Today the plan was for a very early morning to see sunrise over Deadvlei, before climbing up the tallest dune in Namibia at 325m and then making the drive to our next stop, at Bushman’s Desert Camp to break up the journey to Walvis Bay. The stats below exclude the driving in Sossusvlei.
- Start: Sesriem
- Destination: Bushman’s Desert Camp
- Distance: 120km (excluding drive to Deadvlei)
- Duration (planned): 1h50min
- Duration (actual): 2h5min
- Animals seen: Ostrich, Gemsbok
The drive to Deadvlei Parking
We set our alarms at 4:15 so that we could be packed up and in a good position in the queue for the inner gate. The drive through the park to the campsite along the tar road was, well fast, maybe not the best idea in the dark with animals around, but at least I wasn’t at the front of the convoy so it was somewhat safer. When we arrived at the main parking, I elected not to let the tyres down to the recommended 1.5 bar, and just continued with the pressure we had been using on the dirt roads in order to save time. Thankfully this did not result in us getting stuck, but after one unnerving section near the start I engaged low ratio and diff lock for the remainder of the drive which made the rest much more comfortable.
Deadvlei
The start of our day involved sunrise over the classic Deadvlei Pan, which is covered in dead trees. This provides a fascinating contrast against the white pan and the golden sand.
The “lifeless” trees in Deadvlei are preserved by the harsh, dry climate and are estimated to be about 900 years old. The Deadvlei was formed after the Tsauchab River flooded, and then creating temporary shallow pools where camel thorn trees grew. As the climate changed, the area was hit with extreme drought and the sand dunes blocked off the river preventing the water to get to the trees, which resulted in the trees dying due to a lack of water. All that remains are the skeletons of the once flourished trees, which is believed to be 900 years old, and black from the scorching heat of the sun.
The sunrise was not quite the standard sunrise due to there being some cloud cover, but this created some additional opportunities due to additional patches of shade and sunlight. Once the sun hit the pan, for me the photography was over as I was not a fan of the harsh light and loss of contrast between the sand and the pan.
Big Daddy Dune
After the sun had hit the pan, we decided to head up the big daddy dune, despite our lack of breakfast and our hungry stomachs. We didn’t walk back to the entrance to Deadvlei, as per the normal path, but rather took a much steeper short cut up to join the usual ascent ridge. This shortcut was very strenuous as we climbed steep soft sand, which at times felt like 1 step forwards, 1 step backwards. However the view as we emerged onto the ridge was spectacular and this also cut out a long section of walking along the ridge, so was overall probably easier.
As we climbed the dune the views just kept getting better and better, and thankfully the going became easer than the steep first ascent. After admiring the summit views, we made the very quick and fun descent straight down the slope back to Deadvlei, with the soft sand this was very easy on the knees and felt very safe.
Walking the full length of the pan really emphasised how large it was, as it took us quite some time to cross it. As we were then walking back to the car, we were surprised at the distance, as it definitely didn’t feel as far in the morning with the excitement and fresh legs.
Sossusvlei Pan
After getting back to the car, we made the short additional trip down more soft sand to the Sossusvlei Pan. From here we had more wonderful views of dunes and there was also shade from large trees. Due to the shade we decided to chill out here for a bit with a coffee and some breakfast before making the trip back to the Deadvlei car park and then back onto the tar road. On the journey back to the tar road we passed a number of cars which were stuck in the sand and trying to dig themselves out.
Drive to Bushman’s Desert Camp
On the drive down the tar road back to Sesriem we were lucky enough to see an Ostrich wondering around in the midday heat, prior to getting back to the campsite and having a refreshing shower to remove the excessive amounts of suncream and sand, and unpleasant combination!
The drive to Bushman’s Desert Camp was very straightforwards, but the gravel road was pretty rough in places which meant we had a bit of a bone shaker ride at times. Due to a large group we were given the option to change to very remote pitch over 1km from the main camping area where it would just be us camping. We jumped at the chance to enjoy a night in the wilderness with no noise, especially given that it had a flushing toilet and shade.
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