Namibia, with a population of 2.2 million people and a land mass of 825,615 square kilometres, is a country that thrives in its complexity in terms of the people, land mass and culture. In no better part of the country is this more reflected than the Damara region in the north eastern part of the country. Here the effect of arid, austere and unforgiving Namib Desert is pervasive. This contrasts sharply with the abundance and sophistication of the western part of the country like Swakupmond? Namibia is a country of paradox. It is also a country that basks, and is comfortable in its pristine beauty, where nature offers enough to survive in some parts and survival in itself is a monumental achievement, while in the other parts, they swim in abundance.
In Damaraland, the land offers little; the sky is clear, devoid of any patch of cloud that could give hope of rain. Here shades of colours are limited to the light and dark brown and also dark yellow. Few shrubs spot green. In this part of Namibia, it hardly rains. Wild animals like the elephants have developed their survival instinct and could go for days without food or water. Water is a rarity, but man and animals have learnt to survive. It’s a place that once one visits, one would never forget.
Although Namibia is rich in wild life with the population of animal far outnumbering humans, in the austere Damara region, also called Twyfelfontein, the very distant past is captured in a kind of unmistakable vividness. Among the rugged brownish rock formations is the Zieben Platten National Heritage Site that captured activities of prehistoric inhabitants of the area in form of rock arts.
However, one of the most interesting tourist sites is the Petrified Forest National Heritage Site. Petrified is got from the Latin word ‘petrosus,’ meaning being stone-like or hard. The petrified rocks that one sees at the site were once trees, but over a period estimated to be more than 280 million years, these trees have hardened and become rocks. The date the trees existed was arrived at by radio-carbon dating.
However, before entering the site, tourists are expected to adhere strictly to the instructions and guidelines of the site. They include: tourists can only visit the site with a tour guide from the official tour guide association; tourists are not expected to damage plants, trees and rocks within the site; tourists are not expected to dig up, purchase or remove any archeological, paleontological or geological artefacts. Things like pieces of rocks, stones and so on cannot be removed from the site as they may hold some historical significant.
The tour guide at the site led the way to where the petrified rocks were. Here were these long reddish brown rocks in form of trees, about 30 feet. One could see that it has the shape of a tree with cracks at different points. However, it was pure rock. The tour guide explained. He said the ‘tree-rock ‘trunk was cut by erosion. He went towards one of the tree-rocks. “Here we can see where the branches were. The trees are like a stone.’ Petry’, like a stone. You can see the branches here; you can see the bark of the tree here. Inside you can see that. When the tree was still alive was about 260 million years, the petrified period was around 280 million years, which means this happened even before the continents (Africa and other continents) split,” he said.
All around the site were pieces of what looked like woods, brownish as if they had been outside for many years and beaten by the elements. The kind of wood, when one touches them, they quickly dissolved into dust. But these pieces of what looked like wood were actually rocks in wood form.
The Namibia government guides these woods jealously. Tourists are not allowed to unnecessarily touch or pick any piece of the word. They are national treasures, and meant to remain in Damaraland.
The Petrified Forest was first discovered on March 1 1950, after it was first seen by two farmers in the 1940s.
According to palaeontologists, the petrified rocks were as a result of accumulation of enormous fossilized tree trunks of about 280 million years old. They found out that these trunks did not grow in today’s Namibia but were washed down a river in ancient times when one of the many Ice Ages ended.
This flood also carried a lot of sand and mud which covered the trees to such an extent that air intrusion was prevented and consequently no decay took place. The organic material of the trunks was conserved. Due to enormous pressure and over a period of millions of years, the wood was dissolved by silicic acid and replaced by quartz. These are what became the petrified tree trunks.
Also within the vicinity of the petrified rocks are the Welwitschia Mirabilis plants. The plants live and survive within the Damara desert area with little water. While most plants could last from few months to above 100 years, the Welwitschia plant is believed to live for about 1000 years. That is why it is referred to as a miracle plant.
The plant itself looks common with faded oversize green leaves. The plants have leaves that capture moisture from sea fogs and long tap roots that search out underground water.
The Petrified Forest National Heritage Site of Namibia is a place with a window into millions of years back in time.