Dune, but not the Movie.
We head into the dessert, leaving behind us the steady coastal breeze and flocks of evil-eyed flamingos. Sossusvlei is deeply remote, only accessible by bush planes or long drives over corrugated roads that threaten to rattled the fillings right out of your mouth. You’ll pass other vehicles occasionally, usually fully kitted out 4x4s with rooftop tens and extra gas cans.
Great place to have a flat tire.
We stopped at roughly the halfway mark at the town of Solitaire, which is more of a gas station with accoutrements than an actual town. We had slices of apple cake and topped off the gas, both of which are pretty much required when you're at the only service station for hours in any direction. The grounds of the gas station are littered with assorted junk cars and tractors and it’s way more charming than it sounds.
Solitaire
Solitaire
We arrived at Sossusvlei in time for dinner and star gazing, then another early morning as we headed out to view some of the largest sand dunes in the world - which sounds really cool and really boring. Sossusvlei and the massive rust colored dunes that surround it sit inside of the sprawling Namib-Naukluft National Park. Deadvlei is an area of the park that a thousand years ago was lush and fecund, but now the only moisture to be found is on the brow and armpits of tourist and site seers like us.
Night sky from the lodge tower.
There are two ways to get to Deadvlei: self drive in a 4x4, or pay a few bucks for a safari truck shuttle. The road from the entrance to the parking area is less off a road and more of a river of sand. We saw no fewer than seven stuck trucks and SUVs alone the away, and it’s only a few minutes drive. The tension was palpable as we passed a man and woman trudging through the sand, their truck left stuck in the sand behind them along with their dignity. Which one should you do? Unless you truely drive frequently in the sand, take the shuttle. The sand is too deep even for a four wheel drive, unless you actually know what you’re doing. You can’t crawl slowly along the road, you have to blast over it at speed, more like a captaining a small boat than driving a car. The shuttle service isn’t a scam or just for people who rented a low riding car. Getting stuck and paying a steep fee for getting towed will ruin your day, especially since the shuttle is so easy and convenient.
Climbing to the top of the huge dune that overlooks Deadvlei - Big Daddy dune and yes that’s really its name - is a feat. I climbed to a halfway point and entered a fugue state where the rapid individual beats of my heart smoothed into a sonorous roaring in my ears. I cursed myself for not bringing enough water, and I cursed the stair-stepper at the gym for leaving me so ill-prepared. Two steps up, a short slide back, repeated over and over for twenty minutes. At the top I could almost taste the lactic acid build up in my muscles, along with sand and the bitter flavor of middle age. Having decided the view from the halfway point was just as good as from the top, we headed back along the dune ridge to the base of Big Daddy, while Tara made the trek all the way to the top because she’s better than us.
After I had caught my breath.
Tara on the way up to the top of Big Daddy.
Deadvlei
Deadvlei
Deadvlei
Deadvlei
Deadvlei
Dune 7, technically the tallest of the dunes.
Mike making it look easy
Tara looking fly
Even more fly
Sunrise
Solitaire
Our three six hour drive back to Windhoek was complicated by a flat tire. Changing it was easy enough, but that also left us without a spare in an area without cell service or AAA. We later met someone at the airport who mentions they always get two spares from the rental car agency when driving around the country the way we did, and that’s the most practical, obvious advice we could have gotten. Predatory rocks stalk the roads just waiting to sink their teeth into the soft sidewall of your tires. Driving at night isn’t recommended due to wildlife crossing the roads, but a few delays had us traveling long stretches of road in total darkness, the night sky filled with stars that did little to light the way. We finally arrived at our hotel in the city in time for a couple hours of sleep before an early flight to Botswana. That night was only eventful for the lack of hot water, Mike and Shobi getting locked out their room (the hotel only had one key for their room for some reason and the doors locked behind you, so the lodge had to call a locksmith) and me tripping over an uneven stone walkway and cartoonishly falling whilst carrying both mine and Tara’s bags. Other than that, totally a great night’s rest.
Where we stayed: Sossusvlei Lodge. Probably overpriced but pretty damn convenient hotel.
Where we stayed in Windhoek: Droombos Lodge. A very pretty place to look at, didn’t have the best stay but maybe we caught them on an off day.
