Sossusvlei (3)

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Sossusvlei dunes are often referred to as star dunes because of their crescent shape.
Best seen from the air, the multiple merging crests meeting at the highest point are the result of multidirectional winds blow at the vlei, blankets of sand form off the crest into the air.
This is commonly termed the "smoking dunes".
Pay particular attention to the ancient camelthorn trees that line the dry Tsauchab River all the way to the vlei.


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The tarred road, accessible by 2WD vehicles, finishes about 4 km away from Sossusvlei at a parking and picnic area.
From the parking area, the road disappears into deep, thick sand.
The remaining distance can only be completed by a 4WD vehicle or on foot.
There are shuttles to and from Sossusvlei and the parking area.

Walking is difficult and strenuous, and can take nearly an hour.
It is, however, well worth the effort as it gives you the chance to freely explore the area, catch sight of roaming animals, and get a good idea of the scale and sheer size of the Sossusvlei surroundings.


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Sossusvlei (2)

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Although rare, it takes an unearthly amount of rain to fill the Tsauchab River and penetrate the dune area, bringing water into the vlei.
During this rare time, the vlei takes on a life of its own, much different than in the absence of water when life is given to new vegetation and aquatic birds, including flamingos discovering a new haven.


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The dunes surrounding the vlei are some 1,120 ft (350 m) high when measuring from the base up; having a reputation as some of the highest in the world.

Essentially, they are nothing more then huge piles of sand that have formed at the end of other longitudinal dune ridges bordering the erosional trough of the Tsauchab River.

Sossusvlei lies at an altitude of 1,824 ft (570 m) above sea level.
Some of the dune crests stand tall at 3,072 ft (960 m) above sea level.


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Sossusvlei (1)

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Sossusvlei is one of Namibia's top destinations.
The monumental red sand and the magnificent display of different shades, colours and depressions, fadind and deepering throughout the day make Sossusvlei a place for photographers and romantics alike.

The Tsauchab River, long ago, emptied itself into the sea but gradually became blocked by mountainous dunes of wind blown sand, forming the marvelous end vlei as we know tody.


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Beginning in Sesriem, the road to Sossusvlei is lined by exotic, brightly colored dunes.
Each our of the day is unique and as the day carries on, new colors are constantly presenting themselves.



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The dunes display vibrant colors of orange, maroon, and pink, and the Tsaris Mountains show blue and deep purples.
In addition to the yellows and tans of the dancing grasses.

It is easy to feel enlightened while visiting Sossusvlei.
It is also home to ostrich, springbok, and orix who roam the area like some prehistoric creatures living on another planet.



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Sesriem Canyon

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Only 4 km south of Sesriem entrance gates, the canyon (1 km long and 30 m deep) was carved out by the Tsauchab River.
It was an essential water collecting place for the early settlers who tied six lenghts of rope together to pitch down the canyon for easy retrieval.


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Each lenght of rope known as riems, was the beginning of its present name, Sesriem.

Take a short trek upstream and discover beautiful wading pools waiting for you to cool yourself down and escape the day's unrelenting heat.
However, at certain times of year the pools are stagnant and not so inviting, so use your common sense.


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NamibRand Nature Reserve, Flora & Fauna

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The same plants and animals found in the western areas of the Namib-Naukluft National Park can be found in the NamibRand: oryx, Hartmann's mountain zebra, springbok, red hartebeest, bat-eared fox, spotted hyena, Cape fox and the African wild cat.


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In the more rugged territory, kudu, klipspringer, baboon, and leopards are found.

In the dunes, there is a rich diversity of lizards, beetles, spiders, and the elusive golden mole.

There are approximately 100 birds species, including the rare and endangered lappet faced vulture, black eagle, and the endemic dune lark.


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NamibRand Nature Reserve (2)

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Conservation on a sustainable basis is the reserve's foremost priority.
Tourism is strictly limited and controlled, with entrance fees and bed levies going directly into a fund to maintain and preserve the reserve.


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In 1992, the NamibRand Nature Reserve was registered as a non-profit private reserve.
With the registration, all current landowners signed an agreement and adopted a constitution which sets the land aside for conservation from that paint onward.
The reserve is self-sustaining through high quality eco-tourism.


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NamibRand Nature Reserve (1)

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The NamibRand Nature Reserve was established to help protect and conserve the unique ecology and wildlife of the southwest Namib Desert.
It is one of southern Africa's largest private nature reserves, stretching over 2,100 sq. km.
Just south of Sesriem, the NamibRand shares a 100 km border with the Namib-Naukluft National Park in the west and Nubib Mountains to the east.


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Nearly all facets of the Namib Desert are found on the reserve, creating a kaleidoscope of living colors.
The Reserve originated in 1984 with Windhoek businessman Albi Bruckner's dream to extend the frontiers of the Namib Desert by incorporating a number of former sheep farms into a land specifically used for a wildlife sanctuary, free from farm fencing and other farming paraphernalia.

Several drought years proved to be too difficult for livestock ranching, and the poaching of wild game increased considerably, however decreased with the oncoming of plentiful rains in the following season.


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The Kuiseb Canyon

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Along the Gamsberg Pass on the C14 from Walvis Bay to Solitaire, Kuiseb Canyon is home to the ephemeral Kuiseb River.
Although there is water in the area for most of the year, it rarely flows in the dry season and is more like much of Namibia's other rivers that simply aren't any thing but a sandy river bed.


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During the rainy season, however, the story can be quite different.
The river can fill and flow except for around Gobabeb where the water begins to lose momentum and seep back into the earth.

This is the area that Henno Martin and Hermann Korn went into hiding during the Second World War.
They resisted their Nazi governments call to fight and went into the wilderness where they learned to live off of the land, killing, slaughtering, and dressing animals.
Their story is rather intriguing and is told in Henno Martin's book "The Sheltering Desert".


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The Erongo Mountains & the Spitzkoppe (2)

The nearby Erongo massif succeeded in erupting as a true volcano, belching out molten rock and ash for a believed 20 million years, before collapsing, forming today's caldera.
Further north, Namibia's highest mountain, the Brandberg, ascends nearly 8,320 ft 
(2,600 m) at its highest peak named Konigstein, meaning "King's Rock" in German, above the desert floor.



The mountain is striped with black stripes made of iron and manganese known as "desert varnish".

The Erongo Mountains are home to hundreds of San rock paintings, simple reminders of Namibia's first inhabitants some 6,000 years ago.

Spitzkoppe
Spitzkoppe is near Swakopmund and is easily reached from the B2 road.
If you are interested in camping at Spitzkoppe or wanting a tour guide to take you to the area, check out Spitzkoppe Campsite.
It's a community operated camp and a member of Nacobta.

The Erongo Mountains & the Spitzkoppe (1)

The Erongo Mountains are just north of the Namib-Naukluft Park, where they rise from the desert floor.

These mountains are uniquely formed as molten magma that never reached the surface and had solidified.



Due to millions of years of erosion, it was eventually exposed.

The main peak of Spitzkoppe now stands at 5,440 ft (1,700 m) above the desert surface and is often referred to as Matterhorn of Namibia.

Tours to Spitzkoppe can be arranged in Swakopmund.

The Gravel Plains & the Moon Landscape

One of the largest gypsum surfaces in the world, spreading nearly 10,000 sq. km from the sand sea north to the Swakop River.
It is believed the gravel plains' history begins in the sea.
This theory states the Benguela's pantry of plankton is costantly recycling, dying, and drifting to the bottom of the seabed, where the decomposing material releases hydrogen sulphide into the atmosphere.



In the atmosphere it combines with the oxygen to produce a diluted sulphuric acid.
Fog from the coast then transfers this to the alkaline calcrete of the gravel plains.
The exchange of molecules, as an acid and alkaline mix, creates the gypsum that makes the gravel plains so unique.



Over some 80 million years of weathering and erosion, slicing the gypsum surface into a series of inhospitable canyons, resembling the surface of the moon.

The Moon Landscape
When viewing this Moon Landscape, remind yourself that in early history, the earth's surface was at least a kilometer above where you are standing.
Together water, wind, temperature, chemical, and biological erosion took sediment out to sea.

The Dunes (2)

There is great debate as to whether the dunes are purely created by the sediments washed up from shore, or also from sediment from the Kalahari Desert.
Some geologists believe that a significant amount of the eastern Namib's sediment comes from the red dunes of the Kalahari.

This is possible by the winds blowing in a northeastern fashion during the winter, and consequently the highest dunes and their windward side faces the northeast.

Whatever the case may be, there is no denying the fact that the dunes are special.

The Dunes (1)

The dunes are like a gigantic beach, and spark a curious question: where does all that sand come from ?
The shifting, dancing sand is a product of both weathering and erosion, originating mostly from the South African hinterland, which are transported to the Atlantic Ocean via the Orange River.



The north-flowing Benguela current then returns the sediment by the powerful ceaseless waves crashing onto Namibia's Diamond Coast.
There it is dried and further thrown inland by the ubiquitous southwesterly winds.
Like other minerals, the desert sand slowly begins to oxidize.
The tiny quartz particles beginning pale, carry iron particles that very, very slowly begin to oxidize.
The coloration begins to change, and the oldest of the dunes turn to deeper shades of red; red with rust.

The Sand Sea

Once in sight of the dunes, it is mind boggling to see what the popular conception of a 
desert is.
The dunes stretch, reach, tumble, and drift across the open nothingness along the Atlantic coast.
Covering 34,000 sq. km and extending from the Kuiseb River southwards to Luderitz, lay the sea of sand.



Beneath the younger sands is an ancient desert believed to have formed some 65 million years ago, eventually becoming petrified between dispersed times of moisture and drought.
These fossilized dunes are easily seen in areas of the NamibRand Nature Reserve and in the proclaimed Sossusvlei area.

The Oldest Desert

When compared with the Sahara, the Namib is extremely small.
The Sahara is ten times the size of Namibia and thirty times the size of the Namib.

The Namib is one of the world's most diverse deserts in terms of plant and animal life.
One in every five species in the Namib is endemic, including the ancient Welwitschia plant.



There are four broad types of landscapes to be found: the great sand dune (commonly referred to as the sand sea), the gravel plains, the ephemeral riverbeds, and the inselbergs, or island mountains.

Life in the desert is controlled by the infrequent, unpredictable and isolated downpours that quickly get soaked up by the toughest of life in desperate need for water.

Namib-Naukluft National Park

The Namib-Naukluft National Park is rich in biodiversity, size and attractions.
It is not only one of the oldest deserts in the world, but is Namibia's most versatile area of conservation home to magnificent sand dunes, the gravel plains, and the isolated Erongo Mountains.



Totaling 50.000 sq. km. of protected desert wilderness, its main feature, Sossusvlei, attracts visitors from around the world.
The word "Namib", Nama in origin meaning the "land of our ancestors", contradicts our general perceptions of a desert as a dry, unihabited place with extreme temperatures.

 

In fact, the Namib was once inhabited by peoples and continues to be so with animals today.
Parts of the Namib can even be cultivated where soil and water are found.
The word "Naukluft" owes its name to the seasonal Tsondab River that, over thousands of years, had eroded and cut a gorge through the Naukluft range during the more humid times in its history.

First named by Afikans farmers as Nou Kloof (Narrow Gorge), it later took its present name Naukluft during Germany's reign.

Skeleton Coast, Accomodation, Skeleton Coast Camp

The camp is run by Wilderness Safaris and reservations need to be booked through them or an agent, as they are the only concessionaire permitted to host lodging in this restricted northern section of the park.

In fact it is only accessible by plane.



Wilderness Safaris has flights every Wednesday and Friday, so a minimum stay of 4 days is required.
The camp has 6 Meru-style tents with spacious bedrooms.
A lounge, bar, and dining area are also on site.



If the weather permits, enjoy your evening meals beneath the old gnarled leadwood tree.
Enjoy the solitude, nearby seal colonies, towering dunes, and diverse wildlife including the desert elephant.

www.wilderness-safaris.com