Back in time

The first stop was the petrified forest. This is a forest of trees that have turned into stone. The stone trees are estimated to be about 260 million years old. The stop was nice and our guide Ingrid was very friendly and informative. Some of the trees were 45 meters long. Unfortunately, none of them were standing up. They all laid down as huge fallen tree trunks. Hundreds of millions of years ago, this part of Africa was located more to the south, towards the south pole, and was covered in a big layer of ice. When the ice started to slide, it took away all the trees and deposited them in what is now the desert in Namibia. It was crazy to think about what the world probably looked like all that time ago, especially after we have watched the series Life on our planet while were were stuck in Kasama, which we highly recommend! The series, not being stuck in Kasama. 

Apart from the petrified trees, we saw some living fossils. The welwitschia is a very special desert plant that only lives in the Namib desert. The plant is specialized in living in the desert with very long roots that can reach water, which makes it a fascinating plant. Apparently, it harbors a lot of moisture and is therefore vital for the survival of the animals roaming the desert. 

After the fossils, it was time to go a little forward in time. At Twyfelfontein we found the largest concentration of ancient rock engravings. In the middle of the desert, there are some rock formations that have been used by shamans for rituals. In these rocks, they have engraved the animals that can be found roaming the desert. Ostriches, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, antelopes, rhinos and elephants have all been documented by ancient travelers. The engravings were quite impressive, especially seeing how beautifully some of the animals have been chiseled out of the rocks thousands of years ago. 

After having seen and photographed the engravings, we went to the little spring that gave 'Twyfelfontein' its name. A German farmer settled in the area some time in the last century, using a natural spring of water for his livelihood. However, he was never sure if there had been enough rain during the rainy season to make the spring give sufficient water during the dry season. Therefore, an Afrikaans speaking friend called it the 'Twyfelfontein' or 'Doubtful fountain'. After having learnt this, we went on our way to our campsite. 

On the way to our campsite, we suddenly saw many heavy clouds forming all around us. One moment we were melting away in the sun at the petrified forest and at Twyfelfontein, the next moment it was raining heavily all around us. We tried to wait out the rain, but it did not seem to stop. Fortunate to have our awning, we set up our camp, cooked in the rain and ate under our awning. We were very disappointed about this, as we had bought some game steak from the Weakleys and were really looking forward to braaiing this meat. Unfortunately, due to the rain we were not able to braai and make a fire. The next morning we left the firewood we bought behind, untouched, and took the game meat with us again.