Readers of NTN may appreciate a little shorter blog than my multi-paragraphic contributions of the past week. I'll try to keep this one short, with more photos than text.
Classes do not start at Polytechnic until Feb. 2, so I took advantage of an open afternoon today to travel with my Poly colleague, Dave Joubert, to his study site east of town. We picked a beautiful afternoon, but as soon as we cleared the hills surrounding Windhoek, it was apparent we were heading directly into a rainstorm that would make the Nebraska Sandhills proud. The purpose of our trip was to check Dave's rain gauges, which he thought were close to full already. Going back was not an option.
Dave's study site is near the campus of an agricultural college, and the gravel 
road runs across a twisting river bed 4 times. That is, the road is straight, and the river twists across it. Normally, the river bed (like most river beds in Namibia) is dry most of the time. Before we reached the site, the skies opened. We made it across the mostly dry river bed, and checked his gauges. On the return, we found a river that had risen by a couple feet. We made it across in the 4x4, at one point driving downstream (in the middle of the river) to find a better way out. Dave is a great river driver.
road runs across a twisting river bed 4 times. That is, the road is straight, and the river twists across it. Normally, the river bed (like most river beds in Namibia) is dry most of the time. Before we reached the site, the skies opened. We made it across the mostly dry river bed, and checked his gauges. On the return, we found a river that had risen by a couple feet. We made it across in the 4x4, at one point driving downstream (in the middle of the river) to find a better way out. Dave is a great river driver. The most interesting experience was when we got back to the first portion of the river we had crossed on the way in. The river bed was stil
l dry here--we had crossed the upstream portions and evidently the water hadn't made it to this point yet. So, we stopped and waited for the river to come to us. The photos here show the dry river bed and then a full river--it was pretty slow moving as the river was fairly wide. A heron was following the water as it moved along--evidently some food was being washed along, too. I'm sure there are some interesting fisheries/aquatic organism questions an ecologist could explore here--like what happens to the fish/turtles/etc. when the river goes dry after the rainy season. Or, perhaps these streams never have any aquatic organisms in them, if t
he water goes down quickly between rains.
l dry here--we had crossed the upstream portions and evidently the water hadn't made it to this point yet. So, we stopped and waited for the river to come to us. The photos here show the dry river bed and then a full river--it was pretty slow moving as the river was fairly wide. A heron was following the water as it moved along--evidently some food was being washed along, too. I'm sure there are some interesting fisheries/aquatic organism questions an ecologist could explore here--like what happens to the fish/turtles/etc. when the river goes dry after the rainy season. Or, perhaps these streams never have any aquatic organisms in them, if t
he water goes down quickly between rains.
1 comment:
I was fascinated by the photos of the water coming down the river bed. We're really enjoying all your delightful photos and your commentary as well as your blog posts. I can't figure out how to leave a comment on the photo page (after circling through the same screens several times)so will do so here.
Post a Comment