At first glance, many deserts seem devoid of life. That is, until you begin to look beyond the obvious, and focus in on the miniscule, the unusual and very often extraordinary fauna and flora teeming within these arid landscapes. In the words of Pieter Van Wyk, arguably one of southern Africa's most knowledgeable desert botanists, there are floral ecosystems in the #richtersveld alone which are richer in diversity than the Amazon jungle. The scary thing is that some of these deserts are being denuded at a rapid rate due to climate change, with parts of the Richtersveld specifically having lost 85% of its biomass in just over three decades. This is potentially an irreversible process, and this is in part why @PetervanKets and I are trying to draw attention to these natural areas under extreme environmental threat through our series of @beyondexped adventures. #BeyondAukoerebis was our 3rd expedition, with a specific focus on five of southern Africa's key arid regions. Our @isuzusa #Xrider vehicles, fully kitted with @FrontRunnerZA equipment & @Dunloptyres_SA rubber, meandered via the #namaquawestcoast, #richtersveld, #NamibNaukluft, #kgalagadi and #augrabies on a 3-week, off-the-grid adventure, and we were fortunate to come face to face with Mother Nature at her immaculate best. Statuesque kokerbooms; miniscule conophytums; giraffe arabesquing across hard-rock plains; ancient boscia albitrunca trees clinging to vertiginous cliffs; crimson-breasted shrikes by the handful; Hitchcockian flocks of sand-grouse; honey badgers out on dawn patrol; pairs of spotted eagle owls huddling against the morning desert chill ... how privileged we are to have experienced this 🙏 🦉 🌵 #IsuzuSa #WithYouForTheLongRun #FrontrunnerZA #BornToRoam #SpotAfrica #GetLostStayFound #NorthernCape #Namibia #DarlingBrew #NamaquaWestCoast #namaquawines #BeanThereCoffee #TopWraps #OrnateDesigns #GiantBicycles #giantlivrsa #TribalTourist #ifollowthetribe #garminsa #sonyza #hellosonyza #sonyxperiaza (at Northern Cape) https://www.instagram.com/p/BziOz92nkv_/?igshid=1k9mnfp002dod
