Deadvlei, Namibia

Deadvlei was once under water. It’s believed that roughly one thousand years ago, the Tsauchab River flooded, creating shallow pools with a clay pan underneath. In the shallow lake formed by the flooding, acacia trees flourished. But approximately two hundred years later, the climate changed. The area became dry and drought-stricken, and the massive dunes cut the area off from the river.

Oddly, the acacia trees that flourished when Deadvlei was awash with water are still here. The air here is too dry for them to decompose; instead, they stand like blackened monuments to the passage of time.