This filtered image of our group watching sunset near Sesriem Canyon is my favourite photo of thousands from our 3-day tour.
A short hike in Sesriem Canyon just before sunset for some reason became one of the highlights of the trip. Our group bonded at this point.
See our group photos in high resolution on flickr.
Deadvlei is another clay pan, about 2 km from Sossusvlei. A notable feature of Deadvlei is that it used to be an oasis with several acacia trees; afterwards, the river that watered the oasis changed its course. The pan is thus 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 creates a particularly fascinating and surrealistic landscape, that appears in uncountable pictures and that has been used as a setting for films and videos.
Do these photos look familiar? 🙂
See our group photos in high resolution on flickr.
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Part of the 3-day dunes tour with Wild Dog Safaris, Namibian$3590 / person departing every Tuesday from Windhoek. That’s about US$330.
We were refunded US$20, reluctantly, when one of our road stops was cancelled. The ticket price was about $20 / person at the Cheetah farm.
Sossusvlei (sometimes written Sossus Vlei) is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert …
This area is characterized by … dunes of vivid pink-to-orange color, a consequence of a high percentage of iron in the sand and consequent oxidation processes. … These dunes are among the highest in the world; many of them are above 200 metres …
Our guide, Manny, led us on a 5km hike across the dunes to Deadvlei.
These Acacia thorns are deadly.
Sossusvlei is the #1 tourist attraction in Namibia.
You’ll be told that this one — Big Daddy — is the highest dune in the world somewhere between 325-380m.
Nearby Dune 7 is bigger, actually.
The dunes in Peru are MUCH bigger. Sechura Desert, Nazca, Peru is home to the largest sand dunes in the world, Dune Cerro Blanco, about 3,860 feet from the base.
We enjoyed the easy sand stroll.
Happy happy. 🙂
See our group photos in high resolution on flickr.
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Part of the 3-day dunes tour with Wild Dog Safaris, Namibian$3590 / person departing every Tuesday from Windhoek. That’s about US$330.
We were refunded US$20, reluctantly, when one of our road stops was cancelled. The ticket price was about $20 / person at the Cheetah farm.
Dune 45 is so called because it lies 45 km past Sesriem on the road to Sossusvlei. It is also known as “the most photographed dune in the world“; because of its unusually simple and fascinating shape, and its proximity to the road, that make it convenient for visitors to stop by and take pictures. It is 80 meters high …
We awoke well before dawn, joining a number of other vehicles bouncing down the dirt roads to Dune 45.
The colours are fantastic.
By the time we got back down to the truck, breakfast was ready. 🙂
See our group photos in high resolution on flickr.
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Part of the 3-day dunes tour with Wild Dog Safaris, Namibian$3590 / person departing every Tuesday from Windhoek. That’s about US$330.
We were refunded US$20, reluctantly, when one of our road stops was cancelled. The ticket price was about $20 / person at the Cheetah farm.
I’d hoped to join some travellers in a rent-a-car adventure. But when that fell through … I signed on (with 20min notice) to one of the very many camping safaris touring white tourists through Africa.
The vehicles are awesome.
Comfortable enough to sleep. We had 12 tourists (GER, JPN, USA, GBR, NED, SWE, ITA, ARG, CAN) in a vehicle that seats 14.
The scenery is reminiscent of other deserts of the world.
Truck stops reminded me of the Australian outback.
For lunch, the truck pulls over in the middle of nowhere. Campers and staff whip up a healthy meal.
The BIG attraction of Namibia is the animal life. Everywhere.
We were LOVING the tour, so far.
Happily, we arrived at camp early enough to watch the sunset from Elim Dune located 5 km past the Sesriem gate.
Giddy tourists.
It’s quite shocking to watch the colours change at sunset.
We camped here, one of the most popular campgrounds in the nation, just inside the Sesriem gate of Namib-Naukluft National Park.
Though tents were provided, I slept in my own.
I have thousands of group photos from this trip, but posted only a few from day 1 on flickr.
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Part of the 3-day dunes tour with Wild Dog Safaris, Namibian$3590 / person departing every Tuesday from Windhoek. That’s about US$330.
We were refunded US$20, reluctantly, when one of our road stops was cancelled. The ticket price was about $20 / person at the Cheetah farm.
… Just in case there’s still snow on the ground, I’ll head to the Caribbean on the trip home from southern Africa.
I’m scheduled for Gymnastics Camps in Barbados, Trinidad and Bahamas. 🙂
Barbecue King Rockin’ Ronnie would love this place. Endless skewers of different kinds of meats.
You can carve off as much as you like of each. 🙂
New research finds materialistic people are less happy in large part because of their lack of gratitude.
There are several theories regarding why materialistic people feel less gratitude. …
The dunes are MINE, all MINE. 🙂
(via io9)
Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiographical work written by South African President Nelson Mandela, and published in 1995 …
The book profiles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison. Under the apartheid government, Mandela was regarded as a terrorist and jailed on the infamous Robben Island for his role as a leader of the then-outlawed ANC. He has since achieved international recognition for his leadership as president in rebuilding the country’s once segregated society. The last chapters of the book describe his political ascension, and his belief that the struggle continues …
His childhood name was Rolihlahla, which is loosely translated as “pulling the branch of a tree”, or a euphemism for “troublemaker“.
Indeed, many of the most winning anecdotes are stories of how the now sainted man bungled, cheated or lied.
Mandela oversaw the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate crimes committed under apartheid by both the government and the ANC, appointing Desmond Tutu as its chair. To prevent the creation of martyrs, the Commission granted individual amnesties in exchange for testimony of crimes committed during the apartheid era. Dedicated in February 1996, it held two years of hearings detailing rapes, torture, bombings, and assassinations, before issuing its final report in October 1998. …
Though Mandela was influenced by his older contemporary, Gandhi, he did not subscribe to Gandhi’s non-violence. Nelson felt that non-violence worked in India because the British government was reasonable. But that it would not work in South Africa government.
I’d previously read the interesting and controversial book by his warder/censor James Gregory, Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend.
Mandela said that he actually didn’t know Gregory very well. But did state:
“He was one of the most refined warders. Well-informed and courteous with everybody. Soft spoken. Very good observations. I developed a lot of respect for him.”
They made a film I’ve not seen of Gregory’s book.
I’ve also not yet seen the 2013 British/South African biographical film – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.
Walvis Bay … 85,000 inhabitants … the only natural harbour of any size along the country’s coast. Being rich in plankton and marine life, these waters also drew large numbers of whales …
I walked the “lagoon” for several hours, enjoying innumerable sea birds, pelicans and flamingos.
In 1990 South-West Africa gained independence as Namibia, but Walvis Bay remained under South African sovereignty. At midnight on 28 February 1994 South Africa formally transferred sovereignty over Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands to Namibia …
Walvis Bay features the very rare mild variation of the arid climate. Walvis Bay receives an average of less than 10 mm of precipitation per year, making it one of the driest cities on the planet. Despite the fact that it has an arid climate, Walvis Bay seldom gets very hot or very cold, an extremely unusual feature for a city featuring this climate. This is primarily due to cold offshore currents near Walvis Bay.
Next time I’m planning on the adventurous 48km drive to Sandwich Harbour, a freshwater lagoon surrounded by dunes, and a favourite amongst anglers and ornithologists
Rick McCharles 