DECEMBER 2006 – Ancient engraveing of a giraffe at Twyvelfontein, a World Heritage Site. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
One of the most stunning realizations when visiting Namibia is that you can always expect the unexpected. Who would have thought to find ancient rock art at Twyfelfontein, situated about 100 kilometers (by car) west of Khorixas, a small town that supplies the entire region with goods and services?
After a refreshing night at the Twyfelfontein Country Lodge we got up early to visit the Twyfelfontein site which is just a short drive (7 minutes) away from the lodge. It’s home to some of the best examples of Bushman paintings and rock engravings in southern Africa, and an UNESCO World Heritage Site. As the paintings are quite vulnerable, you may only visit the site with a local guide. When we visited, they offered tours for 30 and 60 minutes. We had still a long drive ahead, so we decided to go for the short tour.
I am still stunned by the fact that some of these paintings are said to be up to 6,000 years old. (Wikipedia has all the details, and I found this site to be interesting as well.)
Long story short: Don’t rush by on your way to the Skeleton Coast National Park, but take a detour to the Twyfelfontein site when you have a chance.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date & Time | 02-DEC-2006, 08:51 |
| Location | 20°35’26″S 14°22’20″E |
| Camera | Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II |
| Lens | Canon EF 24-70 mm 2.8 L USM |
| ISO | 200 |
| Exposure | 1/320 sec at f/3.5 |
| Digital Image Source Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, AdobeRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 3328 x 4992 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
Zanzig.com Photo Hub 
You are right! It is indeed wonderful to think that this region of the earth was inhabited and man was inspired to art so many 1000s of years ago! I visited in June this year and was glad we made the detour to see these rock carvings and also see the Desert Elephants.
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