Phillips Cave

Damaraland


This cave, 3km off the road, contains the famous humpbacked white elephant painting. Superimposed on the elephant is a large humpbacked antelope (perhaps an eland), and around it frolic ostriches and giraffes. The Ameib paintings were brought to attention in the book Phillips Cave by prehistorian Abbè Breuil, but his speculations about their Mediterranean origins have now been discounted. The site is open to day hikers via Ameib Gästehaus.

The Ameib picnic site is backed up by outcrops of stacked boulders, one of which, the notable Bull’s Party, resembles a circle of gossiping bovines. Other formations that are often photographed include one resembling an elephant’s head and another that recalls a Herero woman in traditional dress, standing with two children.

The path to the cave is fairly rugged – it should take around 45 minutes to an hour uphill and around 30 minutes coming back down.


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