In 2012 the Desert Research Station at Gobabeb in Namibia, a world renowned research centre of excellence, was 50 years old. Yet many in South Africa probably do not even know of its existence! Gobabeb is on the 'mighty' Kuiseb River about 60 km inland from the Namibian coast, a little south of Walvis Bay. The Kuiseb rises in the mountains near Windhoek and flows out to sea close to Walvis Bay - that is on those rare occasions that the river flows.