Sesriem and Sossusvlei

 Day 35 – Sesriem and Sossusvlei

We travelled to Sesriem 6:45 am, the gateway to the Sossusvlei dune fields. The dune valleys are marked by vast clay pans where the Tsauchab River gave up its fight to reach the sea more than 60,000 years ago.

We entered the park early to climb the famous Dune 45. Dune 45 (roughly 170 m (560 feet) tall) gets its name from the fact that it’s located 45km north of Sesriem, the entrance point for Namib-Naukluft National Park. Some of us ran down the side of the dune straight (more exciting) or sideway. Running down the dune at an angle is less likely ti fall on face.

The the truck drove us deeper into the Dune fields Ti take a 4x4 transfer to the marvels of Sossusvlei. The word Sossusvlei originates from two languages, Nama and Afrikaans. It literally translates to “dead-end” (from the Nama word “Sossus”) “marsh” (from the Afrikaans word “Vlei”).

We walked to the Deadvlei, then driven by the 4x4 to Sossusvlei before leaving the dune field. Sossusvlei is one of four pans in among the towering dunes, the others being Dead Vlei - so named because of the petrified camel thorn trees that survived for a few hundred years after the dunes blocked the river.

Our final stop before our camp was the Sesriem Canyon, a remnant of much wetter times in this dry region. Sesriem Canyon is a narrow gorge 30m deep that is evidence of shallow seas and wet periods of days gone by with layers of round eroded pebbles embedded in the calcrete strata. The canyon is usually filled with pools of water good for a refreshing dip after the exhausting dunes; however, it is dry now.