Namib Desert - Sesriem

We were told that it is best to get to Sesriem-Sossusvlei for sunrise or just afterwards, and our hotel had even offered to knock on our door at 4:45 and provide a breakfast box to go in order to allow us to make haste. That made it surprising that no one was available to check us out for more than 20 minutes as we waited, not so patiently, watching it get lighter and lighter outside. The most agonizing part was that we kept being told that someone is coming "just now". This is one of those classic phrases that you learn again and again while traveling, and is similar to the Mexican "mañana". In Namibia, "just now" means sometime in the future, but not any sort of specific future time. (At the next hotel, for our second day at the park, we were smart enough to pre-pay and make all checkout arrangements the night before.) Finally, we made it to the park. The area is famous for the giant red sand dunes and the white flat dry lake beds with these unusual-looking dead trees. The 65k drive from the park entrance to the most famous dunes offers some good opportunities to see animals, particularly springbok, oryx and ostrich, and the early morning light also makes for great landscape views. (Happy to report Hugh has been studying the camera manual and continues to explore other options beyond the "auto" picture setting).








Driving on the park's well-paved road was a treat particularly after the hundreds of miles of unpaved road we drove to get here. But the pavement came to an end, followed by a 4k long sand road where people like us have to leave their 2WD cars, and either walk or pay for a shuttle. Our guide book suggested that it is a pleasant walk that would give us a chance to view the desert landscape, so we chose to go on foot. We think we must have been the only ones to walk, and are sure sensible people do not choose a 2-1/2 mile walk in a hot, sandy desert when a vehicle is readily available. Particularly when the goal is to get to the base of the world's largest sand dune and then hike up it. Hiking up the Big Daddy sand dune was awesome. Thankfully, we had some good practice trekking up hill in sand from our sand boarding experience. Once we got some elevation, we started to see the dried lakebed below.








There were these little dune beetles that would zoom over the sand dune surface but then occasionally burrow into the sand and completely disappear.


Once we got to the top, we were able to take the steep straight "ski" slope down to the lake bed surface.





Before leaving the US, we had been shown a picture from National Geographic of this place, showing a tree, the white lake bed, and a red sand dune behind it - we were obsessed with getting a similarly cool image. As a result, we might have a photo catalogue of all the trees in the Deadvlei area.





There was a Swiss-German couple that was equally obsessed with photographing the trees and we bonded over it. They had a 4WD vehicle that they drove all the way and were mystified that we walked the final distance. We gladly accepted their offer of a ride back to our car, and continued exploring the park.





At the entrance to the park is another geologic site - Sesriem canyon. This is a canyon with steep walls. We walked on the canyon floor, which for the majority of the way was dry and sandy.





Near the mouth of the canyon, we noticed some baboons up on the higher elevations, and more than 100' away. At one point, I think they decided to not give us the welcome mat, and one of them started screeching and started charging towards us, but only for a couple of feet so he never got anywhere close. Betsy and I made sure to stick a little closer to each other while we were in their area. In between our 2 days at the sand dunes, we stayed at the Desert Camp, our favorite hotel during our time in the desert. The hotel was made up of individual little cottages, part structure, part canvas with lots of windows that zipped open and closed, so you could look at the mountains while taking a shower. The best part was each unit had it's own little outdoor kitchen with BBQ grill. We ordered food from their menu, which was delivered at 6pm, along with a box of cooking essentials/utensils. Hugh bbq'd an eland steak for the first time and we had a such a great night just cooking and dining al fresco. Here is the view from the "porch."


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Location:Namib-Nakluft National Park, Namibia