Sossusvlei, Namíbia

The Namibe Dead End of Sossusvlei


Traces of Vegetation
Acacia and shrubs dot the stony soil of the Sossusvlei valley.
Acacia on Dune
An acacia remains on the sandy slope of Dune 45.
Silhouettes in Search
Towards the skies of Namibe
Balloon rises above the road that runs through the Sossusvlei valley.
arboreal skeletons
Dead and stiff trunks of acacia trees that once proliferated in Dead Vlei.
Acacias and the Shade
Acacias thrive at the bottom of one of Sossusvlei's large dunes.
Sand Duo
Hikers traverse the crest of a curved Sossusvlei dune.
Namib Desert Sossusvlei Namibia Shadow Acacia
balloon session
One balloon ascends while another is filled with helium to keep up with the first one.
Valley of Dead Acacias
The salty clay bottom that fills the from time to time flooded valley of Deadvlei.
sand lines
Dunes composition enriched by the shadows of the sun still low over Namibe.
kulala lodge
Acacia logs around the Kulala Eco-Lodge, in the vicinity of Sesriem.
Namib Desert Sossusvlei Namibia Sunset
GOPR4007
solitary walk
Hiker walks along an already opened trail at the base of Dune 45.
When it flows, the ephemeral Tsauchab river meanders 150km from the mountains of Naukluft. Arriving in Sossusvlei, you get lost in a sea of ​​sand mountains that compete for the sky. The natives and settlers called it a swamp of no return. Anyone who discovers these far-fetched parts of Namibia always thinks of returning.

The lodge we had checked into the night before was called Le Mirage.

We couldn't see it any other way, lost as it was in the vastness of Namibian Sossus and in time, in the outlandish eccentricity of a North African castle or medieval ksar, all rounded, made of cylindrical towers grouped in an almost outer circumference.

We shared the cobbled and fortified interior with an international, upscale and well-heeled community of Namibian explorers, one of them a birthday boy. So we went back to watching the ceremonial that is so frequent in Namibia and southern Africa, of employees singing happy birthday and dancing to the sound of drums in the dining room.

Just as it came out of nowhere, the celebration quickly dissipated. Despite five courses being planned, we shortened the repast as much as possible.

We had a lot of office work to take care of for the coming days and, to help the party, the massive walls of those almost dungeons barred the Wi-Fi signal from room 24 that we had been given. We resolved what we could from the imbroglio.

Ecstatic from traveling along the dusty and slippery roads of Namibia, we fell asleep sooner than we expected. We still haven't recovered from that as we should have.

At 4:30 am, the alarm clocks sounded like a horror movie. Half an hour later, we were making an effort to have breakfast with our eyes open.

At five in the morning, still dazed, we set out to discover Sossusvlei.

Sossusvlei's Early Bird Discovery

We were just over 20km from Sesriem, the main town in the area.

Entry point to the vast domain of its great vleis, the terms used by colonists Afrikaners these parts to define the swamps formed when the temporary water of the rivers spreads through the deserts, in this case, that of Namib.

Namib is regarded as the ancient of the deserts. With more than 2000 km of an extended Atlantic strip of Angola, Namibia and South Africa, is also one of the biggest on the face of Terra.

Where we walked, we were about the middle of the latitude it occupies. We never got close to Sesriem.

We leave Namibian road C27 pointing west. In the vicinity of a certain Kulala Desert Lodge, the sandy path we were following lined up with the furrow dug in the desert by a certain Tsauchab River. Without us having any notion then, Tsauchab has a leading role in almost all the scenarios that we would unveil.

From time to time, rare rainy days in the distant Naukluft Mountains, about 150km to the northeast, revive the river.

They renew soil erosion and compaction of the sands at the bottom of Namibe.

Thus, they excavate, deeper and more defined, the sort of alluvial arrowhead, clearly visible from the air or in a satellite image.

In the company of the withered stream of the Tsauchab, under the suspicious eyes of the oryx residents, the jeep passes by the air balloons that almost splash the clear skies of these confines.

Between oryx and balloons, we enter the muddy valley of the Sossusvlei, between the imposing dunes that delimit it to the north and south.

And the Sandy Conquest of the Reputable Dune 45

We stopped at the base of Dune 45. For an obvious reason.

Located at kilometer 45 of the road that leads Sesriem to Sossusvlei, this dune rises 170 meters high, a geological monster formed by sand that is around five million years old.

It is estimated that that of the Orange River, blown from the Kalahari Desert to the near marine shore of Namib. We began the climb to the top, slowly, slowly, not even the slippery sand of its curved crest would allow anything else.

First, with the sun wanting to peek from the Namibian east.

Soon, we and the top of the dunes are orange by the first rays of the day, especially the dunes, made of sand saturated with iron and, therefore, already ocher in themselves, more ferrous inland than close to the ocean.

The more we ascended, the more abysmal the orange ergs revealed by the surrounding dawn.

And the acacia trees at the bases were even smaller at that time of year, laden with their moon-shaped pods, one of the elephants' favorite foods.

As the sun rose above the horizon and the dunes, it erased the patches of shadow on the unlit slopes.

When that magical contrast faded too much, we returned to the starting point, ready to resume the whitish guiding line of the Tsauchab.

We head west, at a certain point, already on the trail of salty clay left by the unexpected torrents, on our way to the threshold where it disappears into the endless sands of Namibe.

Dead Vlei's Dead End and Dying Valley

Some of the dunes form veritable lakes of salt cooked over and over again by the tropical sun.

One of the most famous, the Dead Vlei, rises at the base of Big Daddy, the highest dune in Sossusvlei, at 325 meters, still below the highest in Namibia, Dune 7, at 383 meters.

We pass below the Big Daddy northern threshold. On the opposite side of its crest, we come across the most exuberant of Sossusvlei's clay basins, the Dead Vlei, translatable as swamp or dead marsh.

Even if we now find it too dry to house large plant life, this was not always the case.

What makes Dead Vlei a special setting is the profusion of acacia skeletons, rigid and branching testimonies of whimsical shapes of times when plentiful rains – probably upstream from the river – and a significant flow from the Tsauchab would have granted another fertility.

Namibe proves to be, however, a desert in permanent movement and mutation.

The dynamics of the sands is fueled by the conflict between the prevailing south-southwest wind which, cooled by the icy waters of the Benguela Current, generates the dense fog that surrounds the edge of the desert and constitutes its main source of humidity.

The great rival of this south wind is known as berg, it comes from the Kalahari Desert and, accordingly, is dry, a real furnace, by the way.  

Balloon, Namib Desert, Sossusvlei, Namibia

Balloon rises above the road that runs through the Sossusvlei valley.

The conflict between these two winds and their derivations shapes the orientation and shape of the Namibe and Sossusvlei dunes.

It may have happened that, in this battle, between 500 and 900 years ago, changes in the Big Daddy dune and neighboring dunes blocked the intermittent flow (it happens every 5 to 10 years) of the Tsauchab into the Dead Vlei.

Devoid of the water that irrigated them, the almost millenary acacias perished.

Their trunks and main branches resist. They form surreal monuments to the biological adventure and misadventure that took place there.

As improbable as it may seem, the Atlantic is less than 50km from the dead end valley of Sossusvlei and Deadvlei.

Even so, not even in the biggest floods that have ever occurred, products of meteorological aberrations, did the Tsauchab reach the ocean as a true flow.

At the funneled end of Sossusvlei, with Big Daddy and its allies in front of it, the river surrenders to the immensity of the sands, allowing itself to disappear.

Passing through the River Aperture of the Sesriem Strait

are rare the rivers that never reach the sea.

Africa has some.

Another, the permanent one and permanently supplied by the rains of the Angolan Huambo, spreads out in a verdant and prolific swamp further into the interior of Africa. This is the Okavango (Cubango).

The sun rises on its way to its zenith. Back in the car, we discover that we have a puncture, luckily one of the very slow ones. We reverse path.

We have time to cross the Sesriem Gorge that the Tsauchab crosses just before entering Sossusvlei, after leaving the Naukluft Mountains behind for good.

At certain points, the gorge is a mere two meters wide, a tightness that we felt was completely out of tune with the inhospitable immensity that we had been traveling for days.

Rare as it is, the narrowness of Sesriem still has the power to preserve a shadowy reservoir of water.

It is, therefore, an almost obligatory meeting point for Namibe fauna, oryx and fang goats, ostriches, jackals, hyenas and many others.

The Remote Germanic Genesis of PN Namibe-Naukluft

If we go back to the beginning of the XNUMXth century, to the colonial era of South West Africa, we find that, even without real intentions of animal protection and preservation, it was the Germans who laid the foundation for the current National Park Namibe-Naukluft, considered the largest national park in Africa and the fourth largest in the world.

In 1907, they established three large Game Reserves. The Namibe-Naukluft region was included in the third. But the German hunting rights in their colony were lost with the defeat of the German Empire and allies in the 1st World War.

In 1915, the South African administration of the former German colony validated the previously established Game Reserves.

Since then, there have been successive changes.

Almost all in the direction of increasing the area of ​​the NP Namibe-Naukluft and, for quite some time now, instead of promoting hunting, as is still the case in other nearby regions, to protect their animals.

A forced pit stop

Let's return to the current reality in which we found ourselves. The hole that tormented us gets worse.

In such a way that forced us to head immediately to Sesriem, the village located 4km from the gorge.

Merely a refueling point for vehicles and people arriving on their way to Sossusvlei or on their way to less popular but equally extraordinary places in Namibia, Lüderitz, Kolmanskop, Aus.

Like Sesriem, among the few settlements that, for one reason or another, dared to challenge the harshness of the desert.

We stopped at the service station. One of the shift workers washes our windshields and side windows. In good time.

In addition to sand, Namibe is made of dust that, when lodged, makes a point of resisting.

We certify for the long trip to Lüderitz.

After which the second employee, the one who had taken over the repairs, gives us the news: “You're in luck. It was a small nail.

It didn't make a big dent and I can only patch it from the inside.

That way they avoid that hassle of the company of rent-a-car want to make you pay for a new tire.”

Appreciate. We rewarded the attention he deserved.

Kulala Desert Lodge's Starry Eco-Refuge

With the car operational and the mid-afternoon brazier settling in, we took refuge in that night's lodge, the Kulala we had passed at dawn.

The Kulala Desert Lodge proved to be another of several eco-lodges built in wood, stone and other materials from the area, with minimal resources but a creativity the size of Namibe, welcoming and inspiring to match.

We regain the sleep we lost weeks ago.

Even dinnertime warranted a difficult awakening. With the night set, we went up to the lodge's bedded terrace.

There we dedicated ourselves to contemplating and photographing the hyperstarry firmament, with its stars and planets, we dare say that some of them, less extraterrestrial like the Sossusvlei that surrounded us.

Namib Desert, Sossusvlei, Namibia

Kolmanskop, Namíbia

Generated by the Diamonds of Namibe, Abandoned to its Sands

It was the discovery of a bountiful diamond field in 1908 that gave rise to the foundation and surreal opulence of Kolmanskop. Less than 50 years later, gemstones have run out. The inhabitants left the village to the desert.
Lüderitz, Namibia

Wilkommen in Africa

Chancellor Bismarck has always disdained overseas possessions. Against his will and all odds, in the middle of the Race for Africa, merchant Adolf Lüderitz forced Germany to take over an inhospitable corner of the continent. The homonymous city prospered and preserves one of the most eccentric heritages of the Germanic empire.
Cape Cross, Namíbia

The Most Turbulent of the African Colonies

Diogo Cão landed in this cape of Africa in 1486, installed a pattern and turned around. The immediate coastline to the north and south was German, South African, and finally Namibian. Indifferent to successive transfers of nationality, one of the largest seal colonies in the world has maintained its hold there and animates it with deafening marine barks and endless tantrums.
Damaraland, Namíbia

Namibia On the Rocks

Hundreds of kilometers north of Swakopmund, many more of Swakopmund's iconic dunes Sossuvlei, Damaraland is home to deserts interspersed with hills of reddish rock, the highest mountain and ancient rock art of the young nation. the settlers South Africans they named this region after the Damara, one of the Namibian ethnic groups. Only these and other inhabitants prove that it remains on Earth.
Fish River Canyon, Namíbia

The Namibian Guts of Africa

When nothing makes you foreseeable, a vast river ravine burrows the southern end of the Namíbia. At 160km long, 27km wide and, at intervals, 550 meters deep, the Fish River Canyon is the Grand Canyon of Africa. And one of the biggest canyons on the face of the Earth.
Robben Island, South Africa

The Island off the Apartheid

Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to glimpse Robben Island, when crossing the Cape of Storms. Over the centuries, the colonists turned it into an asylum and prison. Nelson Mandela left in 1982 after eighteen years in prison. Twelve years later, he became South Africa's first black president.
Savuti, Botswana

Savuti's Elephant-Eating Lions

A patch of the Kalahari Desert dries up or is irrigated depending on the region's tectonic whims. In Savuti, lions have become used to depending on themselves and prey on the largest animals in the savannah.
Chobe NP, Botswana

Chobe: A River on the Border of Life with Death

Chobe marks the divide between Botswana and three of its neighboring countries, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. But its capricious bed has a far more crucial function than this political delimitation.
Okavango Delta, Botswana

Not all rivers reach the sea

Third longest river in southern Africa, the Okavango rises in the Angolan Bié plateau and runs 1600km to the southeast. It gets lost in the Kalahari Desert where it irrigates a dazzling wetland teeming with wildlife.
Table Mountain, South Africa

At the Adamastor Monster Table

From the earliest times of the Discoveries to the present, Table Mountain has always stood out above the South African immensity South African and the surrounding ocean. The centuries passed and Cape Town expanded at his feet. The Capetonians and the visiting outsiders got used to contemplating, ascending and venerating this imposing and mythical plateau.
Graaf-Reinet, South Africa

A Boer Spear in South Africa

In early colonial times, Dutch explorers and settlers were terrified of the Karoo, a region of great heat, great cold, great floods and severe droughts. Until the Dutch East India Company founded Graaf-Reinet there. Since then, the fourth oldest city in the rainbow nation it thrived at a fascinating crossroads in its history.
Saint Lucia, South Africa

An Africa as Wild as Zulu

On the eminence of the coast of Mozambique, the province of KwaZulu-Natal is home to an unexpected South Africa. Deserted beaches full of dunes, vast estuarine swamps and hills covered with fog fill this wild land also bathed by the Indian Ocean. It is shared by the subjects of the always proud Zulu nation and one of the most prolific and diverse fauna on the African continent.
Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, wildebeest on river
Safari
Serengeti NP, Tanzania

The Great Migration of the Endless Savanna

In these prairies that the Masai people say syringet (run forever), millions of wildebeests and other herbivores chase the rains. For predators, their arrival and that of the monsoon are the same salvation.
Mount Lamjung Kailas Himal, Nepal, altitude sickness, mountain prevent treat, travel
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 2th - Chame a Upper BananaNepal

(I) Eminent Annapurnas

We woke up in Chame, still below 3000m. There we saw, for the first time, the snowy and highest peaks of the Himalayas. From there, we set off for another walk along the Annapurna Circuit through the foothills and slopes of the great mountain range. towards Upper Banana.
by the shadow
Architecture & Design
Miami, USA

A Masterpiece of Urban Rehabilitation

At the turn of the 25st century, the Wynwood neighbourhood remained filled with abandoned factories and warehouses and graffiti. Tony Goldman, a shrewd real estate investor, bought more than XNUMX properties and founded a mural park. Much more than honoring graffiti there, Goldman founded the Wynwood Arts District, the great bastion of creativity in Miami.
Totems, Botko Village, Malekula, Vanuatu
Adventure
Malekula, Vanuatu

Meat and Bone Cannibalism

Until the early XNUMXth century, man-eaters still feasted on the Vanuatu archipelago. In the village of Botko we find out why European settlers were so afraid of the island of Malekula.
Saida Ksar Ouled Soltane, festival of the ksour, tataouine, tunisia
Ceremonies and Festivities
Tataouine, Tunisia

Festival of the Ksour: Sand Castles That Don't Collapse

The ksour were built as fortifications by the Berbers of North Africa. They resisted Arab invasions and centuries of erosion. Every year, the Festival of the Ksour pays them the due homage.
View from Pico Verde to Praia Grande, São Vicente, Cape Verde
Cities
São Vicente, Cape Verde

The Volcanic Arid Wonder of Soncente

A return to São Vicente reveals an aridity as dazzling as it is inhospitable. Those who visit it are surprised by the grandeur and geological eccentricity of the fourth smallest island in Cape Verde.
Cocoa, Chocolate, Sao Tome Principe, Agua Izé farm
Meal
São Tomé and Principe

Cocoa Roças, Corallo and the Chocolate Factory

At the beginning of the century. In the XNUMXth century, São Tomé and Príncipe generated more cocoa than any other territory. Thanks to the dedication of some entrepreneurs, production survives and the two islands taste like the best chocolate.
Busy intersection of Tokyo, Japan
Culture
Tokyo, Japan

The Endless Night of the Rising Sun Capital

Say that Tokyo do not sleep is an understatement. In one of the largest and most sophisticated cities on the face of the Earth, twilight marks only the renewal of the frenetic daily life. And there are millions of souls that either find no place in the sun, or make more sense in the “dark” and obscure turns that follow.
combat arbiter, cockfighting, philippines
Sport
Philippines

When Only Cock Fights Wake Up the Philippines

Banned in much of the First World, cockfighting thrives in the Philippines where they move millions of people and pesos. Despite its eternal problems, it is the sabong that most stimulates the nation.
Martian Scenery of the White Desert, Egypt
Traveling
White Desert, Egypt

The Egyptian Shortcut to Mars

At a time when conquering the solar system's neighbor has become an obsession, an eastern section of the Sahara Desert is home to a vast related landscape. Instead of the estimated 150 to 300 days to reach Mars, we took off from Cairo and, in just over three hours, we took our first steps into the Oasis of Bahariya. All around, almost everything makes us feel about the longed-for Red Planet.
San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Zapatismo, Mexico, San Nicolau Cathedral
Ethnic
San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico

The Home Sweet Home of Mexican Social Conscience

Mayan, mestizo and Hispanic, Zapatista and tourist, country and cosmopolitan, San Cristobal has no hands to measure. In it, Mexican and expatriate backpacker visitors and political activists share a common ideological demand.
Rainbow in the Grand Canyon, an example of prodigious photographic light
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Natural Light (Part 1)

And Light was made on Earth. Know how to use it.

The theme of light in photography is inexhaustible. In this article, we give you some basic notions about your behavior, to start with, just and only in terms of geolocation, the time of day and the time of year.
Alaskan Lumberjack Show Competition, Ketchikan, Alaska, USA
History
Ketchikan, Alaska

Here begins Alaska

The reality goes unnoticed in most of the world, but there are two Alaskas. In urban terms, the state is inaugurated in the south of its hidden frying pan handle, a strip of land separated from the contiguous USA along the west coast of Canada. Ketchikan, is the southernmost of Alaskan cities, its Rain Capital and the Salmon Capital of the World.
Passage, Tanna, Vanuatu to the West, Meet the Natives
Islands
Tanna, Vanuatu

From where Vanuatu Conquered the Western World

The TV show “Meet the Native” took Tanna's tribal representatives to visit Britain and the USA Visiting their island, we realized why nothing excited them more than returning home.
Sampo Icebreaker, Kemi, Finland
Winter White
Kemi, Finland

It's No "Love Boat". Breaks the Ice since 1961

Built to maintain waterways through the most extreme arctic winter, the icebreaker Sampo” fulfilled its mission between Finland and Sweden for 30 years. In 1988, he reformed and dedicated himself to shorter trips that allow passengers to float in a newly opened channel in the Gulf of Bothnia, in clothes that, more than special, seem spacey.
Baie d'Oro, Île des Pins, New Caledonia
Literature
Île-des-Pins, New Caledonia

The Island that Leaned against Paradise

In 1964, Katsura Morimura delighted the Japan with a turquoise novel set in Ouvéa. But the neighboring Île-des-Pins has taken over the title "The Nearest Island to Paradise" and thrills its visitors.
Ribeiro Frio, Madeira, Vereda dos Balcões,
Nature
Ribeiro Frio Forest Park, Madeira

Ribeiro Frio Acima, on the Path of Balcões

This region of the high interior of Madeira has been in charge of repopulating the island's rainbow trout for a long time. Among the various trails and levadas that converge in its nurseries, the Parque Florestal Ribeiro Frio hides grandiose panoramas over Pico Arieiro, Pico Ruivo and the Ribeira da Metade valley that extends to the north coast.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Etosha National Park Namibia, rain
Natural Parks
PN Etosha, Namíbia

The Lush Life of White Namibia

A vast salt flat rips through the north of Namibia. The Etosha National Park that surrounds it proves to be an arid but providential habitat for countless African wild species.
Cobá, trip to the Mayan Ruins, Pac Chen, Mayans of now
UNESCO World Heritage
Cobá to Pac Chen, Mexico

From the Ruins to the Mayan Homes

On the Yucatan Peninsula, the history of the second largest indigenous Mexican people is intertwined with their daily lives and merges with modernity. In Cobá, we went from the top of one of its ancient pyramids to the heart of a village of our times.
Characters
Look-alikes, Actors and Extras

Make-believe stars

They are the protagonists of events or are street entrepreneurs. They embody unavoidable characters, represent social classes or epochs. Even miles from Hollywood, without them, the world would be more dull.
Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica, Caribbean, Punta Cahuita aerial view
Beaches
Cahuita, Costa Rica

Dreadlocked Costa Rica

Traveling through Central America, we explore a Costa Rican coastline as much as the Caribbean. In Cahuita, Pura Vida is inspired by an eccentric faith in Jah and a maddening devotion to cannabis.
Sanahin Cable Car, Armenia
Religion
Alaverdi, Armenia

A Cable Car Called Ensejo

The top of the Debed River Gorge hides the Armenian monasteries of Sanahin and Haghpat and terraced Soviet apartment blocks. Its bottom houses the copper mine and smelter that sustains the city. Connecting these two worlds is a providential suspended cabin in which the people of Alaverdi count on traveling in the company of God.
End of the World Train, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
On Rails
Ushuaia, Argentina

Last Station: End of the World

Until 1947, the Tren del Fin del Mundo made countless trips for the inmates of the Ushuaia prison to cut firewood. Today, passengers are different, but no other train goes further south.
Ditching, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna
Society
Talkeetna, Alaska

Talkeetna's Alaska-Style Life

Once a mere mining outpost, Talkeetna rejuvenated in 1950 to serve Mt. McKinley climbers. The town is by far the most alternative and most captivating town between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Fruit sellers, Swarm, Mozambique
Daily life
Enxame Mozambique

Mozambican Fashion Service Area

It is repeated at almost all stops in towns of Mozambique worthy of appearing on maps. The machimbombo (bus) stops and is surrounded by a crowd of eager "businessmen". The products offered can be universal such as water or biscuits or typical of the area. In this region, a few kilometers from Nampula, fruit sales suceeded, in each and every case, quite intense.
Amboseli National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Normatior Hill
Wildlife
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

A Gift from the Kilimanjaro

The first European to venture into these Masai haunts was stunned by what he found. And even today, large herds of elephants and other herbivores roam the pastures irrigated by the snow of Africa's biggest mountain.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.