Fish River Canyon, Quivertree Forest and the Giant’s Playground
Nambia’s tourist attractions are few and far between. Some are totally mind-blowingly awesome. Some are quite cool. Some are not much to write home about at all. We have no idea what category each fits into until we have driven for many hours to see them. Apart from about six “motorways” and around town roads all other roads are dirt tracks, some require a meaty 4x4.
Fish River Canyon fitted in the first category and has been compared to the Grand Canyon by many. It was one of the most amazing views I have ever seen. It’s hard to convey the view in words, and photos miss out on the 180° panoramic view and look a bit diddy and pathetic compared to the real thing.
Quiver tree forest is hardly what you and I would know as a forest – 250 trees spread out over a wide area doesn’t even rate as a small wood. But after driving for 3 hours and counting the trees on one hand 250 does
seem a bit of a forest! The trees are very odd and look
like they are nervous and quivering but that isn’t how they get their name. The locals used to hollow out branches and use them as a quiver for their arrows.
The Giant’s Playground sounded very exciting but I think we built this one up too much in our minds. It consists of lots of boulders stacked on top of one another. Quite something it you’re a geologist. Perhaps were becoming tourist attraction snobs! It was quite impressive and they stretched for miles. We felt a bit nervous at one point when all we could see were rocks, rocks and more rocks and no idea where the car was. I climbed up one particularly large stack, met a colourful lizard and spotted the toilet block in the car park.
