Breakfast downstairs then away soon after 8am. We are now driving east into the desert and the Northern Namib Naukluft Park. First stop is the “Moon Landscape” – a bizarre and barren spot along the Swakop River. It came about when a group of Damara Granites was pushed upward through the earth’s crust some 500 to 460 million years ago. This high mountain range has now been eroded (in more recent times by the Swakop River) through time to what we see today. Also called the “Lunar Landscape” and the “Badlands”.
From the “Moon Landscapes”, we drove north (saw some ostriches along the way) to the Welwitschia Plains to see a very strange plant, in fact, Namibia’s most famous plant and its national flower - "Welwitschia Mirabilis" Most specimens of this plant are about 1000 years old, some even older. In 1859 the "living fossil" was discovered by the Austrian botanist Dr Welwitsch and named after him. The Welwitschia plant only grows two leaves, which over time get slightly shredded by the wind. The desert plant belongs to the succulents taking the water it needs for growing from the air.
Welwitschias occur exclusively in this section of the Namib Desert, between 40 and 120 kilometres off the coast. Apparently, a permit is required for the Welwitchia Drive but all that was organised by “Wild Dog Tours”.
With the sightseeing out of the way we settled down for the long drive south to Sossusvlei calling in to an old iron ore mine along the way (closed around the 1950s) – it was just a hole in the ground and would have been dug by pick and shovel. A little different to the Husab uranium mine we had passed along the way with its huge machinery. Lunch (a packed lunch again) was at a bird and animal hide by a waterhole: Ostrich, Oryx, Springbok and Pied Crow. Also saw some Mountain Zebra further along the road.
Heading further south we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn before stopping at Solitaire to stretch our legs. Solitaire is basically a lodge but also has fuel, a general store and a pub. A bit of an Oasis in the middle of the desert. To give you a bit of an idea just how dry this part of the world is the records at Solitaire showed that they had had 63mm of rain in 2015 (the last rain in April). In 2014 they had 100.5 mm and 2013, 58mm.
We arrived at Sossusvlei Lodge at Sesriem mid-afternoon. Time to have a rest and a swim in their pool before a very nice dinner on the terrace overlooking a waterhole frequented by Oryx and Springbok. We had some lovely views of the sunset from a tower in the middle of the complex.
Our accommodation is in separate units each fully air-conditioned with a patio, en-suite bathroom, a spacious bedroom all under canvas with adobe-style plaster walls. Quite a unique and pleasant spot.
