Abstract
If one is asked to imagine a landscape teeming with life, a desert is not the first thing that comes to mind. But what a difference some water can make. In southern Africa, the Kalahari desert lies along the Okavango River and after every rainy season, waters flow here from the central Angolan highlands 680 miles (1,100 km) away. Life springs from the river as it moves down to northern Botswana, where it replenishes the 5,790 square mile (15,000 km<+>2<+>) Okavango Delta, an inland alluvial fan. In this season, the Okavango wetlands expand as if by magic into a lush mosaic of permanent and temporary channels, grassy islands, and banks that crisscross the landscape. At its peak, this magnificent wetland complex can expand to 10,800 square miles (28,000 km<+>2<+>)--an area the size of Massachusetts.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | State of the Wild 2010-2011-- A Global Portrait |
| Place of Publication | Washington, DC, USA |
| Publisher | Island Press (with the Wildlife Conservation Society) |
| Pages | 160-166 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Edition | Part 3. 8 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781597266772 |
| Publication status | Published - 2010 |
