Twyfelfontein Elephant Campsite

As if an elephant safari is not exciting enough, the campsite is only 25 minutes’ drive from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Twyfelfontein (/Ui-//aes), where a series of around 2,000 petroglyphs – believed to be up to 6,000 years old and representing rhinos, elephants, ostriches and giraffes – are carved into sandstone boulders. Close by is the 80 million-year-old Verbrandeberg (Burnt Mountain), layered with red, black and purple stratas of volcanic rock. Head even further back in time to see the basalt columns of the Organ Pipes (20 minutes’ drive), dating approximately from 150 millions years ago and formed by wind erosion. Older still (280 millions years) are the gigantic fossilised tree trunks scattered across the rocky desert floor at the Petrified Forest (half an hour). To understand more about indigenous cultures in Namibia, visit the Damara Living Museum (15 minutes), where you can tour a village typical of the hunter-gatherer Damara people and join in with songs, dance and traditional games.