Sesriem and Sossusvlei (12-11)

Saturday I drove north to Sesreim, which was a six-hour drive mostly on gravel roads. The gravel roads are actually pretty good. Unlike the one to Ompundja, they are well graded and maintained. I liked driving on them because there was hardly anyone else on the road and I didn’t have to think about traffic and could, therefore, enjoy the beautiful scenery. The truck handled very well; so driving was easy. For a few hours the road went through the mountains. 

It was exciting when I finally saw sand around the mountains, as I knew I was getting close to my destination: Namib-Naukluft National Park, my home for the next two days, and I was glad when I finally arrived.

After checking in at the campsite, which I stayed at because it’s the only place to stay in the national park and that’s where I wanted to be, I went to Sesriem Canyon. It is interesting in that it is totally conglomerate rocks in the narrow first section. 

Then it broadens and has more typical canyon rocks. It was very hot; so I didn’t walk long.

Then I went for a drive to see the red sand dunes, which I was excited to finally be seeing. These dunes are such a special part of Namibia that I couldn’t leave without seeing them. They are among the highest and oldest dunes in the world. The red color comes from iron; the older the sand is, the more oxidized and redder it is.

  

The receptionist had pointed out a dune for sunset and one for sunrise. I was going to check out the sunrise dune just to see it, but it was much farther than I thought by looking at the map; so I didn’t get there. I hadn’t realized how far it is from the park entrance to the major dunes area for hiking. I learned later that it is 60 km. But I enjoyed the late afternoon light on the dunes. And I enjoyed finally being at the dunes.

After driving for half an hour, I turned back and headed for Elim, the sunset dune. 

Just before the parking lot there were a few oryxes. These are quite common in the park. 

I started walking up the dune, which wasn’t too steep. I picked a point at the top to head for, but when I got there, it turned out to be a false top with higher peaks beyond it. This happened a few times, but I kept going, as I had the energy and was really enjoying being on the red dune. 

Finally, I got to a place from which I could see the other side where the sunset would be. 

It wasn’t brilliant, but I enjoyed the changing light on the dune. On the way down I noticed other people who had gone to lower places on the side of the dune from which the sunset could be seen. Since I had time and energy, I was happy to have had my walk to the top.

Sunday morning I woke up very early to be picked up at 5:10 for my hot air balloon ride. I love hot air balloons and had decided to give myself the treat of another ride in one. We were fortunate that our group was only eight people instead of the sixteen that can fit into a basket. So we all had front row places the whole time. And there was only one balloon that day instead of the two or three they often have. 

The balloon went up just before sunrise; so we saw the light changing and the colors changing from pre-sunrise 

to sunrise 

to post-sunrise. First we drifted closer to the mountains, and then we drifted along the dunes. We dipped down above the trees along the river to see if we could spot any wildlife, but there wasn’t any that day. 

When it was time to land, we descended slowly and the drivers came, grabbed the handles at the bottom of the basket, walked us to the truck, and set us down on the bed for the balloon. It was the gentlest landing I’ve had. After the balloon was deflated and packed up, someone drove it away, and we were taken to the breakfast spot on a side road not open to the public. It was very serene. After the usual champagne, we had breakfast, which was a nice spread of cold meats (including smoked zebra), cheese, fruit kebob, yogurt parfait, and breads. I was returned to the campground at 8:00. A fantastic start of the day.

Then it was time for dunes day. 

I headed down the road to Dune 45, the one I hadn’t reached Saturday afternoon. Since it is the sunrise spot, I thought it would be good to do it in the morning. The light was amazing. The first part of the ascent is rather steep, but then the rest is a more gentle slope. Although there were about a dozen people on the dune when I arrived, by the time I got to the top I was alone. 

From there I had my first ground level view of the expanse of the dunes. 

It was so awesome that I took my first selfie there.

Next I headed to the end of the road from where you go to Sossusvlei. Since I wasn’t comfortable driving my truck on the all-sand road, I opted to pay for the shuttle that takes you to the sites for walking. First I stopped at Dead Vlei, which is a one km walk from the parking area. 

After ascending the final slope before it, you see the vast, white “lake” with bare/dead acacia trees. The white is a salt and clay layer on top of the red sand. It is stunning. 

The bare trees have interesting forms and were fun to walk among. It is an enchanting place.

Then it was time to go to Sossusvlei. I had no idea what to expect there and had thought it was another big dune, but it’s the whole area of dunes and pans. When we arrived, I asked the driver where to walk, and he pointed all around. 

So I headed up the dune in front of me. The top layer was firm, which made walking easy, as I could walk on top of the sand rather than slide down a little with every step. 

I enjoyed the quiet, the vegetation and the patterns of the sand. 

When I started to descend, I noticed that a lot of people were walking up a dune on the opposite side I figured that there must be a good reason for this and headed for that dune. From the top there are good views across the pan and of other salt and clay “lakes.” It was a good finish to my dunes experience.

One of the drivers told me that the area has had no rain for five years. It is in extreme drought. Most of Namibia has had drought conditions for three years.