Sossusvlei Sand Dunes

Saturday morning was cold. Really cold. Our rendezvous time with our group was 6:15am for a quick breakfast so that we could then leave and get to the Sossusvlei gate when it opened. Getting out of bed though was very difficult. The problem with sleeping in a very warm bed in a very cold room, is that your body heat keeps the covers immediately around you very warm. However, if you move an inch, suddenly its like getting a hug from old man winter himself.


We procrastinated much longer than we should have about getting out of the bed, and as a result had to rush to get ourselves ready, and run down the road to the girls tent to try and get them up and out which was even more difficult. It was now 6:15, and we were still not ready, and we had a 5 minute walk to the breakfast area. Alexandra was ready, so I asked her to head down so they at least knew we were coming. Two minutes later, Kalyssa was ready, so I asked her to go get started on breakfast as well. Now Natalie and I were late, as we had spent the last 20 minute trying to get the girls going. Finally, we began walking at 6:30. Then as we walked 50 feet from our cabin, Natalie realized she forgot something, and ran back. I continued on by myself, and reached the reception area, alongside which was Monet and our breakfast.

As I arrived, I looked around, and realized, that neither of the girls was there. Uh-oh, that’s not good. I asked one of our other travelers if they had seen them, and they said they had seen Alexandra, but not Kalyssa. Uh-oh, that’s even worse. I then realized, though the camp is a straight line with identical lodges, except for the reception area, since we came in after dark, and they had slept through dinner last night, that they had no idea what to look for to find us.

I ran out to the road that the lodges are all on, and here is Kalyssa and Alexandra about 200 feet down the road. It turns out, Allie found it fine, and was having breakfast, looked up, and saw Kalyssa coming down the road. Several minutes later, she realized that Kalyssa never showed up at breakfast, and went chasing after her. By the time I got out there, they were already heading back towards breakfast, with Kalyssa in tears.

On our way to Sossusvlei

With everyone there now, we quickly inhaled some breakfast, and jumped in the bus to head to the Sossusvlei/Deadvlei area of the national park. As we drove in towards the area, there was a low lying fog over many of the dunes, which got thicker and lower the further we drove in. Although this generally muted the colors in the mountains and vegetation around us, in a few areas a break in the clouds would illuminate a small section of the landscape beautifully. In one such area off in the distance, surrounded by drab gray and brown mountains, was one large mountain creating a pathway up into the clouds, with bright morning sunlight shining down on the slope. The sunlight brightly illuminated the red Sussesvlei sands, contrasted by the yellow Namibian brush, and lightly peppered with dark green vegetation, all this surrounded by a light aura of blue in the area the sunlight was entering in. As we peered out the windows at this spectacle, Kalyssa looked at it and said, “It looks like it’s the gateway to heaven.” Indeed it certainly did.

Kalyssa's "Gateway to Heaven"

After a little more than an hour's time, we neared the end of the gravel road leading into Sossusvlei, and at this point the trail turned to very loose sand. This was a launch point, for several smaller safari jeeps much better equipped to drive through the loose sand that continued from this point. As this path led to Deadvlei and Sossusvlei, which are two of the most popular tourist attractions, it is heavily traveled and there were scores of people coming into and out of the park, and some outhouses were setup.

I will say that this is the first place In Namibia that seemed to not be very well maintained, as the public toilets were clearly highly utilized, but in very poor condition. [Skip to next paragraph if you wish to avoid details.] As we approached the outhouses, there was a strong smell of raw sewage, and near them, there were several places of standing water. Given the general climate of Namibia, and the dry season that we were in, the only likely source of this liquid made one cringe. On the men’s side, there was a 6 foot by 8 foot section of canvas, which none of us were quite sure about at first. Inside, where about 10 black plastic pipes of 3 inches in diameter jutting out of the ground to about 3 feet high, at about a 75 degree angle around the perimeter. Brian, a member of our safari group from Canada decided to make the first move in deciding that these must be meant to be urinals. Unfortunately, the entrance into the “men’s room had puddle stretching from one end to the other of the doorway. I attempted to hop over this, but came down toe first on the edge of it which made for a slick landing. I skated a few inches in my hiking boots and developed a layer of mud up the front of my boot. I was relieved that I maintained my balance and did not land in the mess, but disgusted at the same by the mixture on my foot. The girls side was not much better, as the doors to the porta-potties were falling off, and a section of the base of one of them was missing a section of plastic revealing a hole of about 8 x 8 inches, in which there was a couple inches of clearish liquid. Unpleasant to say the least.

Having prepared ourselves for some hiking, we now climbed into the smaller safari jeeps. Unfortunately, the sun had still not burned away the clouds and fog around us, which meant it had not warmed up much. The air was probably still in the lower 50s, our feet were quite cold, and the jeeps were open topped providing for quite the wind chill as we drove deeper towards Deadvlei. The entire way was in a dry riverbed with very loose sand, so the jeep was slipping and sliding every direction just as a car may in twelve inches of fluffy snow. After a 15 minute drive, we reached the start of the hike into Deadvlei.



All of the sand in this area was a rich orange-red due to the high iron content in the sand. The hike began in an area which was partly loose sand, and partly hard packed mud that had baked essentially into cement after the river dried. We hiked almost approximately a kilometer in the crisp air, thankful for the exercise which was getting our blood moving, and warming our limbs a bit. As we neared the end, there was a medium sized sand dune along side us. Monet said we could either hike up the dune and along the top, or we could go around it on the flat ground. Allie and I and the rest of our group, began up the dune. Kalyssa and Natalie remained for the time being.



Allie Struggling up the Dune at Deadvlei



A path had been carved by hiker’s earlier this morning that gradually ascended the side of the dune at an angle, as the wall of sand was to steep to climb vertically. The sand was extremely pure, and very light. With every step forwards and upwards I took, my back foot would sink backwards half a step. It only took a few minutes for my leg muscles to begin to burn as I fought the long battle against gravity to try and make forward progress. Though I was moving extremely slowly my heart and my breathing were racing heavily as if I was jogging at a strong clip.

Ahead of me were the Brit and the Aussie who were both likely in their 60s, and needed to take several breaks on the way up and regain their strength and breath. I was thankful for this as it saved me from having to make that decision fo myself. As Allie and I neared the top we saw Kalyssa begin the ascent behind us. When I finally reached the top, I collapsed onto the peak of the dune in exhaustion, and to take a few pictures. I remained in that spot until Kalyssa made it to the top of the hill. Ahead of me, and also resting was the fellow from Australia. Once we were all at the peak of the dune, we began to hike along its crest in the direction of Deadvlei. As we continued we could see the flat, white riverbed, empty except a surreal community of ancient dead trees below us. However, we began to ask ourselves where the path down was. Half of our group was already at the bottom, and it seemed like the crest of the dune was now turning in the opposite direction. However as we looked at the wall of the dune we did not see any similar path down like we had where had all ascend the dune. It was completely smooth, with only the markings of the wind on it.

View from the Top of the Dune Near Deadvlei

We sat asking each other about this for a few minutes, utterly confused, two people with a different group, who also looked somewhat perplexed, decided to simply attempt to walk down the wall of the hill. This seemed fairly ridiculous and looked rather dangerous, as it was an extremely steep slope. As we watched however, they walked with ease, lifting their feet as if walking through light snow, and glided almost effortlessly down the hill. Behind them, a small avalanche of sand occurred, and seconds after they went down, the side of the dune was completely flat again. Only upon very close examination could you notice a slightly different tint to the sand, as it lacked the minute wind ripples on its surface.

We looked at each other and shrugged, and then followed. Descending had an amazing sensation, opposite to that of the ascension. For every 1 meter step you took, you would glide about 2 additional. So even with slow even steps we each descended at an amazingly fast pace. Each footstep would sink 6 -10 inches into the sand which actually made it very difficult to lose one’s balance. However, the sand was light enough, that it was not an effort to lift each foot for the next step. As I glided further and further down the hill, I began to move my feet at a very light jogging pace, but my body was moving much fast than I ever could have on flat ground. The complete lack of impact on my knees, and the absence of the up and down motion that you subconsciously associate with running made the descent feel dream like, I reached the bottom where Natalie was awaiting with an involuntary grin on my face, and sat down to remove all of the sand that had gathered in my shoe. Though the air was still very cold, the activity of the last 20 minutes had warmed me up quite a bit.

Once our group had reassembled at the foot of the dune, and at the lip of Deadvlei, Monet gave us the history of the area. This section used to be part of the river bed. Regular water over the years had enabled vegetation and trees to grow. At one point however, a dune grew during the dry season which choked off the access of the river to this area permanently, and all of the vegetation died, leaving a white, flat, baked clay floor. The trees all died, and, based on carbon dating, have remained in this post-apocalyptic state now for 2000 years.

Deadvlei

Monet, now pulled out a map of Namibia, and laid it on the ground, employing assistance from our feet to keep it from blowing away. He then gave us a 20-30 minute ecological, and demographical history lesson of Namibia. He discussed the theories of the Sossusvlei sand dune creation. Most of them are believed to be 10-20 million years old, and the sand is thought to have either blown to their current location from the Kalahari desert in eastern Namibia and Botswana, or travelled to the Atlantic Ocean from that area via the Orange River from where it then washed up and blew inland from the ocean. The latter seems to be the more plausible solution, as the high mountain ranges inland would have likely caused most of the sand to be deposited to the east of them, instead of to the west of them where the sand now lies.



Monet's History Lesson



Monet also provided an overview of where the different types of people live in Namibia. The highest concentration is actually not in the capital city of Windhoek, but instead is in the wetter area north of Etosha and close to the Angola border. Additionally he provided an overview of the Nama, the Himba (known for their still “primitive” lifestyle, and women with reddish skin that do not wear tops), the Damara (who speak a language which consists of clicks and clucks), the Basters (an accepted derivative of the word “bastards”a community of builders that are all half German, and half Nama), as well as the many other peoples, and where they live.

During this lesson, we noticed Kalyssa had wandered off, back towards the dune, and was attempting to carve her own path directly up the hill in the distance. As she was wearing a fuchsia jacket vest, I was not concerned about losing her in the distance. However, as Monet finished up his lesson on Namibia, I began to scan the dune for her. Last I had seen she had made it about half way up. I didn’t see here there, nor did I see her on the peak of the dune. As a bit of mounting concern grew, of how and where to find her, I scanned every direction a little more frantically. After several minutes, I decided I couldn’t. I then tried to subtly ask Natalie where she had last seen her (though as Natalie was on the other side of our circle, it subtlety was not possible, and the group conversation stopped to listen. Natalie then said, “She’s right there.” Alexandra moved over 2 feet, and sitting on a rock 10 feet from me was Kalyssa. Mystery solved.

Lunch Time

From here we headed back towards the safari jeep drop off, and jumped in another one. To our surprise, we did not head back to the truck, but instead headed to a quiet area under a camel thorn tree. As we pulled up, we noticed that one of the cargo boxes from our safari truck was sitting on a picnic table. We all shared some surprised looks, and asked Monet how that had arrived here, to which he teased “That is a secret.” We made ourselves some quick sandwhiches and had some juice, and headed to the pond for which Sossusvlei was named. We again walked down a dry river bed of mud baked into concrete, and at the end of it was a small pond. This is the end of the river, and is where the water gathers during the rainy season. The pond then shrinks (often disappearing completely throughout the dry season, and then once again fills up the next year. The name Sossussvlei is made up of the Nama word Sossus and the Afrikaans word Vlei. Both have the same meaning: a place where water gathers.

Sossusvlei

Our next stop was Dune 45. This dune is reserved for climbing whereas most of the dunes are off limits to hikers (due to the strong risk of climbers experiencing sudden dehydration in the hot dry summer months). After the last dune climb, I had figured I’d sit this one out. However, as we discussed it, Monet had said it takes most people around 25 minutes though he knows one person that can do it in 10. When we pulled up to the edge of it, it didn’t seem that large. I could see people almost at the top of it, and my competitive spirit kicked in, and I thought sure, why not. The couple from Canada, Margaret from New Orleans/Zambia, and Suheil from the UK and I headed up, and Natalie, and Alexandra remained behind. As had been the case for most of the hikes, I was in the tail, with Kalyssa behind me.



Dune 45:  5 Minutes In - We're Almost There....



Five minutes into the climb, I looked up and saw the rest of the group only about 20 meters ahead. They appeared to be nearing the crest of the dune, and again I thought to myself this won’t take long. I also realized something about dune climbing. There is definitely a science to it. Walking on the very crest of the dune appears to give the best foothold, as does stepping in the footsteps of the prior hiker, if possible. From their, small, flat footed gliding steps will get you the best traction. Trying to move too fast simply causes your pushing foot to slide backwards. Oddly, I began to make a connection with the story from the Bible, where Peter attempts to walk out to Jesus on the water. This had to be exactly what that felt like. If you panic and try and walk fast, you begin to sink and slide in the sand. But if you relax, and focus on being steady, you suddenly rise to the top of the sand and hardly sink at all. It was very surreal.

20 Minutes In: - Did the Dune Get Taller??!?

I had been walking for about 5 minutes since last I checked the group ahead of me, and they still seemed to be 20 meters ahead, and nearing the top of the dune. As I turned and looked behind me, there seemed to be twice as much dune in that direction as there was 5 minutes ago. Kalyssa was quite a ways back and I waited a minute for her. I tried to hurry her to start catching up to me, and began walking again myself. After another 5 minutes, I checked the group ahead of me again. They now appeared to be about 25 meters ahead of me, and seemed to be nearing the top of the dune. I seriously began to question my own sanity, as we’d been walking for 20 minutes or so, and it still didn’t seem like they were any closer, or further to the peak than when I first looked up at them. I stopped and began to look around for a moment to see how high I was, and realized that the desert floor was an amazing distance from me. I could no longer make out the individual sprouts of yellow grass. There was also a steady breeze now, and I could see it healing the imprints of the group in front of me, and replacing them with the knife like edge of the dune. Along the slope of the dune were a few gecko lizards and large beetles navigating the sand much better than I was. As I looked at the floor of the desert again, I felt the wind and the sand moving around me, and the distance to the earth below was so far, that I began to get dizzy and had quite a bit of vertigo. I thought I may fall, or vomit, as my head began to spin. I tried to look at my feet, the only thing up here not moving, and regained my balance for a moment.

Near the Top (The white dots are the cars, where we started)

 



View From Top: (Follow the Edge CounterClockwise to Get True Sense of Height)



At this point I waited for Kalyssa to fully catch up, and had her walk in front of me, so that I could keep us moving and keep pace with the group ahead (who still seemed to be nearing the top of the dune 20-25 meters ahead of me.) We did finally reach the top of the dune, and Kalyssa and I spent a few moments enjoying the tremendous view, and discussing our mode of descent. The side we were on had a wall of sand plunging about 60% of the way to the desert floor before the slope lessened and fell more gradually the remaining distance. Kalyssa ran first, and after she nearly made it to the lower section, I followed. For my final dune descent in Namibia, I wanted to see how fast I could truly descend the mountain of sand. I began running as fast as I possibly could. The sensation was what I imagine it would feel like to ride an avalanche down a mountain side on skis, All the sand around me moved with me as I travelled at a truly amazing speed towards the earth, passing Kalyssa as well as Margaret and Suheil on the way down in less than a minute, I had descended what took me nearly a half an hour to ascend. This climb, and the ride down was definitely worth it.

The Whole Crew at Dune 45

It was now 2:30 in the afternoon, and our guide gave us the option to either return to the lodge for a siesta and then go out to Sesriem canyon, or to simply do the canyon now, and retire to the hotel early. We fairly unanimously chose to do the canyon now .

Sesriem Canyon

The canyon was not extremely spectacular compared to some of the sights earlier in the day, but was interesting none the less. We only spent a half an hour there or so, and then returned to the lodge. At this point, many in our group took advantage of the warm and light hours of the day to shower, sleep comfortably or just sit and relax. I sat down at the table behind my cabin, and spent an hour our so on the laptop enjoying the most beautiful view of an African field with Mountains as a backdrop. The sites and smells were phenomenal in the warm afternoon sun. I thought to myself, how wonderful it would be to have this as an office every day.

View from the Porch of our Cabin at Desert Camp

Suheil, the gentleman from the UK and I had agreed to meet at 4:30 to take a walk on one of the paths near our lodge which led out to a small mountain across the street. We walked for about 40 minutes around the mountain, hoping to see some wild live, but instead found nothing but a huge weaver’s net, about twice the size of the one that was over our lunch table the other day. After this, I showered, and enjoyed the rest of the evening at the bar with our fellow safari-goers followed by another good dinner cooked by Monet. Once again, Alexandra and Kalyssa went to sleep about 5:00 in the afternoon, skipped dinner, and remained there until 5:30 the next morning when we woke them.