Desert Adventure. In Search of Wilderness in Namibia and Botswana, by Paul Augustinus.

Desert Adventure. In Search of Wilderness in Namibia and Botswana, by Paul Augustinus. Acorn Books. Randburg, South Africa 1997. ISBN 1874802084 / ISBN 1-874802-08-4 / ISBN 1874802092 / ISBN 1-874802-09-2

Lavishly illustrated by Paul Augustinus’s paintings, photographs, and pencil sketches of animals and birds in their natural settings, as well as by detailed maps, this magnificent art book, Desert Adventure: In Search of Wilderness in Namibia and Botswana, is for all to experience and to treasure.

Paul Augustinus  

[...] The road to Sesfontein is a good one, slightly wider than one would think necessary until one remembers that Sesfontein used to be a large South African military post. It is still, however, a Namibian road and that means that you can expect the hardest corrugations in Africa. The enjoyment of the journey to Sesfontein was thus coloured by the effects of those accursed corrugations. We were further aggravated by the ‘whoosh’ of those white government vehicles when they overtook us at autobahn speeds. Inside these, and in air conditioned luxury, the occupants seemed oblivious to the pounding that their vehicles were absorbing. We were rather jealous of them! A hundred kilometres passed and we arrived in the vast elongated valley that precedes the vale of Sesfontein. Here, trees began to dot the landscape and we saw cattle for the first time. Much has been written about Sesfontein and its environs, but the reality of the situation is that there are now too many people and livestock in the area. It has turned into a dustbowl, and consequently all the wildlife has long since vanished from the vicinity of the road. Soon we were entering the town itself. This may once have been an interesting place, but sadly, this is not now the case. The old fort is crumbling and the irrigated garden for which this place was noted, has had its spring of water diverted and put to other, more mundane uses. We continued on and, after passing an abandoned military base, were soon out on the other side. Here, according to my sketch map, I was supposed to find a track leading to the left off the main road and through a Herero village. Before long, however, we were halfway up the mountains behind Sesfontein. Something was wrong with my sketch map: we had missed our turning and were now on the track to Puros instead. Yet this mountain track was indeed a scenic one, and interesting as well, for alongside it ran a tiny, green-fringed furrow of sparkling water - truly an extraordinary sight in those barren parts. Small springs at various levels up the side of the mountain feed this furrow, adding to the tinkling stream as it descends towards Sesfontein. Rather glad to have seen this unusual water feature, we returned down the hill and tried again to find our turn-off. For a while I roved around in the village, searching for anything resembling a track leading westward, in the meantime nearly making some Herero women dizzy. Finally, I decided to keep going west as best as I could, and by following some cattle paths we managed to clear the village and its curious inhabitants. Miraculously, the confusing network of cattle paths seemed to coalesce into several tracks all leading in the same general direction. Thereafter, our new-found route traversed what could only be described as a conservationist’s worst nightmare. Everywhere cattle and goats were huddled in the meagre shade of mopane trees. These emaciated unfortunates were surrounded by their own handiwork - the dustbowl of the Okambondevlakte. And a dustbowl it truly is, for as we continued further westwards, our route passed through drifts of what appeared to be chalk dust. A huge, white, billowing cloud was raised by our passage and often when we slowed to detour around a fallen tree or a soft part of the road, this cloud would catch up with the vehicle, enveloping it as completely as any white-out in an Alaskan blizzard. […]

This is an excerpt from the art book: Desert Adventure. In Search of Wilderness in Namibia and Botswana, by Paul Augustinus.

Title: Desert Adventure
Subtitle: In Search of Wilderness in Namibia and Botswana
Genre: Illustrated art book
Author: Paul Augustinus
Publisher: Acorn Books
Randburg, South Africa 1997
ISBN 1874802084 / ISBN 1-874802-08-4
ISBN 1874802092 / ISBN 1-874802-09-2
Hardcover, dustcover, 30 x 28 cm, 240 pages, throughout colour photos and drawings