One dune called "Big
Daddy" rises 380 meters, or about a quarter-mile, from its base, soaring
above the hardscrabble scrub-brush and acacia-dotted landscape of
western Namibia's Namib-Naukluft desert. This area, known as Sossusvlei,
is remote, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) south-southwest of the
capital, Windhoek, and an equal distance southeast from Walvis Bay. But
it is worth the long desert drive. The dunes at Sossusvlei are a natural
wonder of the world.
The sand beneath our feet
is powdery, as soft as talcum. Weather and water have crushed it. There
are no rocks and no trees on the dunes' steep slopes, just scattered
patches of grass. The night winds and dry sand prevent the rest. There
are only the fresh footprints of the few people leading the way up the
sharp, narrow crest of the dune. The slopes fall away just a step on
either side.
We have to stop to safely
gaze across the barren valley at the silhouetted outlines of more
towering dunes, set against the now dark but slowly lightening sky. It's
difficult in the early morning to see the color. But as the sun slowly
rises, for a few more minutes invisible just below the horizon, the
dunes' rich deep orange-red colors begin to emerge.
The reason we, and so
many others, have come here is for the moment just minutes away, when
the sun will suddenly blast above the edge of the parched earth,
revealing a landscape that's at once starkly beautiful, sensationally
dramatic and incredibly rare.
Geologists will tell you
that Namibia's dunes are built and shaped by wind and carved by water.
They are believed to be 60 million to 80 million years old, made of sand
pushed inland over the eons from the coast by Atlantic Ocean winds that
sweep onshore 80 kilometers to the west.
Here, near the settlement
of Sesriem, westerly winds from the Naukluft Mountains to the east
collide with the Atlantic winds, stopping the dunes' advance. When the
wind from the west meets the wind from the east, the sand is pushed
upward like the ocean waves the dunes resemble. It forms almost
perfectly symmetrical "star" dunes, each with several arms extending
outward from the summit.
The eastern mountains
don't face the entire expanse of dunes, so the wind cuts the Sossusvlei
valley into a "U" shape. The result is a region of sharply defined
massive sculpted sand piles surrounding a vast valley.
Water too has shaped
this region, although mostly it is long gone. The ephemeral Tsauchab
River flows nearby, but only during rainy periods. The water storms
through the dune valley, but the dunes stop its advance. It pushes
forward and gathers into small lakes at the base of the dunes but often
quickly dries up.
In a few spots, the
water remains, forming shallow marshlands called "vlei" (pronounced
"vlay") that support trees, birds, frogs and other small wildlife.
Grasses provide food for springbok, gemsbok and oryx.
In most places, though,
are the remains of dried-up marshlands, barren clay and salt basins that
contain the dunes' dramatic foil: the dead acacia or "camel thorn"
trees. Their black, twisted, petrified remains are said to be as old as
900 years, the harsh remnants of the life that once thrived in the
now-vanished lakes. Black pied crows perch in their dead branches and
then suddenly take off in flocks to surf the swirling breezes around the
dunes.
The most prominent dead
lake is called, appropriately, Deadvlei. It is a broad basin of parched
ground surrounded by dunes. It is accessible along a dirt and sand path
that crosses smaller dunes on one end. As we walk over the crest, the
bone-dry basin appears below.
Once, centuries ago,
there was a lake here. Now, blackened petrified acacias rise hauntingly
from the hard vlei floor. Jennifer Lopez once filmed a scene here for
the movie "The Cell." The lunar ground crackles slightly beneath our
feet as we walk out to the tree Lopez posed against. It is a perfect
place for science-fiction, but it is very starkly real.
The Namib-Naukluft
National Park itself is closed at night. Visitors stay at lodges and
campgrounds in Sesriem, the settlement outside the park (see
accommodation information below).
In the darkness before
dawn, they drive the 60-kilometer (37-mile) road from Sesriem and line
up at the entrance gate, then gingerly navigate the rough road about 5
more kilometers to the first dunes. One needs a high-clearance 4x4 to
reach most areas of the valley, including many of the popular sites.
It's easy to suddenly drive into deep sand. On one tract, we had to help
a family push out their loaded-down 2x4. This is a bad place to ignore
sound advice.
The most popular dune to
climb is called Dune 45. It is easily accessible from the entrance
road, and from its crest is where most visitors view the sunrise. From
the top, the view is otherworldly. The sun rises and the dunes' color
emerges, slowly changing and brightening in the desert's morning light.
Ahead of us, waves of dunes twist across the basin. Behind us, sand
sweeps back toward the ocean.
We sit, take photographs
and play a bit in the sand, always mindful of the steep slopes around
us. When it comes time to descend, there are two ways down: walk back
down along the crest you climbed up or sand-ski down the slope. The
second option is very steep and only for the daring. Those who choose
the slope hop and zig-zag across and down, as if they're skiing. Many
slightly less intrepid visitors try the slope descent sitting. Read More
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