Namibia

Rising unexpectedly from the heart of the Namib Desert, the Brandberg Massif, shown in this enhanced satellite image, is an exhumed granitic intrusion. As one of the highest mountains in Namibia at 2,573 m (8,439 ft), it formed when ancient magma chambers cooled and began to erode. Brandberg means fire mountain in Africaans, Dutch, and German. Unique plant and animal communities thrive in Brandberg's high-altitude environment, and prehistoric cave paintings decorate walls hidden in its steep cliffs, earning it status as a potential UNESCO World Heritage site. Image courtesy of USGS.

Elusive, but ecologically vital, the 500 km (310 mi) Ugab River only flows above ground for a few days each year. Shown in this false-color satellite image, the subterranean waters underlying this ephemeral river are shallow enough in places to fill hollows and sustain wildlife populations that include the rare desert elephant and the largest free population of black rhino. Pink-granite inselbergs, islands of rock left behind after volcanic activity, form bizarre sculptures in the sandy riverbed. Some, known as "petrified ghosts," are eerie hollow structures, carved by erosion. Image courtesy of USGS.

A bathed and refreshed elephant on the banks of the Chobe River.

Thirsty elephants along the Chobe River.

Hippopotamus and her calf along the Chobe River.

The Orange River serves as part of the border between Namibia and the Republic of South Africa. Along the banks of this river, roughly 100 km (60 mi) inland from where the river empties into the Atlantic Ocean, irrigation projects take advantage of water from the river and soils from the floodplains to grow produce, turning parts of a normally earth-toned landscape emerald green. A network of bright rectangles of varying shades of green contrasts with surroundings of gray, beige, tan, and rust in this true-color satellite image. Immediately south of a large collection of irrigated plots, faint beige circles reveal center-pivot irrigation fields, apparently allowed to go fallow. This Namibian irrigation project occurs along a section of the Orange River where the waterway turns north on its general westward path to the sea, not far from the eastern margin of the Namib Desert. Due to local climatic conditions, grapes from Namibia, the primary agricultural product of this area, are often ready for market two to three weeks before those of the main grape-producing regions of South Africa's Cape. Image courtesy of NASA.