A unique and in its desolation hauntingly beautiful landscape, the Etendeka Plateau of northwestern Namibia consists of volcanic rocks of the Cretaceous period. The name Etendeka in the language of the local Himba people means 'place of flat-topped mountains', and refers to the characteristic table-topped hillocks dotting the plateau. Covering ca. 78 000 km2² between the Huab River in the south and the Hoanib River in the north, it towers some 700 to 800 metres above the deeply eroded gneisses and metasedimentary rocks of the ca. 1.6 million year old Huab Metamorphic Complex to the east, while rising gradually out of the coastal plain in the west. Alteration zone within the basalt are commonly mineralized with quartz, agate, zeolite and/or calcite. Especially geodes of amethyst are famous both from Namibia and Brazil, and highly sought after by collectors.