The contrast between real life and our virtual adventure couldn't be greater today.
Outside it is well below freezing (in Indiana) and I have knife-sharp edged dunes , too. Mine are from the overnight snowfall and blasting winds that raged for hours.
In Namibia...however...it is sunny and 84 degrees right now.
The Atlantic Ocean is gently lapping at the base of the gigantic sandy dunes. Our virtual destination.
Namibia (pronounced Nuh-mi-bee-uh) is actually The Republic of Namibia and gained independence in 1990. The Zambezi River separates Namibia from it's neighboring country of Zimbabwe (which we will eventually check out).
It is considered the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Most of its people are Bantu.
Most common language here is Bantu, Afrikaans, English and German (...this land was settled by colonial Germans)
It is named after the Namib Desert.
Which stretches 1300 miles to the Ocean.
Existing for 55 million years, it is one of the oldest deserts on Earth.
The Namib
https://youtu.be/iMCY9WMnzaw
Despite it's bleak surface of the moon bareness...there are pockets of green found 'throughout and many animals and plants have adapted to the harsh conditions here.
There are even desert elephants here!
They have larger feet and can live for days on the moisture they get from the vegetation they find. Their herds tend to be very small, maybe an adaptation to limited resources.
The sandy dunes rise atone point to 7,000 feet and join the Kalahari Desert covering 350,000 square miles.
That is a lot of sand.
Once the bottom of a great sea....the Kalahari is known as The Fossil Desert.
Even fossilized whale bones have been found is this arid wasteland!
Tour Namibia from the River basin to the ocean.
https://youtu.be/zKsrKqGyeY0
Namibia by Train
https://youtu.be/_83lbhE8PAY
I hope you have enjoyed today's virtual adventure!
