Vngerklip Information | Vingerklip Area | Rock Finger Information | Vingerklip Animal Species | Vingerklip Bird Species
The ‘doubtful’ spring attracted game animals to the bush-covered floor of the valley and in turn the game brought primitive hunters who whiled away their leisure time in engraving on the rocks what is one of the world’s finest collections of this type of art.
VINGERKLIP TO TWYFELFONTEIN
A Desert Elephant
By - Roland Manders
Burnt Mountain
By - Burgh Voigts
Ugab River Bed
By - namfo
A White Tree
By - khopan
Hoanib
By - ewkvienna
Rock Art
By - Andre Bezuidenhout
Rock Finger
By - Andre Bezuidenhout
A Petrified Tree
By - khopan
See the Vingerklip area with Google Maps
A truly fascinating scenic route along the C39 road leads west from Outjo for around 452 kilometers to Torra Bay on the Skeleton Coast. Keep on the C39 which ends at Torra Bay. This route will lead you through a path of natural diversity and beauty seldom seen anywhere in the world so have your camera ready.
About an hour, 80 kilometers, after leaving Outjo the road passes a turn off to the south towards a strange rock formation known as Vingerklip the Afrikaans word for "rock finger". The rock stands 35 meters into the air and has been worn into its distinctive shape by time and erosion. One could call it one on natures most dramatic balancing acts and when you actually walk around the base of the Rock Finger there is always that tiny incling of "I hope it's not going to fall over".
Forty kilometers further along the main road you will reach Khorixas which was named after the Damara word, “gorigas”, the name for a water bush which grows in the area, Khorixas is also the traditional capital of Damaraland. This is the Kunene Region and curious stone formations, ancient rock engravings and strange geological phenomena continue to lure travelers to its compelling beauty and mystique.
Ideally situated to visit the Burnt Mountain, Brandberg, Organ Pipes and Twyfelfontein is the Khorixas Rest Camp just outside Khorixas. The camp is situated in a beautiful setting frequented by giraffe, gemsbok, kudu, zebra, black-nosed impala and springbok. There is a shop, bungalows, caravan and camping facilities and a swimming bath for those super hot days.
The road to the west of the camp passes the Petrified Forest consisting of the fossilized remains of several different species of trees estimated to be about 280 million years old. They were members of the early Cordaites family of trees that grew to heights of over 40m and were the ancient ancestors of our present day conifers and ferns. There are indications are that these trees never grew in the area but were driftwood and were dumped here when the sea penetrated far inland many years ago. There are large tree trunks and sections of trunks scattered over the site and among these petrified tree ruins are welwitschia plants growing all over the place, another species of drought resistant vegetation found in the area. The mineralisation of the wood over the millions of years has produced some abstract examples and colorful detail of the wood grain of the trees and also the knots and bark can be seen clearly identifying them as trees.
Another 50 kilometers further west along the road is Twyfelfontein, known in the Damara language as Uais ‘one fountain’. The area surrounding Twyfelfontein is a complex jumble of incredible rock formations dating back perhaps some 180 million years.
The name Twyfelfontein, an Afrikaans word for ‘doubtful fountain’, was given many years ago by wandering cattlemen who were always searching for grazing for their herds. They found the area good but the water supply unreliable, hence the name Twyfelfontein. The spring lies in a valley hemmed in by arid, table-topped mountains, their slopes littered with giant red sandstone rocks. These giant rocks that littered the slopes were due to ongoing erosion over the years which caused great blocks of rock to break away and tumble down revealing an almost perfectly flat surface providing an ideal working surface for bushmen paintings.
East of Twyfelfontein is the weird landscape of the Verbrande Berg, an Afrikaans name for ‘burnt mountain’. Here assorted shales and basalt have been continuously baked by the suns heat into vivid shades of just about every colour except green. The scene is unique and unlike anything else on earth. In ages past the area was blasted with an eruption of basalt. It cooled and left these lovely colours and strange rock shapes.
Beyond the turn-off to the Verbrande Berg and Twyfelfontein the main road crosses the Namib Desert and after 212 kilometers reaches the fishing resort of Torra Bay and the remarkable Skeleton Coast which is a whole nother journey on its own.
Some bird species found in the area
There are well over 150 bird species that have been recorded in the Vingerklip / Twyfelfontein area. I've listed some species below, some of which you are bound to see along the way if you look carefully.
There are well over 150 bird species that have been recorded in the Vingerklip / Twyfelfontein area. I've listed some species below, some of which you are bound to see along the way if you look carefully.
Some animals found in this area
The harsh environmental conditions have led to the evolution of numerous plant and animal species that are specially adapted to survive the harsh rocky conditions. The Desert Elephants are one of the area highlights, they roam freely and are very settled in the area. The Black Rhino also roam freely and are one of the few large animal species that has been able to adapt to the area. Lions and cheetahs frequent the area when the gemsbok and springbok are plentiful.
The harsh environmental conditions have led to the evolution of numerous plant and animal species that are specially adapted to survive the harsh rocky conditions. The Desert Elephants are one of the area highlights, they roam freely and are very settled in the area. The Black Rhino also roam freely and are one of the few large animal species that has been able to adapt to the area. Lions and cheetahs frequent the area when the gemsbok and springbok are plentiful.
Damaraland
By - Dr Thomas Wagner
Verso
By - maremagna
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