|
Damaraland,
named after the Damara people who make up most of the local population,
is the hilly transitional zone between the arid Skeleton Coast and
Namibia's scrubby central plateau - it holds the main repositories of
Namibia's best known prehistoric rock paintings and engravings.
- Twyfelfontein
("doubtful spring") has one of the most extensive
galleries of rock art in Africa providing a unique window to a past
culture and civilisation with over 2000 documented engravings.
Unlike most prehistoric art sites in southern Africa, most of the
Twyfelfontein works aren't paintings but rather engravings, or
petroglyphs which have been imprinted by chipping through the hard
patina covering the sandstone, dolomite or basaltic lava.
- The
Brandberg ("fire mountain", "mountain of the
Gods", "forsaken mountain") named for the effect
created by the rising and setting sun on its faces, is a massive
inselberg that dominates the surrounding rock and gravel plains.
Maack's Shelter in the Tsisab ("leopard") Ravine contains
the famous "White Lady" painting which has evoked a myriad
hypotheses as to its origin and meaning. The figure is estimated to
be over 4000 years old.
- The
summit of the Brandberg, Konigstein, is Namibia's highest peak at
2579m. Conquered in 1918, it provides a formidable goal for
mountaineers with horrendous daytime temperatures, bitterly cold
nights and a serious scarcity of water.
- The
Messum Crater is a secluded volcanic feature in the Gobobose
Mountains west of Brandberg - one of the best areas in Namibia for
seeing lichen fields.
- Spitzkoppe
("pointed hill) - a remnant of an ancient volcano is one of
Namibia's most recognisable landmarks, nicknamed the Matterhorn of
Africa - an area which is rich in semi-precious stones.
- The
Petrified Forest in the Awahuab Valley west of Khorixas contains an
exceptional accumulation of fossilised trees estimated at over 200
million years old. An isolated colony of Welwitschia mirabalis
amongst these relics creates an exotic botanical contrast by
bringing together these "living fossils" with the dead.
Kaokoveld proper
Originally
referred to as the Kaokoland district, the remote north-western corner
of Namibia is rugged, harsh, untamed and practically devoid of
commercial tourist developments.
This
hinterland, reached by the Herero during the early southward Bantu
migrations about 450 years ago and the Dorstlandtrekkers over 120 years
ago is still sparsely inhabited by man. The Himba (or Ovahimba) tribe
are Herero descendants who continue their semi-nomadic existence in this
primitive wilderness today.
The
Kaokoveld remains a wild sanctuary for small but wide-ranging
populations of the renowned desert elephant, rhino, giraffe and lion.
Roads are horrendous and basic infrastructure is virtually non-existent
- this is prime safari territory!
|
