Anyone who has never been to Namibia will hardly know the strange plant Welwitschia. It is also known as the «living fossil» because it has been on earth for over a hundred million years. It got its name from the Austrian Josef Welwitsch, who discovered it in 1859 on an expedition in Angola.

Just a few kilometers outside of Swakopmund lies the Welwitschia Plain along the Swakop River. Tourists visiting Swakopmund do not miss a detour to see this unique plant that only grows in the Namib Desert, in Namibia and Angola. We know this route very well and marvel at these extraordinary plants every time we drive by.

However, we were really amazed on our trip through the Messum crater. We were not aware that Welwitschias also grow there. Not even that the largest specimens, with a height of up to 1.50 meters and leaves up to twelve meters long, can be found there. On our drive through the crater, we saw hundreds of Welwitschias growing where nothing or hardly anything else grows. Again and again, we interrupted our journey to marvel at these fossils, which do not value their appearance; but focus on survival.

PS. If you want to know more about this survivor in the Namib Desert, please read here.