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.