evidence: The Orange River mouth is a designated RAMSAR site, and is one of Namibia's globally important wetlands, (the others being Walvis Bay Lagoon, Sandwich Harbour and Etosha Pan), protecting an abundance of bird life. The reed beds and tidal mud-flats sustain huge numbers of resident and migrant birds. The Orange River is also known as the 'River of Diamonds', Namibia benefiting from diamonds as they were carried to the Namib coast by the Orange River, before being redistributed by wind and waves. The sparkling stones are formed deep underground and are brought to the surface through the earth's ongoing movement, and are eroded out of the ground by wind and rain. It was due to nature taking its own course, that allowed Zacharias Lewala to pick up one of these sparkling stones in 1908 near Kolmanskop. The rest they say is history. [...] The history of the Namib Desert and the Orange River are also inextricably linked. Throughout time, this powerful river carried all the sand that now constitutes the Namib dunes. From the lower river reaches and the coast, sand was transported northwards by currents and winds, until it was finally blocked by the Kuiseb River.