Life (and Death) in the Desert.

You seem to have some junk in your trunk, Judy.

Etosha National Park, Namibia – The southern corner of Etosha National Park is so desiccated it looks as though it has been paved over with white cement. Looking for animals makes the eyes bleary.

The good news: it's easier to spot them when they appear; the bad – many will have receded into areas of the park where there is more water and vegetation. The drought is bad enough the park has had to create its own water holes.

Deeper into the park, the 120-kilometre-long Etosha pan is cooking: blanched bones lie scattered, tracing a crooked trail to a full tree under which two lions lie lazily, their stomachs full of what was once a living, breathing wildebeest. The chorus of "Circle of Life" rings through the truck.

Eventually, the post-apocalyptic landscape, from which springboks melt like a mirage, lets up and we arrive at a watering hole, where oryx patrol the waters, making springboks leap awkwardly and in a panic. It's a whole different world.

Shortly thereafter, the long-horned antelope are no longer kings of the pool: nine elephants have come to roll in the water and to spray themselves, exchanging tender touches of the trunk like complex handshakes. Dap, for the animal kingdom.

It's obvious they know each other, and regard each other with affection.

Magic.