With
its elevation of 278 meters, Swartbankberg is unimpressive small hill
at the northern edge of the Namib desert. However, more remarkable is
what happens behind that elevation. The Kuiseb river, which lies in the
south of the mountain, forms a hard border between the red dunes of the
Namib and the brown and rocky surface north of the river bed. The
irregular floods of the dried up river prevent that the slow moving
sand dunes of the Namib can wander across the riverbed. When they
happen, the floods flush the sand into the ocean.
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