#2: [19-Jun-04]

04-Sep-2002 -- The old road from Rundu into the Caprivi Strip follows the Kavango River (see Picture 7), with Angola on the other side of the river. The area along the river is heavily populated, and the dusty road is made more difficult by the presence of many goats, the curse of Africa. A modern tarred road was built some years ago, allowing good communications between the main body of Namibia and the isolated Caprivi region. This road was driven straight through the bush, and is connected back to the old road by a link every few kilometres. (See also 18S 22E)

The bush in this part of the world is dense, with many large trees. In summer the bush will be a dense green forest, but towards the end of the dry season most of the deciduous trees have lost their leaves, and the forest is a dry tinderbox just waiting for a spark to start a fire. And we saw many, many fires, set by the local population to clear land, but always raging out of control. The sandy soil is not very rich and fires are destroying the forests at an alarming rate.

We did not have time to search for this Confluence, but hope that the information we provide will assist someone to visit it in the future. In the event, the closest approach on the main road was only 2.5 km away, so some walking through the bush will not be too difficult. Pictures 1-4 show views from the closest approach and will give an idea of the terrain.

Picture 6 shows a typical local kraal, consisting of a group of straw huts, with some native cattle foraging amongst the trees.