When the Tsauchab River changed its course as it was blocked by the Namib dunes, the small vlei or marsh that it had fed, died. Its waterless camelthorn trees dried and, over the course of 900 years, turned black in the desert sun. Although they are not petrified, they have remained standing as the desert is too dry to allow decomposition. This has created an otherworldly landscape of red dunes, blue sky, black trees and yellow-white salt pans. At the far end of the vlei, where the river still flows, a bit of green can be appreciated.
