Earth Views

A large clay pan enclosed by huge sand dunes, some reaching 300m high, and are some of the highest in the world. Only after a (rare) heavy rainfall does the vlei fill with water, leaving a turquoise lake for some time as the clay is almost impervious to water.

Vlei may simply mean dunes and indeed Sossusvlei == Hidden Vlei == hidden dunes.

See Keetmanskoop and The Quiver Tree Forest:

About 13 kilometres north-east of Keetmanshoop lies the spectacular and much photographed Kokerboom or quiver tree forest on the farm Gariganus, which was declared a National Monument.

The quiver tree or `Kokerboom' is indigenous to the hot and dry southern part of Namibia. The plants are succulents and can reach a height of up to 9 metres. They have adapted to the extreme environmental conditions by storing water in their trunks. The tree blossoms for the first time after 20 to 30 years and can reach 300 years of age. The wood is very light and spongy inside. As the trunk and branches can be easily hollowed out, they were used as quivers by the bushmen (San people) who formerly roamed this area.

Travel tips and visitor information [can be found] on the Keetmanshoop Info page.

The largest meteorite ever found is to be found in the grounds of the ``Hoba'' farm close to Grootfontein. It weighs more than 50 tons, has a volume of 9 cubic metres and hit the ground about 80,000 years ago. The estimated age of meteorite is between 200 and 400 million years. Visitors (vandals) break off bits as souvenirs, so it's gradually shrinking.