Namibia - Day 3

We got up early, grabbed some coffee and then headed out with Peter for an hour drive to Sossusvlei National Park – home to the world’s largest sand dunes.  (The Londoners had to leave to travel to another part of Nambia, so we had Peter all to ourselves).  After entering the park, you begin to drive down a valley of flat clay (and our first paved road in Namibia) several miles wide, with massive red sand dunes on either side.  As you drive west (about 45 minutes more), the valley narrows until it is only a few hundred meters.  Along the way, we saw groups of ostrich walking along with their heads stretched to the grounds looking for beetles and other food.  Springbok and oryx also dotted the landscape. 

We parked the Range Rover at the base of “Big Daddy,” one of the dunes that you are permitted to climb.  We ascended the ridge line – which is not an easy task as you are walking on sand and essentially climbing a massive staircase.  

At the top, we overlooked a massive fishbowl below, punctuated intermittently with petrified trees that have been dead for 900 years.  



We were several hundred feet up and at a fairly steep ascent--- and then we simply ran down the side of the dune – each step sinking in a foot deep or so.  Jen, of course, fell – though with only a soft mass of sand to land in there was little danger from missteps and you cannot fall for long.  Her only injury was a face full of sand.  (I think she fell on purpose).

This picture shows how high the dune we climbed was. The little specks on the top are people climbing.

After taking many photos of the incredible landscape........

.......we hiked out of the bowl and drove over to breakfast under a massive acacia tree – whose roots can extend up to 250 feet down into the earth (thus explaining why they are one of the few green plants in the landscape).  Branches of the tree – which was more than 1,000 years old – over time had bent down to touch the ground and themselves taken up roots into the earth. 

Before leaving Sossusvlei Park, we stopped at Sesriem Canyon, a canyon carved by the Tsauchab River 2-4 million years ago. The name "Sesriem"  is Afrikaans for "six belts" from the amount of belts of Oryx hide the settlers had to tie together to reach down for water from the bottom of the canyon.

Back at the lodge we rested for a bit and then went out with Peter – still just the three of us – to ride four-wheelers through the sand dunes.  I must admit (because Jen would call me out on it if I didn’t) that yes, I did look like an idiot at one point for thinking it was stuck in neutral while instead I was just holding the break down.  Peter and Jen enjoyed that.  (There you go, Jen).  

Poor Jack....

This girl knows how to start the quad bike. ;)

Riding four-wheelers through the dunes was incredible.  You really got a sense for the curvature and formation of the dunes.  We’d come up over a hill and stumble onto a surprised oryx – his black and white face and horns contrasted with the deep red sand of the dunes, the yellows of the grass clumps intermittently growing among the dunes, and the bright blue sky above.

After riding for an hour or so, we drove the Range Rover around the base of the dunes and observed several aardwolf beginning to emerge from their dune-side burrows for a night of foraging for termites.  The aardwolf is unlike any other species in the world – it looks partly like a fox, partly like a hyena and partly like a raccoon.  It has no similar or related species.  Although it looks like a carnivore, it only eats termites – a very unusual animal, which I was very glad to see after hearing on our first night that they are in the area. 

Jack on the lookout for the elusive aardwolf

It's an aardwolf!!

We then headed back to the lodge for a couple of drinks – where we rediscovered something truly amazing: amarula and coffee.  Warm, delicious, energizing, slightly alcoholic.  I’m tempted to get my mornings started this way every morning once I’m back in the states…

We went back to our house and cleaned up – being rather dusty from riding through the sand – then came back to the lodge for dinner, which we had inside their wine cellar.  

The staff danced around the dining hall and sang traditional Namibian songs – all with very good voices.  Dinner was excellent – as has been every meal here.  We will be sad to leave tomorrow, but excited for Cape Town and Jen Gow!