'This may seem to be just a painting of some lions hunting along the very lowest part of the Uniab River on the Skeleton Coast in Namibia. And it is! But it is more than that. It is also about how extreme desert wilderness becomes habitable to mega-fauna by virtue of the seemingly miraculous presence of water. This is often found in the sandy beds of the dry rivers that cut across the Namib Desert on their way to the Atlantic Ocean.
This painting is of the tiny rocky delta that occurs where the Uniab reaches the Atlantic Ocean. About a kilometer from the ocean water that has been seeping along under the sand is forced to the surface where the Uniab encounters a rocky dyke. Here a series of small springs in the river bed feed several pools and there is even a small waterfall where the Uniab drops over a cliff. This water enables gemsbok and springbok to survive in what would otherwise be barren desert. Occasionally lions are seen at the mouth of the Uniab, a fact that you must keep in your mind if you decide to hike down the river bed from the small car park at the bridge on the road to Mowe bay. There are several beds of reeds along the river course so you never know what might be watching you on that hike! And that is the joy of this place for me because I never really need to see lions. What I definitely like knowing is that they might be there because that is what makes gives a wilderness mystery and consequence.'

.