Sunday, September 16, 2012

Cairns - Kilroy Was Here


Over the last ten years I've noticed small rock Cairns popping up all over Namibia, especially in the desert areas - on the verges of remote gravel roads and at popular Tourist spots.


It seems that they're mostly built by Visitors intent on leaving a little bit of themselves in the Desert.


Some people may say that they spoil the landscape but personally, up to now, I don't find them to be an eyesore - I enjoy the surprise of finding them.


A large Cairn built near the uncompleted house mentioned in this post.


Some structures are quite creative, like this one on the edge of the Fish River Canyon.

They do serve their purpose because I often stop and wonder about the Unknown Travellers who built them - come to think of it, I've never seen anyone actually building a Cairn ... maybe ...



The sides of a hill near the Ai-Ais Hot Springs are covered with about fifty small Cairns, painted white.

I'd love to know the story behind them because their construction was obviously a concerted effort by a large group of people.



Star Wars Cairns


I often feel the urge to build a small Cairn but, I haven't found the 'Right Spot' yet - I guess I could argue that I have already built one and that I'm living in it ... :)


This gigantic Cairn was built by some creative Road Builder during the construction of the Aus - Rosh Pinah road a few years ago.


A finely-balanced Cairn - one of my favourites.


.

19 comments:

  1. These are beautiful cairns. I think it is always man's wish to leave his 'mark' so to speak and communicate to someone 'out' there.

    I first started seeing similar cairns along our beachfront here many years ago. They made the news and people would wonder how they got there. Finally we just started to accept that they were there and now I (and I think many others) enjoy them. Usually the cairns are very finely balanced pieces and much smaller than those you are showing.

    Beautiful pieces wherever they are located!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hehe you're right Penny ... I often feel the urge to "to leave his 'mark' so to speak and communicate to someone 'out' there."

      ... have you ever built a Cairn?

      Delete
    2. No, I've never built a cairn myself Graham and to be honest I've never felt the urge to do so. I do enjoy looking at them though. In Canada, the Inuit peoples of the far north (known to the whites as Eskimom), built cairns to help them find their way in the tundra. These are called Inukshuk and it became a symbol for the recent hosting of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. I have a distant photo of it on my blog here http://snapthatpenny.blogspot.ca/2012/04/day-in-west-end.html in case you'd like to see.

      Delete
    3. Thanks for the info and link Penny - I can see why Inukshuk must be quite distinctive on a flat landscape.

      Delete
  2. I see them every so often on front lawns. I guess its ones personal stone henge. I'm inclined to see them as marking a moment where one feels completely at one ..with the elements. They are a beautiful way of leaving ones signature, nothing has been taken , nothing has been destroyed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Monica - that's a beautiful way of describing the urge to Cairn :)

      Delete
  3. Until T. Clear explained the the little rock piles in her photos were cairns I knew a cairn only as burial vaults. A short week later I not only find cairns in you blog, I've spotted one along a neighbor's drive. I've been plotting how I could safely photograph it and my fascination is such I may accomplish the photo before the snow flies. Thanks for more lovely pictures of the subject.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks Joanne - that's a coincidence hey - until recently I also only associated cairns with burial spots ...

      ... yes, go get that pic ...

      Delete
  4. Perhaps there's a "cairn fairy". She'd have to be pretty strong, though-those rocks are heavy!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. hehehe Fran - yeah, now I'm trying to picture a muscular Cairn Fairy ... complete with tutu over her wrestler's suit ... :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Interesting, and the cairns mostly do seem to have a shape of some sort which is meaningful. I have never seen anything like this, but maybe I will go and leave my mark in the garden here. Perhaps in a few hundred years someone will blog about it. Naaa, blogs will not exist then but there will be something else I am sure. Take care Diane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hehe Diane - yes, collect some interesting rocks and build a Cairn in your garden (watch your back) ... you never know perhaps in the future people will be able to view holograms of it in their living rooms ... :)

      Delete
  7. I didn't know they were called this. I always referred to them as a stack of rocks. I did a short one on the edge of a Lake in Missouri where my brother lives part of the year. I tried to make the cairn (first time I've used the term - thanks teacher) look like a boot. I don't recall taking a picture. Steady hands and smashed toes are required.

    ReplyDelete
  8. back when you were mostly offline this last July, I did a little road and found a place that I think you would enjoy. check the pictures out if you have the time.
    http://afcsoac.blogspot.com/2012/07/odd-metal-off-mother-road.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow ... thank goodness you drew my attention to this post Bill - what great metal art and a great post about it ...

      .. at last - now I actually know someone who has built a Cairn ... :)

      Delete
  9. Those are a bit magical :) It makes me wonder what each person was thinking when they made those--almost like a wishing well with so many pennies and stories to share ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes, I wonder about the people who built them too, who and where in the world are they now? - wouldn't it be great if someone who built one stumbled upon this post and found a pic of their Cairn here?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Can't help but think of the amazing art of Andy Goldsworthy. Do you know of him? I'm with you; I think the cairns are a quiet, respectful way to embrace the moment and leave the message that "I was here."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jeffrey - I'd never heard of Andy Goldsworthy but I googled him and you're right, his art is amazing ...

      Delete