I've been travelling in Namibia recently and love to tell you about this beautiful country. I did a fair bit of driving to visit the sights, which I wrote about in the previous post. Now, I'll tell you about the sand and the beauty that comes with it, including the marsches.
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Roadtrip car during sunset... or is it sunrise?
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Once you're out in the desert, it can be different types of desert. There are many striking places in this country, but concerning sand I'd like to talk about two of them. One is the stretch where the ocean meets the dunes, near Walvis Bay. You can experience it up on the Skeleton Coast or towards the South, at the iconic Sandwich Harbour. I included a few photos in the last post. But now, to the next point which became one of the main objectives.
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| Driving towards the sand |
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| Driving towards the sand |
The Sossusvlei is a vast area where there dunes are so many and so high that you will not see the sea no matter for how many hours you walk. The whole are is about 32.000 km², so you can imagine the vastness. One can meditade forever on the size of this place and the size of just one grain of sand. The grains make this up by neverending, ever shifting - yet the eye cannot see the dunes move.
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| Approaching Sossusvlei |
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Approaching Sossusvlei
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All of these photos above are just taken from the car windows. I cannot even start thinking about how many weeks I would need to spend in this valley only, if I had a pro camera and wanted to capture all the beauty.
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| Orange dunes bathing in golden sunshine |
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| There has been mist coming in, so the desert plants are grabbing their chances |
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| More dune curves along the way |
Once you start coming closer, you see how the sand has a specific color. The orange hues are due to the iron, and the older it is (and the more oxidized), the deeper the hue. In different parts of Namibia you'll see all different colors of sand, thanks to different contents of minerals and metals.
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| Oxidized iron gives those bright colors |
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| The amount of light, the weather and the time of day affect the colors too. |
The dunes of Sossusvlei, which in local language means something like a dead-end with a matsch, are considered to be some of the highest in the world. It's difficult to see on the photos, but many are about 200 metres and higher. There are some prominent ones called Big Momma and Big Daddy, the latter about 325 metres high.
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| Ready to start climbing? |
The "marsch" part is due to the rivers that emerge only seasonally, and create a whitish hue. The temperatures can be well above 30+ C in the daytime, while dropping to below zero at nighttime in the winter, which creates a very harsch environment. And yes, sometimes it rains too - but all the rain seems to come during 1-2 rain months, so it's all or nothing.
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| A pan between the dunes, with the marsches full of water during a winter month |
To enter the area, you need to pass the nature reserve gate. It's only open during set hours, which means there is a long queue in the morning. Everyone wants to come there first! The Golden Hour, the lack of tourists... but don't stress, there is just so much space here you will not be bothered with tourists too much. At least if you're a morning person.
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| This is what it can look like during the morning ride. Not too much traffic. Chill air. Amazing views ahead. Just make suer you've got plenty of time, since there is a long drive (May be 1-1,5 hour?) from the park entrance. |
After passing the park entrance gate, you may want to visit the local celebrities like Dune 45, Elim Dune, and the rest. I saved that for later, racing to get to the Deadvlei as soon as possible, to see the big shadow of the dunes slowly move over and let the sun light up the trees. First, we needed to get there...
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| Looking over the dunes from hot air baloons |
The road has recently been well-paved and it's smooth and easy going after you've passed the gate and paid the tickets. The views are amazing. Catching the sunrise here makes you want to just stay and take pictures, which a lot of people do. Others ride hot air baloons for a one-in-a-lifetime experience.
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| The sand continues, crawling in towards the road |
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| And so it continues... |
This place is one of the most photographed places in Subsaharian Africa, and that's for a reason. Such colors, shapes and contrasts - but also the vastness of it.
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| It's hard to grasp, especially from a photograph, how large those are. |
Once you get to the end of the paved road, there is a parking. But I made sure I was driving a well-equipped, 4x4 car, with all the spares and extra gear. Of course, you need experience and skill to drive offroad. You need to understand how the sand behaves. You need to know not to stop where you can get stuck or start skidding. You need to be very sure what you're doing with the steering wheel, adjust your movements, your speed, the way you work the acceleration and the brake, and whether and when use the differential lock. And of course you have to have the right tire pressure - without forgetting to change that back once you're driving fast on tarmac roads again, otherwise the tires can explode.
Ready? Let's go. This is fun!
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| Driving through the sand. Do not attempt if unprepared. |
No off-road driving here of course, or at least not off the actual tracks. It's a nature reserve, after all. So keep to the tracks, don't stop, don't collide, and enjoy the ride.
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| Nope! Do not drive on the dunes please. |
The rest of the tourists, those who do not have the right vehicle or the right experiences, get a ride from the parking place and you end up at the same spot. It's impossible to miss, with all the parking spaces, benches for resting, and ever a couple of toilets for tourist use. From here, it's just walking.
Most opt to attempt to climb some of the dunes. Some give up. I was prepared for the challenge, I mean I've done enough more challenging and complex mountaineering to be able to enjoy this walk.
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| This little bug is also up to the challenge! |
The dunes never seem as tall and steep on the photos you take underway. Steepness seems the worst when you look at it from downhill. Did you know it's like this with all hills and mountains? And if you look from the top, or from high above altogether, they do not seem steep or difficult at all. This is a metaphor for life I often think about.
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| Seeming flat at first, you may realisize that this is a dune photographed from the side. Those people walking the very crest are the ones that managed to climb all the way up. |
Once up there, the view changes. There are even wet areas to be seen, at least in the winter. Such a contrast to the dry, hot sand everywhere.
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| Top of the dune! You may see some trees below, even people if you look for the footpath. |
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| View from the top |
Here, I'll frankly say I was very much tempted by the idea of
dune surfing - or snowboarding in sand, again. However I did not have the gear with me. Also I do understand that it may be injurous for the ancient dunes and should not be done without getting prior permission.
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| And more sand... and more sand. Surf's up? |
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| Scorched trees, hiding their heads in the sand |
These formations and the scorched vegetation catch the eye among all the sand. It's the contrast that often creates the most striking beauty, isn't it?
Then, I got down and moved towards the Deadvlei. That will be the next post!
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| This time the sun strikes the dunes in another angle and they just never cease to be magnificent. |
