[chrisinhouston]

Friday I did a tour of the local Namib Desert not far from Swakopmund along the riverbed that has been carved out for the past million years or so. The area we mainly toured is known as the Moon Landscape. Several films have had parts done here, 2001 A Space Odyssey (Ape scenes) and Mad Max Fury Road to name a few.

We saw some pretty desolate landscapes where very little seemed to grow but if you looked closely you could find plants with small flowers and other signs of life. We also saw the famous National Plant of Namibia, the Welwitschiaceae which is kind of cool because it is so limited that it is the only species in it's classification, no other varieties and not that many. They can live up to 1500 years on very little water. It sort of looked like a house plant that has been severely neglected.

All in all it kind of reminded me of the Mojave Desert or the land around El Paso but worse.