley at the Kunene and finally to the Moremi Park in the Okavango Delta, the Chobe River and the breath-taking Victoria Waterfalls where the mighty waters of the Zambezi plunge 100 m into the depths below. Rock paintings and engravings, more than a thousand years old, provide evidence of very early settlements in this fascinating cultural area. Today, a small number of San people still live in the foothills of the Kalahari, and when visitors watch Himba nomads move their large herds through the sparse vegetation of the Kaokoveld in search of pastureland, they feel they have travelled back in time.