Today we headed to the Vingerklip area where we would be visiting the living museum, this museum depicts tribal life and culture of the Damara people. Whilst being taken around the museum I couldn’t help but look at the lizards scuttling around with beautiful orange and yellow stomachs. In the moments I wasn’t being distracted there was a talk on the natural healing methods that are traditionally used. After a small amount of research, the more herbal based healing methods could have possibly worked, as most conventional drugs and cures use derivatives of these plants.

The second stop today was the Twyfelfontein Rock Art; these are rocks that have carvings from the tribes that travelled through there since the stone age. There are a total of near 2,500 rock engravings of various people and animals these depictions are often spiritual and have religious significance. One of the most famous carvings is the depiction of the lion, although this is not a normal lion it is a tribe’s shaman taking the form of a lion this is depicted by having the lions tail take the form of a hand or foot.

Our next significant stop was the organ pipes situated a few hundred metres from burnt mountain which is a result of volcanic activity mixing dolerite with organic matter.

The organ pipes themselves are vertical rocks of dolerite that reach up to 5 metres high, these were formed when the dolerite cooled to form angular columns.

Our final stop before our lodgings for the day was the petrified forest. This 260-million-year old collection of trees is the result of the most recent ice age the huge weight of earth and ice compacted the trees preserving them. The movement of the glaciers moved the trees all the way to where Namibia is present day they did not grow here. Looking at the petrified trees it’s hard to believe they are made of stone, but after banging two pieces together the sound of metal chinking removes any question.