Namibia chapter nine
Sossusvlei and the Namib Desert by land.
Tangeny takes us to Sossusvlei. It’s an early morning and everyone seems a little bleary-eyed when I greet everyone in the main lodge. There are four of us with the guide, an older retired couple, a bush pilot for Scenic Air, and myself.
Romeo, the pilot, has overnighted at the lodge. Depending on flight schedules, sometimes it makes more sense for pilots to stay at lodges rather than fly back home. Depending on availability, the andBeyond will let pilots stay in the suites. It sounds like a pretty sweet deal, but Romeo tells me he’d rather be in the air.
We’re seventh or eighth in line at the gate. The day is brightening but the sun isn’t up. The line grows behind us as jeeps and buses arrive. Later, I’ll learn from Chicco that the andBeyond is in the process of negotiating a private entrance to Sossusvlei, which would obviate waiting in line, though they’d still have to obey the park hours.
When the sun is up guests wander back to their vehicles and guides start their engines. It’s relatively quick getting in, but I’m glad we’re not further back in line.
The dunes along the north are numbered in order, though those in the south seem to follow a ifferent numbering. It’s a straight road to deadvlei, Big Daddy looming above.
Tangeny stops at various points to let us admire the landscape and dunes, pointing out where we are on a map he keeps in the car. The dunes and the dead trees preview what’s to come.
We’ve woken up and the older couple ask me if I’ll be doing a helicopter flight. I tell them it’s a bit too expensive as I’d have to pay the singles tax, which in this case is double, as I’d have to book for two. It’s expensive, but they loved it. They’re retired and their kids are all doing ok, so they’re enjoying their retirement. They booked the two-hour trip, flying to the coast and then up to see the shipwrecks. After all, you can’t take it with you.
Tangeny echoes their ethusiasm, recommending the 90-minute flight. It’s cool when they fly by the caves, he says. I’m not sure what he’s referring to, but it does sound cool. Our conversations convinces me. I tell Tangeny I’m interested in booking a helicopter, now eager to make sure it’s not completely booked up. Today, he asks? Whenever there’s availability, I tell him. We can arrange back at the lodge, he tells me.
We continue driving towards Deadvlei, the famous clay pan at the foot of Big Daddy. Cars and buses are parked by Dune 45 and we can see people on the ridge, climbing towards the 170-meter summit. Birds dot the landscape; at one point passing a lone ostrich, its dark feathers standing out against the red sands.
We stop at another set of pictaresque dunes and get out to stretch and take photographs.
When I get back to the car Romeo leans against an open door as if modeling for a sunglasses ad. I take some photos. For your dating profile, I tell him.
We drive to the main parking lot and then Tangeny engages the 4WD and we drive along a sandy road beyond it to the Deadvlei parking lot. A shuttle, which reminds me of a hayride, brings those with less-adapted vehicles to Deadvlei. Julie had told me that they had seen a number of vehicles stuck in the sand.
I tell Tangeny I’m intersted in climbing Big Daddy and he tells me he’ll take me, leaving Romeo with the older couple to explore Deadvlei. I ask him how difficult it is. He tells me the dune runs right alongside Deadvlei and that one can bail and walk down the dunes to the pan any time.
I ask if I can do the hike in reverse, traversing the pan before climbing Big Daddy and then descending to the parking lot. He looks at me like I’m crazy; I’ll understand why after I complete the circuit. To climb Big Daddy from the edge of the pan would be to struggle through soft sand straight up the face of the dune.
He tells Romeo of the plan and asks him to look after the older couple. Romeo tells him he’s interested in climbing Big Daddy as well. He’s never done it. Tangeny updates his plan. Romeo and I will climb the dunes and he’ll watch over the couple. He gives me an extra bottle of water and points the way. We can already see people on the ridges leading up to the peak.
I follow Romeo along the ridge. As we begin our climb, Deadvlei reveals itself to our right. We climb quickly, the path well-trod, the sand well-packed. I step in Romeo’s footsteps, taking additional advantage of the sand he compacts beneath his feet.
Deadvlei is the star of the show, but I take the time to look on the other side of the dunes and back towards where we came.
From our initial ascent we descend into a small notch before we begin the final ascent up Big Daddy. I try not to look up and content myself with putting one foot in front of the other. The rising sun burns away the cool temperatures of the morning and I’m glad Tangeny has provided me with a second bottle of water for our hike.
As we climb higher and leave the protection of the larger dunes the wind picks up, stirring the sand around us and casting it against us. Looking to my left I can see other vlei nestled amongst the dunes. Behind, some have abandoned their ascent; I can see them walking straight down the dunes towards the pan.
Before us and behind us, the tiny figures hiking the dunes highlight the awesome scale of the land around us.
Towards the top we take a short break. Romeo peels a clementine and hands half to me. For energy, he says. I am thankful for the proffered treat.
Deadvlei spreads out below us, and from the peak of Big Daddy we can see people descending straight down the slope; some run and fall and roll in the sand.
I reach the top before Romeo. He’s stopped just before the peak and I move past. A large group is taking photos of each others at the top and I offer to take photos for them.
Dunes undulate in all directions; Deadvlei spreads out below. Mountains rise from the red peaks, smaller vlei rest in troughs surrounded by sand.
Romeo joins me at the top and we sit on the dune. I share my water with him and he pours it into his bottle. The ice cubes I’ve heard rattling around in his bottle have melted. I make a menal note to borrow his idea and add ice cubes to my water bottles in the future. I take off my boots and out pours what seems a desert’s worth of sand.
A group of German women arrive at the top. They’re volunteering at a children’s NGO in Windhoek and have come to the desert for the weekend. I offer to take their photo and Romeo chats with them about Windhoek.
All too soon it’s time to get back. We don’t want Tangeny and our fellow passengers to wait to long, though we’ve made good time on the way up.
Walking straight down the face of Big Daddy is faster and easier than I imagined. Our feet sink comfortably into the sand, cushioning our descent. Lifting our feet out creates a sound like a tuba or the sound of two clean tupperware containers sinking into each other.
Romeo leads and I’m glad to have him in frame to add a sense of scale to the photographs.
On the way down I spot a lizard scurrying on the slope. I stop to take a look but it runs away before I can get close to it.
We reach the pan in minutes, a mere fraction of the time it took us to ascend. The sun is high overhead and the salt flat is blinding. I put on sunglasses to keep from blinding myself as we cross the pan.
A vast expanse of the pan is devoid of the trees Deadvlei is so famous for. It’s nice to walk on solid ground
A group of people are dressed to the nines and doing their best Priscilla Queen of the Desert photoshoot. Tangeny will tell me later he’s seen people strip down and do nude shoots on the vlei. I’d hope they’d slathered themselves with sunscreen.
I can’t get enough of the landscape and capture as much as we can even as we hurry to get back to the group. In the back of my mind I consider coming back to spend the entire time on the pan; I think of the different excursions I have planned.
Ahead, Tangeny approaches us. He had been watching us through binoculars but lost us when we reached the top. He was worried we might have descended into the wrong vlei.
Romeo walks ahead with Tangeny. At the edge of the vlei there’s a final sandy ascent out of the pan to get to the parking lot. It’s the hardest part of the day. The sun beats down and my boots lose grip with each step. I struggle here, at the easiest part, and I am thankful when the ground finally firms up beneath my feet.
Our companions are sitting in the shade of a large tree. They’d been watching our progress as well, after having explored the vlei in the cooler hours of the morning. We walk to the car and then drive further into the desert to a vlei dotted with picnic benches shaded by trees. This is Sossusvlei, the pan from which the park gets its name.
We help Tangeny unpack the car and lay out tablecloths. He pulls a spread from out of a cooler: granola, yogurt, fruit, muffins, amazing chicken wraps. He offers us coffee or tea and other drinks and we sit and relax and eat our fill. It’s not quite lunch—that will come when we return to the lodge—but it could easily be. Knowing what’s to come I keep myself from going back for seconds, even as I want another sandwich, a bowl of granola.
A constant breeze blows across the table, and I’m thankful for the shade. Tangeny points out a dune beside us. It’s Big Mama, but there’s no time to climb it. There’s lunch to attend to and afternoon activities. Romeo is set to depart at two with his passengers, I am scheduled on an ATV tour of the desert.
We pack up our repast and load everything back into the car. As we pull out from our picnic site we pass an oryx standing in the shade of one of the trees. It stares blankly at us as we creep past.
On the way back Tangeny talks with the older couple about snakes and other dangerous creatures in the desert. I can’t remember what prompted the conversation. My belly full, my legs weakened, I close my eyes and drift off to the sound of our tires on the gravel road. 🇳🇦
26 May 2024
