Trees in a desert is an unusual enough sight but there is always
the occasional oasis. Sometimes, though, the water dries up
completely and given the right conditions, reminders of life can
be left behing. It is estimated that these acacia trees have
been dead for more than nine hundred years. Frozen in time,
their twisted and contorted branches immovable even against the
occasional breeze, Sleepy Hollow comes, as it were, to the
desert. It is little wonder that Deadvlei, a clay pan in the
Namib-Naukfluft Park in Namibia attracts many photographers
willing to risk the arduous journey in order to capture its
intense beauty. At dawn, when the trees are silhouetted against
the lemon and apricot colored sand dunes it is a perfect time
for photographers to take advantage of what they call the Golden
Hour. The often cloudless, dazzlingly blue sky just adds to the
stunning dichotomy of color. Deadvlei derives its name from two
languages. Self evidently, the first syllable works as an
adjective and one that is instan