Mesosaurus’ Territory
Here is finally the first picture from our summer trip last year, and in case you haven't guessed by looking at these unique trees, we traveled all the way south to Namibia. So far we'd seen mountains, glaciers, volcanoes and rainforest, but we'd both never been to a desert before, and as Namibia is considered one of the safest countries in Africa, it was an easy decision. It also has the second largest canyon in the world, some amazing sand dunes and wild animals that you usually only see at the zoo, but let's start from the beginning.
After an hour and a half flight to Frankfurt and a very rough landing, which left many passengers startled (according to the stewardess, it was apparently one of the first real flights by a young pilot), we boarded the 10-hour flight to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. The flight and arrival went smoothly, and after exchanging some money into the local currency (apparently you can't get Namibian dollars in Austria) we were picked up by our car rental company. An hour's drive later we arrived at their office, watched a safety video about driving on gravel roads and were introduced to our car, a Toyota Hilux with a rooftop tent. We would have liked a less rushed briefing, especially because of the roof tent, but we managed everything fine. After we set off, we bought a few groceries before driving on to Marienthal, which is only 3 hours away from Windhoek and therefore ideal for spending the first night.
The next morning we drove on to Keetmanshoop and visited one of the largest conglomerations of so-called quiver trees, which are a special type of aloe plant. This so called Kokerboomwoud or quiver tree forest was amazing and we spent a few hours exploring the area, taking photos and watching birds nesting in these trees or rock dassies chilling on some rocks. We actually wanted to camp there and enjoy the sunset, but we had read many not so positive reviews about the campsite and the owner of this area. However, when we arrived we followed him to his office, paid the fee to enter the quiver tree forest and were pleasantly surprised at how friendly he was. Now that this place is becoming more and more popular, I can imagine that he also meets some very rude tourists who then write such bad reviews.
We therefore booked another, less popular campsite half an hour's drive away, which was also supposed to have many quiver trees on site. Even better, mesosaur fossils had been found in this area, which were the first evidence of the continental drift theory, as these fossils were also found in South America. When we arrived, the owner wasn't there, so we followed the sign to the campsite, which was apparently on a first come, first served basis. It was quite late, but we quickly set up the rooftop tent (which we didn't want to do in the dark) and then hurried to take some pictures in the last light of the day. We walked up the hill right next to our campsite, where we saw a few quiver trees, and enjoyed our first sundowner with a burning red horizon. After a few minutes, we noticed that it was getting dark quickly, but we had forgotten our tripods in the car, so I ran down quickly to get them such that we can continue shooting. As I was up the hill again, I walked around and found this nice arrangement of quiver trees that were beautifully side-lit by the fading red glow. Even though the possibilities for composition were limited as there were less quiver trees compared to the actual famous quiver tree forest, we got a few great images and really enjoyed our time at this location. I hope you like it too!
Mesosaurus’ Territory
Here is finally the first picture from our summer trip last year, and in case you haven't guessed by looking at these unique trees, we traveled all the way south to Namibia. So far we'd seen mountains, glaciers, volcanoes and rainforest, but we'd both never been to a desert before, and as Namibia is considered one of the safest countries in Africa, it was an easy decision. It also has the second largest canyon in the world, some amazing sand dunes and wild animals that you usually only see at the zoo, but let's start from the beginning.
After an hour and a half flight to Frankfurt and a very rough landing, which left many passengers startled (according to the stewardess, it was apparently one of the first real flights by a young pilot), we boarded the 10-hour flight to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. The flight and arrival went smoothly, and after exchanging some money into the local currency (apparently you can't get Namibian dollars in Austria) we were picked up by our car rental company. An hour's drive later we arrived at their office, watched a safety video about driving on gravel roads and were introduced to our car, a Toyota Hilux with a rooftop tent. We would have liked a less rushed briefing, especially because of the roof tent, but we managed everything fine. After we set off, we bought a few groceries before driving on to Marienthal, which is only 3 hours away from Windhoek and therefore ideal for spending the first night.
The next morning we drove on to Keetmanshoop and visited one of the largest conglomerations of so-called quiver trees, which are a special type of aloe plant. This so called Kokerboomwoud or quiver tree forest was amazing and we spent a few hours exploring the area, taking photos and watching birds nesting in these trees or rock dassies chilling on some rocks. We actually wanted to camp there and enjoy the sunset, but we had read many not so positive reviews about the campsite and the owner of this area. However, when we arrived we followed him to his office, paid the fee to enter the quiver tree forest and were pleasantly surprised at how friendly he was. Now that this place is becoming more and more popular, I can imagine that he also meets some very rude tourists who then write such bad reviews.
We therefore booked another, less popular campsite half an hour's drive away, which was also supposed to have many quiver trees on site. Even better, mesosaur fossils had been found in this area, which were the first evidence of the continental drift theory, as these fossils were also found in South America. When we arrived, the owner wasn't there, so we followed the sign to the campsite, which was apparently on a first come, first served basis. It was quite late, but we quickly set up the rooftop tent (which we didn't want to do in the dark) and then hurried to take some pictures in the last light of the day. We walked up the hill right next to our campsite, where we saw a few quiver trees, and enjoyed our first sundowner with a burning red horizon. After a few minutes, we noticed that it was getting dark quickly, but we had forgotten our tripods in the car, so I ran down quickly to get them such that we can continue shooting. As I was up the hill again, I walked around and found this nice arrangement of quiver trees that were beautifully side-lit by the fading red glow. Even though the possibilities for composition were limited as there were less quiver trees compared to the actual famous quiver tree forest, we got a few great images and really enjoyed our time at this location. I hope you like it too!