“Sunrise, wrong side of another day”* – Sossusvlei

Today I made the long drive from Swakopmund on the coast to the centre of Namibia, to a place called Sesriem, near Sossusvlei, where Namibia’s most famous sand dunes are located. At Swakopmund several people told the road was in bad condition and the drive very boring. At first, they seemed to be right, as I crossed an almost featureless desert while bouncing up and down as I drove over a badly corrugated section of track.

But later the road improved, and the scenery became interesting.

After a few hours I reached a tiny settlement, aptly named Solitaire. It sat at the main road junction in its region and had all the essentials for travellers in Namibia –  a petrol station, car repair workshop and a very good café with bakery. I enjoyed an excellent cappuccino as a stream of other drivers came and went.

I also made friends with this little chap.

From Solitaire it was a short drive to my accommodation – yet another bush camp, located on a flat desert plain, about forty minutes drive from the entrance to the Sossusvlei national park.  I enjoyed a glass of wine from their lounge as I watched the moon rise over the distant mountains.

Most visitors travel to the sand dunes either early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when it is cooler and when the light is better for photography. My early morning visit involved getting up at 5.30am in order to get to the dunes area for 7.30am. I awoke to sound of a strong wind, which worried me – wind and sand are not a good combination. I did not manage to shower, since the hot water was provided by solar power, and the sun had not yet risen. As I had breakfast, the sky changed colour, and it became quite light, even before the sun appeared.

I drove off to the park entrance, which was at the start of the long valley of a now-dry river lined on both sides with sand dunes. The river’s course was marked by dead and living trees – the latter surviving from water that continued to pass deep underground. There was a good asphalt road that followed the valley, with great views of the dunes on either side – at least, when the ferocious wind occasionally stopped, and the dust settled.

One of the best known is called Dune 45 and had already many people trying to climb it.  

I continued right to the end of the road, where there was a parking area in a depression (or “vlei”) at the base of very largest dunes. I was greeted with an almost apocalyptic scene. Visitors struggled to open their car doors against the force of the wind, and then staggered around, holding onto their hats and bowing their heads to hide their faces from the stinging sand. I realised that visiting this part of the park was pointless and drove back to Dune 45, where conditions seemed to be better.

I parked at the base of the dune and struggled up the bright red sandy slope. My worries about not showering were soon forgotten as the wind sandblasted my fur, no doubt removing any possible dirt and a few layers of skin. It was a hard climb – for every little step forward I would slip backwards half a step in the sand.

Half-way up, I dropped the lens cap of my camera and it rolled on its side all the way down – I could not have done such a perfect trajectory if I had tried. I had to hurry down the slope to collect it before it got buried by sand and lost forever. Then I recommenced the long struggle up….

When I finally managed to struggle to the top, my efforts were well worth it. There were fine views across the field of dunes and the opportunity to take some great selfies.

Proud of my achievement I headed back to the park gate to the small village of Sesriem and enjoyed a much needed coffee. I headed back to my bush camp to catch up on some lost sleep and to enjoy the pool before dinner. I had been surprised that my tour agent had booked me three nights near Sossusvlei, but now I was very glad – I had several more chances to see the largest dunes, at the end of the valley, under more favourable conditions. And my brief morning visited supported my guidebook’s assertion that the area was one of Africa’s most spectacular attractions.

* Taken from the song “Motorhead” by Motorhead