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Khaudum
Khaudum is an extremely remote park
of classic Kalahari bushvelt landscapes and infamously deep sand on
the roads. There are reasonable populations of elephant, roan, wildog
and lion. Situated next to Botswana and immediately north of Bushmanland,
Kaudum is a wild, seldom-visited area of dry woodland savannah growing
on old stabilised Kalahari sand-dunes. These are interspersed with
flat, clay pans and the whole area is laced with a life-giving network
of omurambas.
Omuramba is a Herero word meaning ‘vague river bed’, which
is used to describe a drainage line that rarely, if ever, actually
flows above ground but often gives rise to a number of water-holes
along its course. In Kaudum, the omurambas generally lie along east-west
lines and ultimately link into the Okavango’s river system,
flowing underground into the Delta when the rains come. However, during
the dry season the flood in the Okavango Delta helps to raise the
level of the water-table in these omurambas – ensuring that
the water-holes don't dry up, and do attract game into Kaudum. The
vegetation here can be thick in comparison with Namibia's drier parks
to the west. Rhodesian teak and false mopane dominate the dunes, while
acacias and leadwoods are found in the clay pans.
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