The Damaraland
Damaraland
A must-see !
During apartheid, the Damaraland was a “homeland”, a territory owned by the Damara people. It is of particular interest for :
- its history (bushman paintings and hand gravings)
- the beauty and variety of its landscapes
- its wild flora and fauna (desert, elephants, black rhinos…)
The geology
- impressive red granite plateaux,
- river beds with elephants,
- basalt landscape,
- granite inselberg (Brandberg, Spitzkoppe)
The Damara people are herders and are disseminated throughout the territory.
Due to the low density of the population in this region and the respect its inhabitants have for the environment the Damaraland is a truly “non official” reserve.
Fauna
Along the way you might meet : giraffes, oryx, springboks or hartmann moutain zebras. In some less accessible regions you will find the last of the wild black rhinos of africa, the famous desert elephants.
Flora
It is very rich, different types of euphorbia, aloes, pachypodiums the list goes on..
For decades Damaraland was the territory of Bushmen, who were eventually chased away by the arrival of the bantou tribes four hundred years ago.
Twyfelfontein is the major site for bushman hand gravings with more than 2000 paintings and hangravings, 6 of which have been estimated to be 6000 years old.