Between two Quiver trees stands a jeep with an open rooftop tent, a picture-perfect African scene. Everything is in a soft orange glow from the beautiful sunrise light.
Undoubtedly, the Quiver Tree Forest in Namibia is a great tourist attraction. Within this forest, stand about 250 Quiver trees, Aloe dichotoma. Behind the naming of this tree is a unique story. This area was home to the San people, and they used these trees to make Quivers to carry their bow and arrows. When Simon van der Stel in 1685, heard the story about the trees, he named them then Quiver.
The oldest trees here we estimate to be about 2 – 3 centuries old. Indeed a perfect spot to set up your jeep with the rooftop tent between these beautiful trees. That particular African forest became a National Monument on 1 June 1995. Similarly to the baobab tree, the Quiver tree looks like it grows upside down. On top grow the leaves that indeed look like large roots sticking upward towards the sky. In the south of Namibia and along the Great Escarpment in the west, this unique Quiver tree is epidemic. They can grow from 3 – 9 meters / 10 – 30 feet tall. To bloom, they need to be 20 – 30 years old. Now that is what you call late bloomers!
Explore similar photographs in our Travel photographs. In our nature photography portfolios, you can license travel stock images and purchase fine art photo prints as wall art online.
Lucy –
Love this photo! Makes me want to go on safari to Namibia 😊
Anette Mossbacher –
😀 Yes, me too. Namibia is such a great place. Thank you, Lucy.