Up early this morning to a beautiful sunrise on the distant hills.
After breakfast we drove out to the Namib Naukluft Park and the Namib Sand Sea (declared a World Heritage Site in 2013) to see the biggest sand dunes in the world – Big Red eat your heart out!!
After breakfast we drove out to the Namib Naukluft Park and the Namib Sand Sea (declared a World Heritage Site in 2013) to see the biggest sand dunes in the world – Big Red eat your heart out!!
The Namib Sand Sea lies at the heart of the Namib, a coastal fog desert on Africa’s South Atlantic coast in Namibia. It is a vast area of spectacular sand dunes, featuring two super-imposed systems – an ancient (semi-consolidated) one below, with an active one above.
Remarkably, the sand itself originates thousands of kilometres away in the headwaters of southern Africa’s major rivers, from where it has been transported by the forces of erosion and river flow into the ocean, then picked up and brought back onshore by strong ocean currents. Once onshore it is blown by the wind and piled up in a spectacular diversity of formations, determined at each location by the interaction of onshore and offshore winds as well as the influence of inflowing seasonal rivers and occasional flood events.
The world heritage site – one of the biggest in Africa – falls within the Namib-Naukluft Park, where access is very limited as there are few roads in the vicinity. The Namib is an extremely dry desert, but it supports a remarkable diversity of unique plants and animals that have evolved special adaptations to enable them to live in this extraordinarily hostile environment. In particular, many species have developed ways of trapping the atmospheric water that comes ashore as fog, so they can survive without rain. And they have evolved special ways of living in the ever-changing dunes, ‘swimming’ and ‘diving’ into the sub-surface sand to escape the scorching heat and the risk of predation.
After entering the Sand Sea we passed a section of Fairy Circles in the desert – round circles contrasting greatly with the surrounding sands (read below). Ian favoured the theory that they were created by termites. We also saw quite a few Oryx (don’t ask me what they eat) and some Ostrich.Remarkably, the sand itself originates thousands of kilometres away in the headwaters of southern Africa’s major rivers, from where it has been transported by the forces of erosion and river flow into the ocean, then picked up and brought back onshore by strong ocean currents. Once onshore it is blown by the wind and piled up in a spectacular diversity of formations, determined at each location by the interaction of onshore and offshore winds as well as the influence of inflowing seasonal rivers and occasional flood events.
The world heritage site – one of the biggest in Africa – falls within the Namib-Naukluft Park, where access is very limited as there are few roads in the vicinity. The Namib is an extremely dry desert, but it supports a remarkable diversity of unique plants and animals that have evolved special adaptations to enable them to live in this extraordinarily hostile environment. In particular, many species have developed ways of trapping the atmospheric water that comes ashore as fog, so they can survive without rain. And they have evolved special ways of living in the ever-changing dunes, ‘swimming’ and ‘diving’ into the sub-surface sand to escape the scorching heat and the risk of predation.
Fairy circles are circular patches of land, barren of plants, though often encircled by a ring of stimulated growth of grass. They typically appear in the arid grasslands of the western part of Southern Africa. Fairy circles are particularly common in Namibia, but also occur in parts of Angola and South Africa.
Fairy circles vary between 2 and 15 metres in diameter. They typically occur in essentially monospecific grassy vegetation, especially in Namibia, where conditions are particularly arid.
The origin and history of fairy circles have long been a puzzle and their investigation has proved challenging. One controversially favoured suggestion is that the activity of the sand termite Psammotermes allocerus is adapted to create locally favourable ecosystems that improve the supply of moisture and food.
Namibia's fairy circles are still considered "one of nature's greatest mysteries"..
Even though it was quite early there were lots of people climbing the sand dunes. It would have taken them hours. A short way up Dune 45 (so called because it lies 45 km past Sesriem) enough for us. Apparently the dune is 80 meters high and its sands are 5 million years old. The dunes are indeed spectacular with the colours created by the morning sun. Dune 45 is low by comparison to some - Big Daddy is the highest dune in the Sossusvlei area at about 325 meters high.Fairy circles vary between 2 and 15 metres in diameter. They typically occur in essentially monospecific grassy vegetation, especially in Namibia, where conditions are particularly arid.
The origin and history of fairy circles have long been a puzzle and their investigation has proved challenging. One controversially favoured suggestion is that the activity of the sand termite Psammotermes allocerus is adapted to create locally favourable ecosystems that improve the supply of moisture and food.
Namibia's fairy circles are still considered "one of nature's greatest mysteries"..
Eventually the road petered out and we had to transfer to 4WD vehicles to take us the final 6km to o Deadviei (see below) and Sossusvlei. Although the morning started off quite cool (we had our coats on) by now it had warmed up and walking through the dunes was quite hot and hard work in the soft sand. We walked about half a kilometre to get to the salt pan and its dead trees. Ian had said that there was less oxygen on the pan because of it being surrounded by tall dunes. Jill agrees as she found it more difficult to breathe on the pan with her limited lung capacity.
Despite the fact that it was so arid we did see several beetles (interesting the way they hold themselves up off the sand when they scurry about) and a very cute little Shovel Snouted Sand Diving Lizard. Also lots of camel thorn trees and a little birdlife – sparrows and pied crow.
Deadvlei is a white clay pan located near the more famous salt pan of Sossusvlei, inside the Namib-Naukluft Park in Namibia. Also written DeadVlei or Dead Vlei, its name means "dead marsh" (from English dead, and Afrikaans vlei, a lake or marsh in a valley between the dunes). The pan also is referred to as "Dooie Vlei" which is the (presumably original) fully Afrikaans name.
Dead Vlei has been claimed to be surrounded by the highest sand dunes in the world, the highest reaching 300-400 meters (350m on average, named "Big Daddy" or "Crazy Dune"), which rest on a sandstone terrace.
The clay pan was formed after rainfall, when the Tsauchab river flooded, creating temporary shallow pools where the abundance of water allowed camel thorn trees to grow. When the climate changed, drought hit the area, and sand dunes encroached on the pan, which blocked the river from the area.
The trees died, as there no longer was enough water to survive. There are some species of plants remaining, such as salsola and clumps of !nara, adapted to surviving off the morning mist and very rare rainfall. The remaining skeletons of the trees, which are believed to have died 600-700 years ago (AD 1340- 1430), are now black because the intense sun has scorched them. Though not petrified, the wood does not decompose because it is so dry.
Dead Vlei has been claimed to be surrounded by the highest sand dunes in the world, the highest reaching 300-400 meters (350m on average, named "Big Daddy" or "Crazy Dune"), which rest on a sandstone terrace.
The clay pan was formed after rainfall, when the Tsauchab river flooded, creating temporary shallow pools where the abundance of water allowed camel thorn trees to grow. When the climate changed, drought hit the area, and sand dunes encroached on the pan, which blocked the river from the area.
The trees died, as there no longer was enough water to survive. There are some species of plants remaining, such as salsola and clumps of !nara, adapted to surviving off the morning mist and very rare rainfall. The remaining skeletons of the trees, which are believed to have died 600-700 years ago (AD 1340- 1430), are now black because the intense sun has scorched them. Though not petrified, the wood does not decompose because it is so dry.
The end of the track was Sossusvlei, about 66 km past the Sesriem gate. It’s another clay pan, covered in a crust of salt-rich sand. The pan is where the Tsauchab River spreads out in the desert. Actual flooding of the pan is relatively rare event, and sometimes several years pass between one flood and the next. Even then the river carries relatively little water to the vlei. The vlei is surrounded by high orange-reddish dunes, partially covered by a vegetation comprising grass, bushes, and some tree (mostly of species Acacia erioloba).
Back to Sossusvlei Lodge for lunch and a rest before heading off to Sessreim Canyon with Ian at 5pm. It wasn’t far away – 4km. As we walked from the vehicle it was impossible to see the canyon which suddenly appears in front of you. The canyon is quite deep and once you get down to the floor is quite easy walking along its gravelly bottom. At times it was really narrow over our heads – a really lovely walk partly because it was much cooler and the colours with the sun going down were quite spectacular.
The canyon has been carved by the Tsauchab River in the local sedimentary rock and is about a kilometre long and up to 30 meters deep. The name Sesriem is Afrikaans and means "six belts", Six belts (made of Oryx hides) had to be joined together in order to reach buckets down into the canyon to scoop up water. The Canyon is only two metres wide in some places, and has a portion that permanently contains water, which no doubt is a popular spot with many animals – not that we saw any (apart from beetles).
Another beautiful sunset as we came up out of the canyon and headed back to the vehicle then back to Sossusvlei Lodge for another sumptuous dinner on the deck.
