Namibia · Southern Africa
Sossusvlei and the Namib.
Sossusvlei's red dunes are the image of Namibia, and Deadvlei's dead camel-thorn trees on a white clay pan are the most photographed thing in the country.
Photo Joe McDaniel / Unsplash
The dunes are at their best at first light, which is the practical argument for staying inside the park gates or immediately outside them rather than driving in from a distance.
The wider Namib-Naukluft is one of the largest conservation areas in Africa, and Sesriem Canyon and the Naukluft mountains sit within reach of the same base.
How do you get to Sossusvlei?
By road from Windhoek, about five hours, mostly on gravel. By light aircraft to an airstrip near the park, which is how flying safaris include it. The park gate is at Sesriem, and Sossusvlei itself is some 60 kilometres further in.
Why stay inside the park gate at Sossusvlei?
Because of the light. The gate opens at sunrise for visitors staying outside, while those staying inside the park can set off earlier, reaching the dunes and Deadvlei while they are still in shadow and the colour is at its deepest. The last few kilometres to Sossusvlei need a 4x4 or the park shuttle.
How high are the Sossusvlei dunes?
Some are among the tallest in the world. Big Daddy, above Deadvlei, rises more than 300 metres. Dune 45, named for its distance along the road from Sesriem, is the one most people climb for sunrise.
What is Deadvlei?
A white clay pan ringed by red dunes, where camel-thorn trees died several hundred years ago once the river that fed them was cut off by sand. The dry air has kept them standing, blackened by the sun, which is why they look as they do.
How long should you spend at Sossusvlei?
Two nights, which gives one full morning in the dunes. Trips usually continue to Swakopmund on the coast and north to Damaraland and Etosha.
What is there to see in Sossusvlei and the Namib?
What does Sossusvlei and the Namib pair well with?
- Swakopmund and the coastSwakopmund is a German colonial seaside town between the desert and the Atlantic, and the base for the country's adventure activities.
- The Skeleton Coast and DamaralandThe Skeleton Coast is where the desert meets a cold Atlantic, and Damaraland inland holds desert-adapted elephant and ancient rock art.
- EtoshaEtosha is Namibia's principal game park, built around a salt pan so large it is visible from space.
Planning
Elsewhere in Namibia
- The Caprivi and the Zambezi RegionThe narrow strip in the far north-east is green, riverine and completely unlike the rest of the country.
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