Advertisement
Published: July 14th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Sesriem and Sossusvlei
We awoke early in the morning in order to get to the desert gates by 5:45AM. I had a hard time getting my contacts in and almost missed the truck but hoped on right as David was starting to drive off.
As we raced down the road chasing the rising sun, the desert was black bathed in the dim glow of an almost full moon about to set. There was a slightly perceptible glow of the sun rising in the east. It was barely light when we arrived at the Sesriem entrance and had breakfast while the sun rose. It was amazing to watch the colors of the dunes change in the light; first black, then blue to pale rose and finally to brick red.
We headed out to hike the 5k to Sossusvlei in sand. I was worried my knee might not hold up but I had brought my brace and really wanted to try. So we stared out hiking across a slight incline. Almost immediately I was struck by the how busy the desert seamed. It was not at all the barren place I had imagined but painted in color with the different
types of sand and texture with patterns created by the wind. Beetles and ants seemed to be everywhere running off on some urgent task.
As we headed deeper into the desert David explained that the sand was colored red from the iron deposits and whitish grey from silicon (I think) that came from the ocean which was only about 40 k away.
I then looked up and saw the mountain of a sand dune David and Bea, the French translator who had joined our trip that morning, expected us to climb. Oh my God how was I ever going to climb that thing?! Best not think just do, so one foot in front of the other until I was almost at the top. 20 feet or so from the top the dune became significantly steeper, a wall of red sand. I need an ice pick to climb this thing only I don’t think that’s going to work. No time to think, Tim the 60+ year old Australian was hot on my heels and there was no way I was going to let him beat me to the top. So I dug in crawling with my hands, feet and
knees just barely beating Tim. Once at the top I collapsed in exhaustion. When I finally looked up and got the sand out of my face I was rewarded with an amazing view of the pan below. There were trees, bushes, and flowers. You could see herds of oryx and zebra in the distance. It was a little Eden.
David interrupted my peaceful day dreaming by explaining to the group how we would be heading down the dune, across the pan to Sossusvlei about 2k in the desert and then follow the road back out. Was he kidding? That was way farther than 2k and in heavy sand! Ok, I can do this……David and Bea where the first down, pushing, tumbling and laughing. I causally headed down nervous I might twist my knee in the deep sand. I was surprised how light the sand felt and how similar to the fresh powder of snow. I would love to ski down this thing.
At the bottom we waited for everyone to empty their boots and shoes. It is amazing how much sand you can get in your boots. At least a kilo lighter and I was off faithfully following
the group. The floor of the pan was covered in life with plants of every shape and size. Bea stopped to pick up something from a vine that looked like a baby watermelon. She cut it open, scooped out a portion of white flesh and handed it to me. I decided to pass, more interested in how every plant seemed to have huge thorns on it than desert gastronomic delights.
Soon we were out of the pan and back into the deeper sand. It was still early morning but the temperature was rapidly rising. After about a kilometer we walked out of the deeper sand and into a section of smaller dunes and then finally arrived at Sossusvlei.
It was a pan filled with water from the recent heavy rains, lying in the shadow of a large dune. There were a few arcadia trees with yellow weavers buzzing about along the banks and some reeds. I held my breath and crossed my fingers as I saw David point to the large dune towering above us……Please don’t say we are going to climb that thing! Please! My wish was granted when David said we would wait for anyone
who wanted to climb the dune but no one had to. Thank god as great as one dune was I still had to make it back another 5k.
Overjoyed with the good news I quickly found a shady spot under an arcadia tree and stretched out in the cool sand. I was shortly joined by David and Damien. We passed the time chatting about nothing memorable or of importance, just enjoying the company and cool of the shade until Bea broke the moment. She yelled out for David to come quick there was something in the water. David begrudgingly got up and Damien and I slowly followed. It was an orange and yellowish crustacean that no one had seen before. I said it looked like a baby horseshoe crab.
“Horseshoe crabs are commonly found on the beaches in Delaware and Maryland and look like ancient living fossils.”
Everyone looked up at me and than said in unison
“No. Horseshoe crab. Who has ever heard of such a crazy thing?!”
Seeing as I could not produce on the spot proof in the middle of the Namib desert that horseshoe crabs were not a figment of my imagination, I was quickly
discounted. Everyone agreed that it was clearly something new and never seen before. So, I took a picture vowing to be validated and we joined the rest of the group to start the long hike back.
The trek back was via the “road”. This of course was a Namibian road which meant long, rough and most likely sandy. In this case it was 2 feet of loose sand. David had warned me that this would be the most grueling part of the trek and he did not exaggerate. It was now about 10:30 AM and already hot as hell. The winter sun was searing into my skin. In my semi awakened state that morning I had forgotten to bring my hat and sunscreen, not smart. During one of our numerous breaks, David looked at me with concern and asked if I had sunscreen or a hat? Embarrassed I said “no”
He looked at me and shook his head. Then with his heavy Afrikaans accent which made everything sound more profound and blunt “That’s not good. You look very red.”
You think! Great, the guide thinks I am an idiot. Well I am. What person as fair as
I am goes into the desert in shorts and a tank top and nothing else? Oh well, not much to do about it. Right about that time Ber offered me her hat. I said no I couldn’t possibly as she was just as fair as me, but she insisted saying she was ok. She had sunscreen on. Great so now they all think I am such an idiot they are willing to suffer for me. Well at least they are nice. So I graciously took the hat, smiled and quietly followed in Damien’s footsteps while David and several others plotted ahead.
Since we were following the road on the way back we frequently had to move out of the way for 4x4 safari taxis taking the wealthy, old, privileged or just plain smarter tourists to and from the pan. As they passed we smiled and waived. They mostly just looked at us with concern, like we were crazy people. Maybe we were, but for all of my gracelessness and internal whining, when we got back to the truck I felt like I had really accomplished something. It may not have been much to anyone else, but I had climbed
a sand dune the size of a mountain and I had if just for a few hours hiked in the desert with oryx and zebra. I had watched the almost full moon set in the desert and the sun rise. I had witnessed the desert change color with each moment of that setting and rising and had been amazed by its beauty. It is a memory I will keep forever.
It was a very good day!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.055s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 10; qc: 19; dbt: 0.0295s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb