One of the most popular photographic destinations in Namibia is a little valley about half way up the country that juts into the long coastal strip of the Namib desert that is a sea for sand dunes... The little valley is a water course that is dry most of the year but clearly the vegetation of the area is more abundant than in other places and it has resisted the encroachment of the dunes.
At the end of this little blind valley are a couple of little dry lake beds (where the water drains to), and that is what the word Svlei means.
One of these little dry pans is very famous for being surrounded by the red dunes and having a group of ancient withered dead CamelThorn trees scattered over its surface... The scene is surreal with the stark dead trees "growing" out of the white clay ground surrounded by red sand dunes and blue sky.
Needless to say its a "tourist mecca" but, as usual it is still worth visiting... Here are my pictures from a morning visit:
Now on to the next destination for me... I wonder how many more decades/centuries those trees will stand watch as we tourists and photographers pass by in our fickle and transient way?
