Fri 15th May. Day 5
After some more sunrise snaps this morning, we left at 7.30am to drive to the Namib-Naukluft National Park, arriving at our campsite, Camp Agama, at about 4pm. The Namib-Naukluft NP encompasses part of the Namib Desert (considered the world's oldest desert) and the Naukluft mountain range. Areas of the park and attractions include the tallest sand dunes in the world, canyons and vleis (clay pans). The dunes have a burnt orange colour which develops over time as iron in the sand is oxidised.
There was a sunset viewing platform near the campsite so some of us made the trip for another great sunset. There was nothing much to do in the evening so after dinner of springbok sausage casserole (which was delicious), I hit the tinnies and played a few games of pool.
Sat 16th May. Day 6
We had to leave camp at 5.30 this morning to drive into the NP for a 2 hour desert walk. Our guide was called the "Bushman" and he walked very fast over the sand dunes barefoot! His talk about the desert fauna and flora was really interesting. The Bushman explained how creatures survived in the desert. Many survived the heat by living underground, oxygen being trapped between the grains of sand. He explained how they ate through the food cycle chain, and they got water from the sea mist in the morning off the coast ~50km away. Some of the plants in the desert had roots up to 50m deep and trees had roots up to 80m deep to get water. The bushmen around the turn of the century would eat up to 10kg meat at a time because they didn't know when they would next be able to eat. They were fearsome hunters, killing prey with poison darts.
We also visited the Deadvlei. This is a clay pan which used to be an oasis with acacia trees. However, the river that watered the oasis changed its course and the pan is now punctuated by blackened, dead acacia trees, in vivid contrast to the shiny white of the salty floor of the pan and the intense orange of the dunes. This makes for good photos.
Next, we headed to Dune 45, supposedly the most photographed sand dune in the world, and probably one of the most climbed. It was ~120m high but looked a lot higher. After the early morning desert walk, I didn't think my legs were designed for dune climbing so I gave the climb a miss.
Finally, we had a hike down into Sesriem Canyon, where small pools of water collected in the heat of the desert. The canyon was ~1km long and 30-40m deep. Its name was derived from "six reins" as early pioneers tied together 6 lengths of rawhide to draw water from its pools.
We arrived back in camp ~2pm and had the rest of the day free. We had springbok hot dogs for lunch, and springbok burgers, rice and pasta sauce for dinner. Obviously, roadkill of the day was springbok. As usual, with nothing else to do, it was off to the bar in the evening for tinnies and pool.
Namib-Naukluft NP
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia
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2025-02-15