On the road with Faraway Sandy Trails Stonetrees

Ron Swilling I picked up some unusual travelling literature on a recent trip through Namibia, a book called ‘Faraway Sandy Trails’ written by Lily Marion Newton more than sixty years ago. It gave me the opportunity to compare routes and find amusing and interesting anecdotes about the country and the days of travel before organised tourism and tar roads. This time I focused on the chapter about two attractions in north-western Namibia, the Petrified Forest and the well-known White Lady rock painting. Today both are on the tourist map and there are well-signposted gravel roads, but in Lily’s day it…