When I came from the North a few weeks ago I camped-over at Solitaire, an outpost on the edge of the Namib Desert.
The next morning I was up before Sunrise and took a route through the Nauklauft Mountains.
I was heading for Büllsport, a Guest Farm on the eastern edge of the mountains - the 55km journey took ages because I kept stopping to take photos in the cloudy morning light.
I ordered a much-needed coffee and then walked around to view the reason I was here:
The Rocks.
These long flat rocks occur somewhere on the farm and the owners have used them to construct very attractive walls, or fences. I'd seen them before but I wanted to take another look.
Some of the rocks are over 2 meters tall and I would love to get my hands on a few - to build a Stonehenge type rock circle on my lawn - but, I'd been told on a previous visit, a few years ago, that there were none available for sale.
While drinking my second cup of coffee I was chatting with the owner and hopefully asked her if she had more of the rocks and, any for sale - to my delight she said yes, she had a small stockpile of them right there.
... I grabbed my tape-measure and bought two on the spot.
From now on I'll be taking that route every time I head north.
One of the guest rooms at Büllsport.
After I'd left Büllsport I saw quite a few of these rocks standing on farms I passed so I guess they must be abundant in the area.
I'll tell you what, if I had a few thousand Bucks in small change, I'd hire a truck, cart a few loads of the Rock to my home in the north and start building another Dwelling with them ... after completing the Stone-Circle of course ...
.
The more I see of your photos, the more I realise what I missed by not taking a trip to Namibia when I had the opportunity :(
ReplyDeleteThose rocks are brilliant, I love them, sadly a bit heavy to send to France LOL. Looking forward to seeing photos of your stone cirle. Diane
Yeah Diane ... it is a shame you missed-out on Nam but you never know ...
ReplyDelete... hehehe yeah, don't hold your breath while waiting for those stone circle pics ... :)
while visions of rocks danced in his head -
ReplyDeleteThose are unique looking rocks. While I don't know if they are similar types, there are interesting rock formations at a Colorado park called Garden of the Gods.
Those are great rocks! I hope you can gather enough for your needs.
ReplyDeleteHiya Graham .. what an amazing place - I loved the geology of Namibia - with all the different rocks that we saw when we travelled up the Skeleton Coast - going along riverbeds, just across the land - very lucky ..
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know what mineral they are all - there must be different mixes here .. some look burnt, some quartzy .. etc
What a fantastic place to visit .. so glad you posted for us .. cheers Hilary
Thank you for this fantastic post. I googled Bullsport. What a treasure! We haven't been to Africa in awhile - hmmm!
ReplyDeleteYou find the most interesting stuff to share.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! And very natural.
ReplyDeleteThe common buildng stone here is 'schist' Very statified and easy to split into some thing useful. Because it splits (or is found split in flat pancake type shapes) it is also easy to build with.
ReplyDeleteIn the days of early settlement here there where no trees and thus no fencepost material, the shist was used as fenceposts for the wire stock fences. Time for me to take some photos I think. kerry
I like the idea of the fence with varying heights combined with the smooth oval shaped ones with grasses growing out of them. The best gardens are those using the materials available there, and not growing things that don't belong there and take a lot of work to keep alive. I adored my magnolia in my garden, which died when it reached a mere 6 ft - I grieved over it for ages, but finally accepted you can't grow species that are not natural to the place.
ReplyDeleteReally love those rocks, and their warm colours.
Caroline
Thanks Bill - I haven't heard about the Garden of the Gods but I do know that there are many spectacular rock formations in the USA.
ReplyDeleteThanks Penny - I'll try my best to gather some of the rocks ... I tend to become obsessive and single-minded about such things ... :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Hilary - as much as I love Rocks I've been rather slack in attempting to understand Geology so I can't give you any info on the type of rock they are ...
ReplyDeleteThank you Kitty - Namibia is calling ... and if you do pass this way I hope that you'll let me know in advance ...
ReplyDeleteThanks Inger ... :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit and comment Alex.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Kerry - please post pics of the rocks you mention ...
ReplyDeleteThanks Caroline - yes, I agree that it's best to utilise the natural resources available ...
ReplyDeleteWe go where you take us.
ReplyDeleteHehe Fazlisa - hope you enjoy the ride ... :)
ReplyDeleteHey Graham, I am very impressed with the mountain. Its shape and texture is unusual and I was surprised that Namibia has such landscape. In fact I see faces in the mountain, in the order of apes of the planet of the apes. The rocks are definitely unusual and that last one, I really do not know what to make of it. I love the palms, but what most intrigued me is the road and the promise it holds, if you take it. And you took it, with us along. We wouldn't have seen this beautiful part of the world if not for you. Thank you Graham.
ReplyDeleteThank you Fazlisa - one of the reasons I love showing Namibia is that you see it through different eyes to me, notice things that I take for granted ...
ReplyDeleteHi Graham,such an informative and interesting post. In particluar I love the 2 landscape photos at the beginning.
ReplyDeleteThe rocks are amazing too. I've recently started taking an interest in geology - but it's quite hard to find books on it aimed at the layperson - it can be a very dry subject:)
Thanks Coral ... yes, it would be great to have a geology reference which doesn't require a degree to interpret ...
ReplyDelete