A Thousand Shadows

The Namib was everything, and more. Anywhere on Mother Earth, it probably doesn’t get more pristine or desolate or stark than this. A few years ago I was in Iceland, 64 degrees due North, in a part of the world that lays claim to being only 16 million years young. In contrast, the Namib Desert is the oldest desert in the world, anywhere between 55-80 million years old – so old that it is home to the largest number of uniquely endemic species and so dry that tyre tracks left by jeeps and trucks have remained practically fresh after several decades.