The Brandberg

The Brandberg is a single mass of granite pushed up through the desert plain, rising to 2,573 metres at the Königstein and glowing red at sunset, which is where its name, the fire mountain, comes from. It holds one of the densest concentrations of rock art in southern Africa, tens of thousands of paintings left over thousands of years by San hunter-gatherers, and the best known is the so-called White Lady in the Tsisab ravine, a figure that is almost certainly neither white nor a lady but a shaman, misinterpreted by an early European visitor and stuck with the name ever since. Reaching it is a walk of about an hour each way up a boulder-strewn ravine with a compulsory local guide, hot and rocky but not technical. Climbing the massif itself is a serious multi-day expedition with no water and needs proper planning.

What you actually see

• The White Lady panel - the celebrated painted figure in the Tsisab ravine.
• The wider rock art - many other painted panels along the ravine.
• The massif at sunset - the granite turning deep red above the plain.
• Desert-adapted wildlife - elephant and oryx sometimes seen on the approach.

When to go

April to September is the cool, dry season; summer temperatures here are extreme and the walk becomes genuinely dangerous in the middle of the day. Start early whatever the month. The mountain is at its most striking in the last hour of light.

Honest expectations

The walk is on loose rock in strong sun with no shade, takes about two hours return and is harder than the distance suggests; carry far more water than you think. Guides are compulsory and their commentary varies. The White Lady itself is a modest painted panel and some visitors find it underwhelming against the effort and the fame. The surrounding rock art and the mountain are the real reward.

Nearby

Spitzkoppe is to the southeast; Twyfelfontein's engravings are north in Damaraland.