The Deserts of South Africa teem with life. Ants and elephants, cryptic 'stone plants' and colourful daisies - all exist in seemingly barren wastes. How do they cope with scarce and unpredictable rainfall, temperatures that fluctuate from one extreme to another in a matter of hours, food supplies that are few and far between. He tells an absorbing story of survival, explaining how and why so many plants and insects, mammals, reptiles and birds successfully exist in these arid regions. A respected biologist himself, Dr. Lovegrove has complied much of the information from scientific papers and presents it in a readable style.
Excellent photography complements the text, capturing the stark beauty of arid habits.
Contributing photographers include such wildlife experts as Anthony Bannister, Peter Pickford and Daryl Balfour. With drought of flood, the fragile desert ecosystem always seems to adjust and survive. Yet the interference of man invariably disturbs its delicate balance. The author in the last chapter of the critically acclaimed cited book, gives an overview of potential threats to the continued existence of such resilient yet fragile ecosystems. Mailships of the Union- Castle Line is, in part, the story of that mail service, tracing the years of fierce competition between the Union and Castle lines for tenure of the coveted Ocean Mail Contract, their ultimate amalgamation in 1900, and the fluctuating fortunes of the resulting company.