Sossusvlei Dunes

The Sossuvlei dunes line both sides of a depression that goes on for 60k or more, and then some more in other directions. They climb up the inselbergs, and, in my opinion, probably cover many others. These are some of the world's largest and most extensive dunes. If you like sand and dunes you will really like Sossusvlei. We set forth early, 6AM, in the company of Dave and Marian and James and Margaret, hoping to catch the photographer's best friend, morning light. Some members of our group were out even earlier.

You drive on actual pavement to the end of the road, then ride
a safari truck through sand to the main walking area; above, my
favorite formation, a nearly S-shaped dune, hundreds of feet high

Looking around

Obviously there is occasional rain

Us, there; thanks, Dave

A vlei, that is, dried lake bottom

Higher up, Christine and Jim are already into second breakfast

Here I am trudging along a ridge; I hate sand

Big Daddy, the tallest of the dunes hereabouts..300m?

Looking back to the S

Big Daddy; some of our group climbed it

The ridge on the right does not go...

So Vicki and I got the gist of the sand and dunes experience
pretty quickly, and catch the first safari truck back to the parking
lot

Appreciating the scenery and the deep sand and the fact that we
are not stuck in it

As others are

4WD and AWD are great, but you really need high clearance too
for this environment

Attempted pano

Violet says "please get me out of here!"

Note here the dune blowing up the mountain, almost like a
glacier in reverse

We were the first back to the campground, the electricity had
been restored, and we spent the rest of the afternoon in air-
conditioned comfort, sans sand

Swakopmund To Sesriem

From Swakopmund and the cool south Atlantic we head back east, into the heat of the formidable Namib desert, and a world of dunes...

Just east of Swakopmund, Dune 7, a beach dune, still one of
the largest there is...but you ain't seen nothin' yet

For a few miles, the road was moist and easily graded

But then it deteriorated into the washboard sand/gravel we would
trudge through for the next week; the vibrations so great that we
went through three (3) sets of drawer latches...among other things

Then, miles from the sea, a fog descended

Pretty bad fog

Which eventually lifted to reveal the Martian landscape we'd
be seeing, with occasional breaks, for days

There was a river here, once

Note, now, the dunes climbing up the mountains

Windstorm

Mountain sinking into dunes

Someone's paradise; with satellite dish

At the crossroads/oasis/fuel stop of Solitaire

Usual southern African decor

The mountains here are "inselbergs," island mountains; many
of them being inundated by sand

Bird nest, to be explained later

Finally we arrive at the camp at Sesriem, ankle deep in sand,
watching the sun set over a unicorn oryx

Dave's map of how we might get out of the camp's deep sand
and onto the highway...

Martian sunset

Were we to do this again, as indies, we'd probably elect a smaller,
4WD rig

And not the tour bus/tent approach

Swakopmund Crystal Gallery

We demurred the local history museum and the national marine aquarium, but Vicki really wanted to see the Crystal Gallery. I figured it was "crystal" as in "Waterford," which we have seen before, twice, in Waterford, but, what they hay, I was just trying to be my usual agreeable self...

Turns out the mountains east of here have some major crystals

Outside display of crystal mine

Interior crystal mine tour

Real thing too

World's largest crystal cluster on display

Myself standing for scale

Of course, there were crystal shoppes

And crystal jewelry artisans

But on the whole the gallery was quite interesting, educational

Impressive

Despite reminding me of the three trimesters of intro to geology
I barely passed...

Extraterrestrial alien from outer space

There will be a quiz at the end of the post

Fluorite, our favorite

Great place...don't miss it next time you're in Swakopmund!