Bull's Party - Farm Ameib Erongo Namibia

Massive and surrealistic rock assemblies formed by millions of years of erosion

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A Rock Bridge	Broken Bridge
If you are driving in the Karibib / Usakos area you should try to plan a visit to the Ameib Ranch. It nestles in the magnificent Erongo Mountains. Here you can see the famous Philipp's Cave which has some excellent examples of Ancient Bushman Rock Paintings; and also the area
known as the Bulls Party where the surrealistic rock formations and massive boulders perched precariously on top of each other will present a challenge to your imagination and photography capabilities. Some of the granite rock faces on the farm also offer an interesting challenge to enthusiast rock climbers.		Erongo Region
		21º70'S - 15º65'E
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If you are not planning to overnight on the Guest Farm Ameib you should budget a minimum of 4 hours which should just give you enough time to visit the Bull's Party and the Philipps Cave. Mid day temperatures in summer can reach 40c. There's an amount of reflection from the rocks, so wear a high protection factor sun screen and carry enough water.

 

While walking around the Bull's Party, pause and see what is 'going-on' here. The erosion of the rocks is an on-going process, even today. You will see Huge boulders that have cracked in half owing to temperature weathering. On a hot day the sun can heat the rock to temperatures that make them too hot to touch. A sudden heavy downpour of summer rain can suddenly cool the rock to a point where the pressure caused by contraction can cause massive boulders to split, (core cracking) or as can be seen below left the surface layer of granite has exfoliated from the body of rock

Exfoliated Rock Sheet

Large Boulders

Perched on small

Core Cracking

Core Cracking

How the strange rock-shapes at the Bull's Party were formed

The series of events that lead to the strange rock shapes that can be seen today at the Bull's Party began millions of years ago when the rocks were buried beneath the earth's present day surface level. The ancient granite, in areas, was layered, and in wet periods the underground waters would wash through the fissures and over a period of time widened the gaps. The weight of the overlaying rocks and overburden caused the rock layers to crack vertically in places forming large rectangular shaped blocks.

Mushroom ?

Weathering diagram

Precariously Balanced

Pedestal

The  ongoing surface erosion of millions of years lowered the ground level and exposed the stack of rocks to weathering that caused many of the boulders to eventually disintegrate and fall away from other bodies of rock leaving the bizarre rock shapes and configurations that can be seen today. The above boulder is massive and rests on two narrow pedestals.

 

The Elephant's Head

Tree 1

Tree Roots 2

Picnic Area

Nature never fails to amaze me. Look at the way the roots of the above tree have struggled their way into the fissures in the rock, where, who knows how deep-in they have found sustenance. Following your tour you can take rest at a shaded picnic area that is situated under two enormous boulders. Some years ago a French artist painted copies of many of the Bushman Rock Paintings from the Erongo Mountains. They make an interesting interlude. Enjoy it.

 

Acknowledgements and further reading:  G1, G2, P1

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