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Published: December 30th 2020
We woke up nice and early to head out to the last big adventure and the one I was most looking forward to: Sossusvlei! We had a good breakfast on the terrace overlooking the desert with the owners feeding the local squirrels and birds and other such lucky wildlife. Our guides got us in the car to leave by 6:30 and we were off. A 45-minute drive to Sossusvlei. Along the way, of course, we saw some animals, such as a family of springbok before we entered the park.
Sossusvlei Once we entered, we saw a bunch of oryx and even kudu hanging out in the dunes. We continued our drive to the literal end of the road where there was a picnic area set up. Here was our last chance to use the toilets and our camp had prepared a light lunch / late breakfast for each of us. I was not overly hungry but ate a bit of the sandwich.
We continued on until we reached the area we would hike. Initially, I was all about hiking up the dunes, but ultimately, what I wanted to see was Deadvlei. George had us divide into groups: those
that would climb the nearby mid-sized dune and join us in Deadvlei, and those that would join him in the 1.1 km walk over the little dunes to Deadvlei. I filled up my camelback with about 2.5 liters of water, ready for my most anticipated day. Initially, I joined the hiking group, but after just a little tiny dune, I was like.... yeah, not feeling it today. I've hiked enough dunes (California, Dubai, Qatar, etc.), it was not really a high priority for me. Even doing the small dunes with George and two other women was a challenge. Walking in loose sand uphill is not the most fun. We saw a few other tourists coming back with their guides. But when we arrived at Deadvlei.... we were all alone. We knew we had a good half hour or so before the rest of our group would join us and took advantage of the solitude of the space, taking great photos!
Deadvlei Honestly, though, the pictures really do not do the place justice. Not just mine, but even borrowing from others'. For me, while walking around by myself, it was just so peaceful, so quiet. Very surreal. I loved
it.
Deadvlei was previously flooded, forming the clay pan, then was eventually cut off from the nearby river and enclosed by the movement of the sand dunes. The dead acacia trees in the clay pan (it's also sometimes called a salt pan, but I did not really see evidence of much salt...) have been dead for hundreds of years. Since then, it has been almost completely dry, which keeps the trees from decomposing. So, you have the beautiful white floor of the clay pan, the sun-scorched black trees, the reddish hued giant dunes, and beautiful blue skies - probably one of the most naturally beautiful places I have ever seen.
After walking around for a bit, we spotted the group hiking up the high dune next to us. Initially, I thought our team guide was near the top and one woman's husband, but it turned out to be one of the quieter women of our group - she looked like she was just having a stroll and easily surpassed everyone else. Only.... where was everyone else? There were only about 4 people who joined us in Deadvlei. Finally, Thomas, our group leader, came down and told us the
rest of the group decided to hike Big Daddy - one of the highest dunes in the world and the highest in Sossusvlei at 325m. My initial reaction was "they did not take enough water!" As we were packing before our initial hike, I had noticed most people just taking a small water bottle with them and I thought even that was not enough for the mid-sized hike I thought they were doing, let alone Big Daddy. But we all kind of gathered around at the edge of the trees to see if we could see them.
Soon enough, we saw what I called a little line of ants slowly marching up the ridge to the peak. They looked so tiny and stopped frequently. A long stop near the beginning, I began to wonder if some of them would give up and come down. But they did not. The slowly marched up the ridge, later telling us that the two guides who had accompanied them, had them switch who was in front throughout the hike. It is harder on the first people, who are essentially breaking the trail from the rest. The guides also had to share what little
water they had with them. Overall, I think their hike took about 2 hours, which was actually quite impressive. I was not jealous at all, but I was proud of their achievement. They sat up and enjoyed the views for a bit, and obviously needed a rest. Then they started making their way down the hill, taking lots of photos, we spotted many of them rolling. It looked like fun! It basically took them 10-15 minutes to get down. But then they still had to cross much of the clay pan and we knew they would be taking lots of pictures, so the rest of us started to make our way back to the cars.
I took my time, getting some last minute photos, and then joined the group under a giant tree at a picnic table. Two Swiss guys and a German who were traveling separately (and separately from each other) joined us - they had also climbed Big Daddy. We had seen the German guy much earlier as he climbed up on his own and came down to chat after his descent. They seemed to enjoy the hike while also thinking they were crazy. Both their cars
were stuck and they were waiting on the park rangers to help. Then the rest of group came out of the wilderness and made a beeline to the cars and the cool refreshing water inside...
Sesriem Canyon We went to the lodge at the park entrance for lunch (yes, another two hour lunch, where yes, I again got a grilled ham and cheese - a toastie), The lodge was beautiful and peaceful. There were oryx grazing and lounging in the shade. The food was good, the beer even better. After lunch, our last tour of the day was Sesriem Canyon. This is a little wadi canyon which narrows to as little as 2m through old alluvial material or conglomerates. You had to hike down the little path and walk about a kilometer to the 'pool' - I was not overly impressed. I mean, geomorphologically, sure, but it was not picturesque, and unsurprisingly, they said it was just a tiny puddle of stagnant water - it would be bigger after some rains.
So, after about 40 minutes here, we made our way back to our lodge to relax for the rest of the day. Most people went to
the pool for a while, or hiked the nearby hills, but I just read my book - I was engrossed! I joined some of our team for a few beers and chatted. The people who climbed Big Daddy were so exhausted it was hilarious. We had our last dinner there in the braai area - delicious again and again some gorgeous stars to be seen. An overall amazing day!!
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Kuan Yin
Karen Johnson
Fantastic
Fantastic photos! Is the picture of the guy levitating photoshopped?