The sand·dunes of the South West African coastline at their first appearance would seem to be a region quite unable to support life. As bare as one's hand, these evermoving turbulent dunes, which rise in places to almost a thousand feet in height, resemble an endless Sea of undulating sand stretching to the horizon. In these mindless and impersonal surroundings man becomes only an accidental occurrence, an unimportant and indeed unnecessary intruder, an utterly unnoticed and insignificant part of the landscape. Between Walfisch Bay and Lüderitzbucht this vast sand-dune desert stretches for about 300 miles and with an approximate width of 70; it is almost completely without water though in occasional years there may be a single sudden downpour of an inch or two. The last time a river came down in flood in this region was 1942.