The Riverbed

The Huabb River is an ephemeral river that runs for 300 kilometers from Kambanyap to the coast - flowing only after heavy rains. When not in flood, the river bed is a highway for animals and human travel. The underground water means suddenly in the middle of the desert, huge acacia thorn trees rise up as if on a flood plain. This abundance of foliage and ease of path draws the desert elephants. I first saw a photograph of these elephants in a National Geographic magazine when I was 10 years old - a whole herd sliding down a sandy dune on their bottoms, into the river bed. This picture has stayed in my mind all these years and I've wanted to see these elephants ever since. On this day on our desert adventure I'm reminded of an old truth: Nature never dissapoints.

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