Bend to South Africa 2012: Sossusvlei, Namibia

Sossusvlei, Namibia

Dune at Mile 40

awn in Sossusveli

Leaving Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa we crossed immediately into Namibia at Mata Mata. We drove on good gravel roads to Mariental, stocked up, and boogied west. We drove about 120 km on pavement, seeing only five construction vehicles and two kids riding a horse. We stopped to gas up and the road turned to good gravel. In several hours of driving we saw no other vehicles. We did pick up a hitchhiker and dropped him several kilometers down the road at a gate. He said he had walked 20 miles. And we saw two guys walking, going the other way, carrying suitcases on their heads. We saw nobody else. The road turned rough and we stopped for the night at Betesda Lodge. We set up our tent next to a dry creek bed, and then had a beer and chatted with the friendly young front desk clerk.

Pulling out early the next day we motored on a rough road, seeing nobody until we arrived at Sossusveli National Park. We set up our tent in the park campground, in spot “Overflow A”, on sand next to an unused swimming pool.

Aerial photo of Sossosvlei in the Namib Desert

Sossusvlei is a dry river valley that penetrates about 25 miles into the sand dunes that make up the Namib Desert in western Namibia. The dunes are hundreds of feet tall. It is a stark, elementally desolate, desiccatingly arid landscape. We hiked around some of the dunes and then hiked back into a sub valley called Hidden Vlei. Next day we were up before dawn and waiting in line for the gates to open at 5:50 am. We went in and parked and walked to a dune at about mile 40. We walked across open ground with the sun rising on our backs, and the color and shadow playing on the dune.

Typical Road in Namibia

Road in Sossusvlei

This is the area where we caught up with a bunch of rented 4x4 trucks all driven by Europeans. Somewhere there must be a book in the EU that commands “Go ye to Namibia and rent a four wheeler”. Pushing on north on bad gravel road we headed for the coastal town of Swakopmund, Namibia. After bumping along for hours we pulled into the village of Solitaire, which is only a lodge, gas station, tire repair shop, and bakery. They were just pulling the apple strudel out of the oven when we got there and wow it was fantastic! Sheri struck up a conversation with a group of Spaniards who were on a tour in a big overland truck. We caught up with them again at a road sign where we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn (denoting 23½ degrees south latitude). We bumped in to them again several times later during our trip. As we approached the coast we entered progressively dryer and dryer environments until at the coast there is only sand and no vegetation. We pulled into Desert Sky Backpackers in Swakopmund and spent three nights. We went to Kucki’s Pub for dinner. Curtis had Springbok sirloin medallions which were just fabulous. Unfortunately the accompanying Hansa beer brewed in Namibia was flavorless and a waste of time to drink.