After Etosha we decided to treat ourselves to a chalet, a good shower, our own loo and a home cooked meal.  We booked into the Damara Mopane Lodge which is another Gondwana place.  We bought a Gondwana card for R100 each which has been great.  It entitles us to 40% off accommodation and food, so has paid for itself many times over.  The lodge was great and we left well fed, well watered and clean !!!

We were driving to Brandberg but decided to stop at the Petrified Forest in Twyfelfontein first.  It was worth the stop. 

For those who don’t know, the Petrified Forest was formed when a huge flood carried pines trees (not found in Namibia) from Central Africa more than 260 million years ago.  Subsequently, the trees were buried by sand deposits which created perfect conditions causing the trees to be fossilised and preserved.  Over time, erosion has allowed these to be seen above land.

Whilst it is obvious that these are trees, they are as hard as rock and feel like rock to touch.

 

The annual growths rings are of equal size and scientists say this verifies that they came from a tropical area where rainfall was annual and consistent.

 

The longest fossil is 33 metres in length and much of it is thought to still be underground.

 

There are several plants around, the most famous being the Welwitschia plant which can live for over 1000 years on very little water.  This place is worth a little stop en-route elsewhere as you need to see the forest for yourself to appreciate its beauty.