A well composed post - thank you very much!
Reminds me of a time, many years back, I spent visiting a relative researching the ecology of desert scarabs on the Kuiseb river about 70 miles inland from Walvis Bay in what is now known as Namibia (Then officially "South West Africa").
If you guys want to see a beautiful picture of what to my mind is a natural wonder - a pencil sharp division between the mountainous red dunes to the South and the white(-ish) rocky flatland to the North, home of one of probably one of the most unique plant species in the world - Welwitschia mirabilis, just googlemaps Walvis Bay and you will see it.
This sharp an lasting division between ecosystems along the (mostly dry) river must be an ecologist's paradise, wouldn't it be @holothewise?
Absolutely. I'm very keen to visit Namibia. Still haven't been. There's that one protected strip of coast where the brown hyenas take seal pups off the beach. It must be an amazing thing to witness!
Thanks for reading and for the thoughtful comment :)