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 | Namib-Naukluft Park Things To Do | Tips 1 - 10 of 79 |  |
Popular Things To Do | Miscellaneous Things To Do Tips | All Tips (79) Staying overnight in Camp Mwisho, a tent-camp with the most wonderful view on the namib rand desert.
Starting in the early morning with a Hot Air Balloon. 1 hour drive right over the wonderful desert with the red sand dunes.
Champagner breakfast after landing.
(Sounds good, right?: It is!) Leave a Comment Address: Camp Mwisho, Namib rand desertPhone: +264-63-293233Directions: Namib rand desert, 50 km south of sesriemWebsite: namibsky@mweb.com.na |
One of the most popular dunes in the great Namib-Naukluft Park is Dune 45. It is not the largest dunes as it is only half the size as some of the 300 meter high monsters. It is in a great location to see the monster dunes and the sunrise. The contrast of light and shadow on the knife edge of the dune makes an unusual effect to the eye. The gnarly looking trees next to the dune also create a nice perspective next the large red dune. Leave a Comment Address: Namib-Naukluft National ParkDirections: 45 kilometers East of Sesriem on route to Sossusvlei |
The "Dune Sea" of Namibia's Great Namib Desert runs over 200 miles from the Orange River to the South to the Kuiseb River to the North. It contains some of the oldest, largest, and reddest dunes in the world. These giants reach up to 300 meters above the parched river bed. The cold Benguila current smashes into the Namib coast stripping the moisture right out of the ground. The average annual rainfall is around 0 cm but water laden fog rolls in and out frequently giving those plants and animals adapted to absorb water out of the air a chance for survival. Animals like springbok, gemsbok, ostriches, mongooses, bat-eared fox, brown hyenas, jackals, shovel-snouted Lizards, chameleons, sand snakes, skinks, and dancing spiders have adapted to this harsh environment.
The Namib-Naukluft National Park covers 23,000 sq miles and is one of the largest parks in the world. The shifting sands are constantly changing here making this one of the most dynamic landscapes in the world.
Sossuvlei is at the heart of the desert and an excellent place to explore some of the largest dunes in the Namib. Sesriem is the main camp that allows access to the park and has good facilities.
This place does not look or seem of this earth. The light and contrasts are a photographers dream.
Cost: ND = Namibian Dollars
$220 ND to camp in Sesreim (for two)
$20 ND each for Admission into the Park
$10 ND per vehicle Leave a Comment Directions: Namib-Naukluft Park, accessible from Sesriem |
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Sossuslvie is a salt pan at the end of the dry Tsauchab River, surrounded by orange and red dunes standing 200 meters tall. In the cracked pan many dead trees sit completely exposed and seemingly petrified. But they are not. This region is so dry these trees just won't decompose. They continue to sit like they have over the past hundreds of years "undying".
Once in a very long while the Tsauchab River brings water to Sossuslvie and the birds that follow the water. Apparently it creates a very eerie effect with the large dunes and mirroring pools of water with the dead trees.
This place is one of the most photographed of all the country and it is not wonder why. Leave a Comment Address: Namib-Naukluft National ParkDirections: At the end of the access road to the park from Sesriem is a 2x4 car park. Unless you have a 4x4 you must walk the additional 4 kms to Sossoslvei. |
As we headed deeper into the valley we approached the famous giant red dunes and supposedly the highest in the world, which looked incredible with the yellow grass below and the bright blue sky above.
Unlike the famous picture of the Oryx standing in front of the dune, we never saw any but we saw a few Springbok and Ostrich.
We stopped for a few photo's and of course we stopped and had a look at the famous Dune 45..which everyone seems to climb. Our guide had no idea why this dune became so famous as it is not the tallest and there is nothing special about it. I figured that it was closest to the road, therefore easy to put a car park in without too much damage. Why is it called Dune 45? Well some years ago they did a count of the dunes and all of them were numbered. Anyway we headed off to the vlei for breakfast and to climb an unnumbered dune! Leave a Comment |
At the start of the vlei, which is basically the pan of the river, we stopped at a carpark which was quite full with tour buses etc and jumped in a 4x4 jeep to take us up to the vlei and the dune. There are toilets at the car park and this would be your last chance as there are no facilities at the end of the pan.
The 4x4 ride is fun but I can imagine it being a bit messed up in the rainy season as the trail is made up of thick sand.
When you reach the pan there are picnic places available.
We sat and ate breakfast whilst watching people climbing the distant dune and the local birdlife such as African Eagle Owl, Cape sparrows, weavers and hawks.
There was water in the vlei so there was quite a bit of greenery around us. Leave a Comment |
If you take the road to the left of Sesriem camp and the entrance to Sossusvlei after about 5 km you will come to Sesriem Canyon. There is parking and a path that leads you down into the canyon.
We walked from the car park heading back up the canyon to where the water would flow through to Sossusvlei. It was pretty dry with only one or two shallow pools nearer the end.
This is a known place for coming across the Puff Adder. I found a baby one that had been flattened. Other wildlifw we saw here were Rock Pidgeons, Toc Tokkie Beatles and the Dassie!
The canyon gets it's name early Afrikaans travellers. When they lowered a bucket down to collect water and it normally took 6 lengths of thong tied together, Afrikaans for six is “Ses” and “Riem” means thong.
The Tsauchab River runs through the canyon through to Sossusvlei. In the rainy season you must always pay attention and take care when walking through the canyon as flash floods occur and these can be very dangerous! Leave a Comment Directions: About 4-5km from the Sossusvlei park entrance. |
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Namibia is a place of unique places, and Dead Vlei is definitely one of the most stunning ones.... This is an unworldly haunted place with long-dead camel-thorn acacias rising like gnarled fingers from the parched and cracked clay towards the impossibly blue cloudless skies. All this against a backdrop of the reddest and highest of dunes. So stark and desolate, yet amazingly photogenic. It is like stepping onto another planet … the experience is so surreal you automatically walk in silence contemplating the extreme conditions of this arena of death. The heat deters you from spending the whole day contemplating here, as there is not a single scrap of shade. If you are into weird thigs, it doesn't get weirder :-)
I'll put the directions here cuz VT says it is too long - when on earth is there a short way to explain where something in the desert is?? HA HA
Anyway .... Deadvlei is accessed by driving through all the road leading to Sussusvlei, passing Dune 45 (which you would have probably been visiting in the early morning). The road stops at a car park - this is as far as a normal 2WD can go. If you have a 4WD follow the signs to the Dead Vlei, and be prepared to switch on the 4WD and drive in the sand - it is some real fun :-) If on the other hand, you don't have a 4WD, no worry. There are constant shuttle services taking you to and from the Deadvlei parking ... or you can also walk, the scenery is pleasant. Leave a Comment Directions: See above .... not enough space here - I talk too much! HE HE |
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Sussusvlei is the land of the towering dunes, a natural work of art of curving dune shapes painted with a palette of hues of orange.
Everything about this dune world is a testimony to its old age (it is probably the oldest desert in the world):
* The size of the dunes, the tallest on earth - after millions of years of sand deposited and sculpted through wind action
* The colour of the dunes - the brightest orange sand. As sand gets older it is oxidised, the more it is oxidised the more orange it becomes.
* The evolution of the animals and plants to be able to make this harsh environment a home - beetles that collect moisture from the air, spiders that throw themselves from the dunes and turn into high speed balls to evade predators, gemsbok that can practically survive without water etc
The beauty of this place is undeniable, so simple and stark yet so evocative. Home to the picture postcard Dune 45, the enigmatic Deadvlei and a landscape of the highest dunes on earth makes this place a definite must see whilst in Namibia.
Note that you need to get a permit for this place, obtainable from the office at Sesriem. The gate also opens a little bit before sunrise, so always enquire about opening and closing times. Leave a Comment Directions: The park gate at Sesriem leads to the Sussusvlei section of the park. |
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The reason this Dune 45 is so well known is, that it is so close to the road, that you can drive there (it has a parking space) and climb it.
I do not know from where they started counting that this is number 45, but this is the name-
Mind you, I got up, but only about halfway, then I was so sandblasted on one side it looked like a sunburn.
It was fun anyway - and it is not always as windy as it was then. Leave a Comment Directions: Drive the one way road into the park, have a look, the sign for the entrance is on the left side. |
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Namib-Naukluft Park
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