Sessriem within the Namib Naukluft National Park provides camping for the dunes at Sossusvlei.
Late start from Windhoek as we needed to stop at Symot, the camping store chain for odds and ends we could not get last night as all of the shops close promptly at 5pm. We chose a less traveled route, C26 south out of the congested city taking us through Spreetshoogte Pass. Downshifting on the curving, gravel road we glided through a small opening in the canyon where we were gifted with a panoramic vista of the Namib Dessert, similar to the American southwest, if you could put it on steroids. Ochre red sand dunes, golden grasses and clumps of sage stood against the brightest of blue skies.
After several hours we stopped in the Village of Solitaire, well, the gas station, general store and bakery actually. The store is quintessential Africa including various large game stuffed and mounted on the walls, sufficient support for my status as a vegetarian. The grounds are landscaped with vintage vehicles in various stages of deterioration in the desert sand, sort of a warning that this could be your final resting place if you don’t top off with petrol on your way out.
Deadline for check in is 6pm at Sessriem’s outer gate, the campground is closed after that and we made it with half hour to spare. The campsites are fantastic, scattered under the Camel Thorn trees, plenty of shade, a pool and large clean bath house. Site 10 is my favorite, followed by 19, with views across the savannah to the setting sun over the dunes.
We pitched the ground tent instead of the one on the roof, so we could get to the inner gate to the park by 5:50am the next morning for the one hour drive to the Big Daddy Dune and Sossusvlei Dune. We nearly fell back to sleep waiting at the gate and when the guard finally opened it Dan tore off forgetting that he had left both back doors on the jeep open when he went for coffee. Racing the sun, we watched as it began to silhouette the smaller dunes to our left, after nearly an hour we hit the patch that requires 4 wheel drive and our first opportunity to see what the Landcruiser could do. The remaining 4k was deep sand, but we made good time and arrived just in time to see a Springbok on the very edge of the Sossusvlei dune watching the dawn of a new day in the Namibian Desert. The massive mounds of burnt orange, super fine sand are very sensuous and most definitely feminine, so much so that I found myself prone against a particularly fine dune attempting a very sandy hug.
Had we realized the distance to the dunes and back would be 2 hours round trip we may have spent mid day stretched out in the shade to await the sunset at Dead Vlei, but we opted to drive back and take a dip in the pool. November is hot and dry during the day, to the extent that my rubber sandals nearly melted in minutes on the sand. Nights are cool in the desert however and we needed the comfort of our sleeping bags to ward off the chill.
Sunset over the dancing trees at Dead Vlei offered long shadows that beckoned us to join them on the dry, white pan. It would not have been a surprise to see the trees come to life like a scene from the Wizard of Oz.
http://www.namibian.org/travel/lodging/sesriem.html
All of the great photos below are taken by Dan Gair, the others are mine.
Enjoy!
Holly
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