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Mesosaurus Tour pt 2 |
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Mesosaurus Tour pt 2
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There's a bonus that comes with the
Mesosaurus-Tour, and that is that the Steenkamps have a passion for what they do.
It's one of those big farms of the south having a whole variety of
attractions and points of interest. Extra to the fossils they have their
own 'Quiver Tree Forest having in excess of 5,000 of these trees on their farm,
plus their own 'Giant's Playground'. They call it their Dolerite Park, and
that's exactly what it is. You'll be quietly left to wander around
at leisure. There's no rush. take your time, soak it all up and enjoy the
tranquillity. I was walking along and looking around at the strange trees
and strange rock shapes when Giel guided me over to an interesting looking
stack of rocks. He picked up a small stone and by striking the rocks in a
sequence began to play for me 'Frere Jacques". During a recent visit
to the farm also played for me the South African National Anthem "Nkosi
sikelel' iAfrika". What a treat. Perhaps he should consider doing 'The Wedding
March'. Who knows - it's becoming fashionable these day to hold weddings in the
sand dunes of the Namib. Why not in a Dolerite Rock / Quiver Tree Park?
I've seen a lot of weaver-bird-colonies in my time, but on this farm they have
the largest one I've seen. I wondered as to how the tree could support it. (
During my most recent visit part of the nest had broken away and was laying on
the floor. The weaver birds are still there and continuing their real estate
development regardless).
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Quiver Tree |
Quiver Trees galore |
Dolerite Park |
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More Fossils? The below left photo was once thought to be
that of an ancient form of plant leaf. However, further studies have proven it
to a "pseudofossil" and is really the crackled
surface of an ancient layer of petrified mud. You never stop learning about
things when visiting this site.
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Leaf Fossil |
Stacked |
Enjoy the music |
Social Weaver Colony |
Schutztruppe Grave |
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The Battle of Spitzkoppe
13 November 1904:
The ground on which
the farm Spitzkoppe lays has been witness to many and even
cataclysmic events since that great lake in which the Mesosaurus
swam dried out. Only a blink of time ago the humans came to this
land and fought and killed each other. One can see, standing
in the Africa veld, far away from home, the graves of two young
German Schutztruppe ( B. Lohfink (Reiter) Born 25.09.1882 and J. Splittgerber (unterofficer) Born 2.11.1877 killed during a skirmish with the Nama freedom
fighters of the 1904 to 1907 Native Uprising.
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Mesosaurus Tour pt 1
Acknowledgements and further reading: G1, G2, G3, P1, W1, W2, W9
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Local Area Attractions
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Brukkaros
► Giants' Playground ► Quiver Tree Forest
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Geological Survey Museum ►
Dinosaur Tracks
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Keetmanshoop
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Nearby Accommodation
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Did You Know ?
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- The oldest fossils found in Namibia are those of
Stromatolites
which are 830 to 760 million years old and can be found
in the Otavi Mountain region.
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