![]() ![]() Otherwise, there would be better directional signs at both places. It appears to us that the farm owner doesn't really care whether you easily find your way around these two sites or not. Other campers we followed couldn't find it either. It's not marked and we had to drive around the large camping site searching for it (a fence blocks entrance except at the gate). We had trouble locating the entrance gate to the walking path. ![]() It's not really a forest but a dense stand of Quivertrees spread around rock hills. The Quivertree Forest is nice and makes for some great photos against the blue sky. This all might sound funny, but it wasn't not knowing where you are with the temperature 36 C. Our guess is that some jokester removed some of the path signs and they have not been replaced. ![]() Luckily, we were able to spot the brown water tower off in the distance and walked in that direction to eventually get back to the parking lot. After 20 long minutes of this wandering, we eventually climbed to the top of a tall rock to try to get some perspective. No one else was there when we visited in the late afternoon so calling out to others was futile. It's easy to walk in the complete wrong direction and not really know where you are. All you can see are more and more rock piles. The walking path is set below all the rocks so it's impossible to see the horizon to help locate where you are. All the rock constellations, while beautiful, look the same after a while and it's nearly impossible to remember if you passed them before (some seemed staged while others are amazingly authentic). With no signs, we soon became disoriented and didn't know which way to go. While it proceeds in a right-hand circle around the site, it also twists and turns all the time. But after a while the signs stopped and the main path branched off to here and there. It starts out fine with a couple of white arrow signs pointing in the right direction. The danger here is that the circular path through the stones is not well marked. A tall brown water tower stands next to it. There's a parking lot with a nice modern toilet. It's located off a gravel road 5 km north of the Quivertree Forest (same entrance fee). Other Quiver Tree Forests Īlthough Aloe dichotoma is common in southern Africa, there are only a small number of natural quiver tree forests, most having been created by humans one of them is found in the Karoo National Botanical Garden of Worcester, South Africa.Giant's Playground is a maze of stone piles that seemingly stretches on forever. The forest is home to rock hyraxes living amongst the rocks. Bright yellow flowers bloom from June to July, when a huge variety of insects, birds, and mammals are drawn to the abundant nectar. The Quiver Tree Forest holds tremendous ecological value within its native landscape. Near the forest, there is another tourist attraction, spectacular for its unique geology, the Giant's Playground, a vast pile of large dolerite rocks. Since diamonds have been found in Namibia, people say that if one of these trees is dug up, one will find diamonds where it has grown, but since these trees are blessed nobody wants to dig them up. This tree is associated with a long history of folklore, for instance that it will bring good luck to anybody that worships a tree and nurtures it. The quiver tree is also known for looking upside down because the "leaves" look somewhat similar to roots. The forest was declared a national monument of Namibia in 1995. The forest has grown spontaneously the tallest quiver trees are two to three centuries old. It comprises about 250 specimens of Aloidendron dichotomum, a species that is also locally known as the quiver tree ( Afrikaans: kokerboom) because the San people traditionally used its branches to make quivers. ![]() It is located about 14 km north-east of Keetmanshoop on the road to Koës, on the Gariganus farm. The Quiver Tree Forest ( Kokerboomwoud in Afrikaans) is a forest and tourist attraction of southern Namibia. Quiver tree forest Dolerite rocks and quiver trees ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |