![]() ![]() Take some snapshots or walk through the 200 to 300 year old curious trees in this forest, which was declared as a national monument in 1955. ![]() The blue sky, red Namibian sand and light green clumps of grass built a perfect contrast to the yellow blossoms of the tree (in the flowering-season during June and July). Sometimes they occur in groups as in the Quiver Tree Forest near Keetmanshoop, Namibia. These aloes can grow up to 8 metres high and normally stand alone. You will not be the only one to stop and have a closer look. The trees are a very special sight against the deep dark red shimmer of the setting sun. The Quiver Trees with their mostly cracked bark and golden sheen look very interesting in the wide open spaces and eroded rock formations of the Kalahari Desert. ![]() This plant is characteristic for the arid and very hot regions of the Northern Cape in South Africa and Namibia. The Kokerboom is not really a tree, but an aloe (Aloe dichotoma). Take some pictures of these aloes with forked branches and cracked bark near Keetmanshoop, situated on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, close to the beginning of the Namib Desert. Kokerboom Forest/Quiver Tree Forest, near KeetmanshoopĮn route from Fish River Canyon north to Sossusvlei, you have the perfect opportunity for a photo stop at the so-called Quiver Tree Forest or Kokerboom Forest. So pay special attention to where you are walking until proper signage is posted here.Visit the Quiver Tree Forest, Kokerboom Forest, in the Namibian Kalahari near Keetmanshoop or hop over the Namibian border to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in Botswana and South Africa. Not finding the Quivertree Forest entrance gate was frustrating, but getting lost in the Giant's Playground was a more serious issue. Otherwise, there would be better directional signs at both places. It appears to us that the farm owner doesn't really care whether you easily find your way around these two sites or not. Other campers we followed couldn't find it either. It's not marked and we had to drive around the large camping site searching for it (a fence blocks entrance except at the gate). We had trouble locating the entrance gate to the walking path. It's not really a forest but a dense stand of Quivertrees spread around rock hills. The Quivertree Forest is nice and makes for some great photos against the blue sky. This all might sound funny, but it wasn't not knowing where you are with the temperature 36 C. Our guess is that some jokester removed some of the path signs and they have not been replaced. Luckily, we were able to spot the brown water tower off in the distance and walked in that direction to eventually get back to the parking lot. After 20 long minutes of this wandering, we eventually climbed to the top of a tall rock to try to get some perspective. No one else was there when we visited in the late afternoon so calling out to others was futile. It's easy to walk in the complete wrong direction and not really know where you are. All you can see are more and more rock piles. The walking path is set below all the rocks so it's impossible to see the horizon to help locate where you are. All the rock constellations, while beautiful, look the same after a while and it's nearly impossible to remember if you passed them before (some seemed staged while others are amazingly authentic). With no signs, we soon became disoriented and didn't know which way to go. While it proceeds in a right-hand circle around the site, it also twists and turns all the time. But after a while the signs stopped and the main path branched off to here and there. It starts out fine with a couple of white arrow signs pointing in the right direction. The danger here is that the circular path through the stones is not well marked. A tall brown water tower stands next to it. There's a parking lot with a nice modern toilet. It's located off a gravel road 5 km north of the Quivertree Forest (same entrance fee). Giant's Playground is a maze of stone piles that seemingly stretches on forever. ![]()
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