Mysterious Damaraland

Many Namibians feel that Damaraland is the most beautiful part of the country. It is a landscape of wide plains lined by grand mountains of mindboggling age, and of ancient river courses where the famous desert-adapted elephant roam, where black rhino, lion, giraffe and antelope are found. 'As old as the hills' might have been coined at the sight of the dome-shaped hills in the Twyfelfontein valley which go back 560 million years. By comparison it was 'only' 120 million years ago that volcanic activity produced some of Damaraland's special sights.

It is early on a Saturday morning as we head out of Khorixas on the road to the coast. Of the classic sights west of the former administrative centre of Damaraland the Petrified Forest is the closest, 42 km over hill and dale, and therefore first on our list. A guide takes you around the site, explains the theories about the origin of the trees and watches like a hawk as full of wonder you move around between the extraordinary pieces of stone with the distinctive look of wood, sorely tempted to take one home. Don't even think about it - the shrilling of the guard's whistle will make you jump out of your skin and remind you that this is a National Monument site. And it is just as well that it is guarded, otherwise there wouldn't be much left to see: souvenir hunters already caused enough damage over the decades and this forest isn't exactly a forest. Around 50 large trunks, the longest of them 30 metres, are lying in the Abahuab Valley, with smaller pieces of petrified wood scattered between them. Could it be that more trees are still buried in the ground? The age of these fossils is estimated to be some 250 million years, the end of the Palaeozoic Era when climatic conditions were much wetter in today's Namibia. Just as the huge pan in Etosha was in fact a lake, the trees were washed to this place west of Khorixas by a tremendous flood - at least according to one of the theories. Living fossils have very fittingly joined the remains from unimaginably distant times: Welwitschias are growing among the fossilized wood. We are surrounded by the breath of 250 million years... an awe-inspiring thought even if the Petrified Forest is not a forest.
As we continue further west the mountains start to close in on the road. Even from a distance we recognize The Ship, a peculiar bare rock formation on the left which indeed looks like a huge bow, as if a super tanker had run aground far from the ocean. A good 50 km from the Petrified Forest a sign shows the way to Twyfelfontein, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With more than 2000 petroglyphs it is the largest gallery of rock engravings and paintings in the country, if not on the entire continent. Now that tourists flock to the remotest parts of Namibia in considerable numbers, Twyfelfontein is fast becoming one of the most popular destinations, with an estimated 40 000 visitors per year. Stone pathways have been built to prevent erosion and viewing platforms to protect engravings and paintings. Forget about any ambitions to go and find the ancient pieces of art by yourself. It was neither easy nor quickly accomplished when it was still possible to do so, but these days you are anyway no longer permitted to venture into Twyfelfontein on your own.

You have to wait for a guide. Ours is leading the way at quite a pace, almost rushing along on the well-trodden path between rocks and boulders. The sun is beating down relentlessly, Twyfelfontein is brooding under the full midday heat. How clever of us, we couldn't have picked a less suitable time for clambering about between rocks! Just as we berate ourselves for dawdling earlier in the morning when we should have known better, the guide stops and points to something. Yes, there they are - engravings on an overhanging slab of rock, and more of them right next to it on another slab in the glaring sunlight and therefore more weathered and more difficult to spot. The third site, however, is quite spectacular: the rocks are teeming with giraffe, rhino, elephant and various antelope. We are shown a good two dozen different pictures, including one with a seal. This is seen as evidence that the prehistoric artists were not unfamiliar with the coast, 150 km away. There seems to be agreement that Twyfelfontein's rock art is some 6000 years old. It must be noted, however, that this is far from being the only site. Rock art is plentiful in Damaraland, from Spitzkoppe in the south to the famous White Lady and hundreds of other paintings in the Brandberg, right up to Kamanjab in the north.
Not far from Twyfelfontein is the Burnt Mountain, and it is a little disappointing. Depending on the time of day it looks burnt enough, but this is not a mountain, it is little more than a slag heap which you walk up in a few minutes without even exerting yourself. Speculation abounds about how it got its black cover, even though there is a geological explanation, of course. There was much volcanic activity in this part of the country around 120 million years ago after the supercontinent of Gondwana had broken up. The dark material on the Burnt Mountain is baked shale.

While you are there, don't miss the Organ Pipes in the immediate vicinity. This fascinating rock formation is a geological oddity, also caused by volcanic activity. It is a dolerite dyke, vertical slabs of basalt which differ in length and width and line several hundred metres of a narrow valley. You have to climb down there to properly admire nature's own organ in the wilds. In the sun the basalt gleams like bronze or brass, and it is easy to see how the formation got its name. On the way back to the C39 take time and stop at the Living Museum of the Damara which only opened in February this year.

We continue west on the C39, through a landscape of solitary grand mountains. Conical peaks and table mountains in all shades and colours stand out against the horizon. Steep slopes strewn with rocks which were violet from a distance are suddenly a dazzling vermilion red as we approach. After we have crossed the seasonal Huab River, the road starts to lead steadily uphill, almost like a pass, over one mountain top after the next until it finally descends into a vast plain with short green grass as far as the eye can see. A perfect site for large herds of antelope.... but there is not a single creature in sight.
Finally we come to Bergsig where the C39 continues into Skeleton Coast Park, while the C43 turns off straight north to Palmwag and through Sesfontein into Kaokoland.
Palmwag on the seasonal Uniab River is the oldest accommodation facility in Damaraland, a tranquil little paradise under tall Makalani palm trees next to a spring. For many years this was in fact the only accommodation facility west of the Rest Camp just outside Khorixas. But much has happened since the mid-90s. A dozen or so camps and lodges are now available. Wildlife conservancies run by local communities have been established with particular success in Damaraland. Wilderness Safaris joined the community efforts in 1996 and played a significant role in setting up a community-based tourism venture which has become the most successful in the country. The flagship is the elegant Damaraland Camp in the Torra Conservancy, the first one which no longer depends on donor funding. Another great success story is the wonderful Grootberg Lodge, overlooking Etendeka Valley northeast of Palmwag, which is the first to be entirely conservancy-owned. Even Fort Sesfontein, in the far north of Damaraland, has been beautifully restored and now offers all the trimmings of a lodge for a maximum of 44 guests. The fort is another relic from German colonial times and looks quite similar to Namutoni in Etosha. It was built in 1896 as a control post (like Okaukuejo) to keep cattle disease, arms smuggling and poaching in check.

The number of beds available in Damaraland will be further boosted when Damara Mopane Lodge opens 30 km east of Khorixas in November this year. It is the latest accommodation facility of the Gondwana Collection and will offer 55 chalets styled like an African village.