Welcome to Sossusvlei, Namibia - "pronounced so-soos-flay."  Sossusvlei is located in the southwestern portion of Namibia, not too terribly far from the Atlantic Ocean in the Namib Desert which stretches the length of the country from Angola in the north to South Africa in the south.  This area is thought to have been arid for at least the last 80 million and the dunes themselves in these pictures are estimated to have formed some 35 million years ago.  Bordering Sossusvlei and the Namib Desert are semi-arid grasslands to the north and east which  range from hilly and mountainous to quite flat.  Our trip to Sossusvlei started along the Atlantic coastline in the city of Swakopmund and took us toward the interior of Namibia along highways C14 and C19. 

Along the dirt highway C14 near the Kuiseb Pass at the southern hemisphere's Tropic of Capricorn

Apparently the grade was a little too steep for the vehicle that ran over this warning sign!

Me at the Kuiseb Pass

In case one shot of meet at the Tropic of Capricorn wasn't enough.

My perpetual snack in the back of the van.  Yummy yummy!  And since it came wrapped in plastic, I could feel pretty assured that no roaches had climbed on it UNLIKE the chicken pastry I had purchased earlier in the day where I noticed a multi-legged creature scampering around the display case.  I really wanted to eat that chicken pastry though, but I couldn't.  I told myself, "Daniel, there are probably roaches on EVERYTHING that you eat here in Africa (or even in America for that matter!) even if you don't see them, so just eat the pastry and don't waste your money!" but I couldn't.  So I tossed it and stuck with the crackers instead.

12:07pm, July 14th, 2006

Ostriches in the grasslands of Namibia

Pied crow atop a dead zebra

Dead bloated zebra in the bosom of Namibia.  Nature giveth and nature taken away.  Just watch out for anthrax spores!

Vultures looking for a little treat to eat

Dry riverbed in the Kuiseb Pass.  The landscape is quite similar to Southern California so I felt very much at home.

An unexpected line of trees cut by the dirt highway leading south toward Sossusvlei.  Welcome to the middle of nowhere in Southern Africa.

Two quiver trees overlooking central Namibia

Me befriending a quiver tree

Soon-to-be blossoms on the quiver tree

The quiver tree has a sponge-like trunk that holds water quite well despite the dry surroundings.  The name "quiver tree" itself actually derives from the fact that the tree's easily hollowed wood is well suited for making quivers - as discovered apparently by the indigenous San population.  The tree has an estimated lifespan of some 300 years.

Oddly unnatural rock formations near the quiver trees.  I didn't know the Blair Witch had made it all the way out to Africa!

Bored humans?  Communication by space aliens?  A one-in-a-billion chance natural formation?

The Solitaire Country Lodge in the town of Solitaire at the C14/C19 highway junction.  The perfect place to stop and eat lunch!

The place felt surprisingly like the American West, or vice versa??

Above and below: the cactus of Solitaire

African woofie!

When in need of a curb in rural Namibia, reuse the town's old tires!  Quite ingenious!

The Sossusvlei luxury lodge with a safari vehicle in the fore

Tower of the Sossusvlei lodge at the edge of the Sossusvlei reserve area

The $250 a night lodge unit I stayed in near Sossusvlei.  While the room gives you all the luxuries of a modern hotel - steaming hot shower, tile foyer with plenty of closet space, and the most comfortable bed EVER - you get the feeling that you're out camping in the middle of the desert due to the tent-like extension over the bedroom.  Inside though, the accommodations are anything BUT tent-like!

After nearly two weeks of running around Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and rural Namibia, it was SOOOO nice to sleep in the nicest bed of the entire vacation.  Too bad we were only there for one evening though!  Ahh. . . and the dinner buffet at the lodge.  I literally gorged myself to sleep that night.  I LOVED IT!

Not exactly roughing it, ya know?

Early morning as we approach Sossusvlei

Sunrise over Namibia

Ostriches getting an early start to their day

A hot air balloon making an emergency landing at the foot of a sand dune. 

Sun and shadow snaking their way up the sand

The flowing dunes of the sand greeted by a small patch of greenery

Moon over Africa

One of the highlights of the trip was walking up on top of a very tall sand dune and getting a spectacular view of the surrounding desert area from above.  From this perspective, the dune looks like a tiny pile of sand.  Trust me, it wasn't!

Half way up the sand dune which even here looks like it's only 10 feet / 3 meters tall!  Keep on climbing, Danny Boy!

The spectacular view of Sossusvlei from atop the sand dune.  From up above, you can definitely tell that the dune is as tall as a nice sized high rise building.  The absence of anything but sand makes it hard to judge distances and get a good sense of scale.

My shirt says "San Francisco" in Japanese and while on top of the dune I had the odd fortune of running into a Japanese couple on vacation.  Needless to say, they were quite surprised to run into a white guy from America on top of a sand dune in Southern Africa wearing a shirt in Japanese who would actually read what it said.  I mean, what are the odds?  Apparently 1 in 1.  ;-}

Yes, it is a small small world!

Making my mark in the sand.

The rainy season was especially wet this year which has led to unexpected vegetation growth along the sides of the sand dunes  From what I heard, normally the grass isn't there.  I was fascinated to be able to actually see what the initial steps of anti-desertification look like.  How rare in deed!

Bonnie walking along the sand dune

Going higher

Josh and Johanna descending the dune

Half exposed snarl of wood poking out of the sand.

Twig in the sun at the base of the orange dune.  Note the person walking atop the dune for a disorienting reference of size. 

Desert bush

Trees, bushes, sand and a person scaling the dune.

Entrance to Sossusvlei.  In case you are wondering, a vlei (pronounced "flay") is a dead pan of sorts usually comprising of hard, compacted cemented dirt/sand and surrounded by sand dunes.  Due to the extra heavy rainfall this season, one of the vleis was actually a small lake.  As such, there was an inordinate amount of vegetation growing in the region this year.

A quaint looking outhouse in the middle of Sossusvlei.  The accompanying odor, however, wasn't quite so quaint. 

A tree in the vlei

And just take one guess at why it's called Hidden Vlei. . .

. . . because it's hidden behind a sand dune.

And guess why it's called Dead Vlei. . .

. . . because everything in it is dead.

Spectacular in its death and desolation. . . yet kissed this year by the life of stray grass growing all around.

Walking through the Dead Vlei

It really makes you wonder what happened that these trees should be able to grow so solidly, yet die so dramatically. 

Frozen death baking in sun.

Me in the vlei with a Taureg cross around my neck that a friend gave me in San Francisco just prior to leaving on the trip.  The Taureg cross is given to a tribe's young men in the Northern African Sahara when the young men leave the village in order to guide them back home some day. 

At this point, I felt very very far from home, but loved every minute of it.  Home, however, is never far from mind.

The parched ground of Dead Vlei.

Above: this was supposed to be my money shot of Sossusvlei, but I mistakenly shot all my pictures on that bright and sunny day with an ISO of 800 (camera talk!) which led to a terrible pixelation of all my images.  Word to the wise: if you ever buy a camera with advanced features, MAKE SURE YOU NEVER SHOOT BRIGHT SUNNY LANDSCAPES AT ISO 800!!!

Me, a dead tree, and the sands of Namibia all around.

Pied crow atop a dried out shrub.  It's definitely a harsh life in the desert.

Just when you think you've finally found a rare bite to eat growing in the middle of an otherwise arid desert, the treat is covered in spines.  Mother nature can be so cruel!

Shallow lake in a vlei.  By summer, the water should be gone.

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Except where noted, all text and images: Copyright 2006, danielschereck.com