Namibia: Sossusvlei and Sesriem Canyon

We had an early start as the gates to Namib Desert Park open at sunrise (6:45 am the day we were there). There were about 8 cars ahead of us and they opened the gate at 6:45 am on the dot. The convoy spread out quite quickly as people drove at different speeds and some stopped at Dunes 40 and 45 initially while we (and others) continued driving towards Deadvlei. The names Dune 40 and 45 simply mean that they are 40 and 45 km respectively from the gate that connects Sesriem and Sossusvlei. The sand is made from detritus accumulated by the Orange River from the Kalahari Desert and then blown here. We stopped at Dune 45 on the way back and walked up, our feet sinking in the hot sand with every step. We were supposed to only take about 20 minutes but ended up staying about 40, as we wanted to reach at least the second highest peak of the dune.

There were some crab-looking bugs running on the dunes but at times rolling over or burying themselves in the sand when they felt in danger. We saw some interesting birds as well – some looked like bush chooks, but with interesting spherical heads (Rupell’s bustards), and the other one was a pied crow that was sitting on tree branch and was observing the cars.

The views were amazing. Just after we left, the dunes were basked in the beautiful yellowish sunrise colours filtered through the desert sandy haze. There were two hot air balloons going up as well. There were a few oryx on both sides of the road and one of them decided to run in front of the car ahead of us but luckily there was no collision. The sand was shifting a bit and driving was quite slippery but even if we kept the same pressure in the tyres we had no issues getting through.

At Deadvlei we climbed the big dune and then walked down on one side of it. Deadvlei is quite spectacular as there’s places where water stagnated, so trees grew, then it got really hot and dry, so the trees fossilized and the last water to evaporate formed whitish crusts on top of the sand.

We slid down the dune in a very similar way we went down into the volcano crater in New Zealand – rhythmic big steps, heels first, until we reached the hard, dried mud at the bottom. There we noticed a couple of women who were not only dressed in very inappropriate outfits for the place, but kept changing them too. We soon realized that they were probably Instagrammers / influencers posing. They had a female guide and when walking past them we heard them speak Russian!

People seemed to have all sort of motifs to visit this place: there were two older ladies speaking in Spanish. I couldn’t really hear what they were saying but appeared to be life experiences or stories. There was a couple with a toddler who kept stumbling and putting things in his mouth; another couple who were probably on a dating or honeymoon trip with the girl wearing a dark, turquoise dress and sneakers and the guy a muscly-gym-kind-of-person.

When we got back to the cars there was a black backed jackal wandering around, who entered the female toilet, then the male one, then walked past some people who were having a picnic before wandering off into the bush, unfazed by the human presence.

We drove to the end of the road, to Sossuvlei – where we saw another black backed jackal – before starting the drive back through the park.

On the way back we stopped to pay the entry fee just before the gate, then drove to Sesriem Canyon which was very different to what I expected. First of all the road was an interesting and challenging drive with lots of speed “dips” rather than bumps. At the entrance to the carpark there was a sign warning people about the baboons (but we didn’t see any). The canyon itself was dry as a bone (or as a desert), with no trace of water but still had the occasional tree. The banks were formed of what looked like compressed sand mixed with rocks which didn’t look terribly stable. We walked for a bit then turned around as the canyon seemed to keep going for a while, it was close to lunchtime and we were hungry.

We stopped at a petrol station right after the gate (where we saw some more Dacias – there’s plenty of them in Namibia), where we refueled had lunch and then started our trip to Swakopmund.

The landscape was quite amazing, changing from red dunes to what looked like Moon, then Mars, then Earth after apocalypse, before we reached light brown coloured dunes that were slowly encroaching the roads, buildings, factories, bridges as we approached Swakopmund. We drove through two canyons (Gaub and Kuiseb) along road C14 which I later read to be considered a dangerous road, not recommended for passenger cars! As we approached Swakop the pink flamingos eating in the water on the side of the road were quite impressive. We passed through Walvis Bay on the way and noticed the exit road to be flanked by large (wide, not necessarily tall) palm trees which we later found out to have been planted by the father of a kid who died in a car accident in that area. So he intended this like a red carpet to remind people of his kid – which unfortunately I think is an extra danger for people who lose control of their cars or rollover and can hit these palm trees now.

Apparently Angelina Jolie has a property in this particular area (between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay) and also a nature game reserve near Windhoek where they rehabilitate injured animals. Her adopted daughter is from Namibia and apparently she quite likes the country.

A (longish) video with some of the roads from Sesriem to Sossusvlei and then Swakopmund can be seen here.