Explore Sossusvlei Dunes and Sesriem Canyon: 3/6

 Today we went out to the dunes, with the possibility of walking to the top of one called Big Daddy. Sandy and I came prepared with hiking poles fitted out with large sand baskets, which proved very useful. The rule of thumb is to walk in someone else's steps because the sand is more compressed there, but that was really tough to do. 

Next to Big Daddy is an area called the Deadvlei. Vlei means marsh. A long time ago, there was a lot of water in a sand depression and trees started to grow for many years. Eventually, the water evaporated and the trees died and got scorched in the desert heat. It now looks like kind of a petrified forest, and it was our first objective. I had this (crazy!) idea of trying to climb Big Daddy, but boy is it BIG up close and personal! I quickly found that my fitness level, even with my hiking poles, was barely enough to get me to the crest of a small dune that allowed me to see the Deadvlei. I stood at the top for a while, and then walked down some, but not all the way. Trying to summit Big Daddy might have killed me. 

Springbok

Big Daddy. You walk up the crest 
on the side the wind formed (right,
in this case) and sort of slide down
the softer side. The lower area
behind the fence(?) is about the height
of the dune leading to the Deadvlei.

View of the Deadvlei

My friend Sandy was the only one in our group of 16, including at least 3 people who had a legitimate capability to make it to the top, who actually did it. She said the scary part was coming down, where you sort of slid and because of the angles, you couldn't see the entire hill.

I made it back to the picnic area and waited with a few others for the more adventurous folks to return.

Oryx

Springbok

Magpies

Later that afternoon, we visited a small section of Sesriem Canyon. It was carved out by a river and was an important source of water for natives. The name means 6 belts, referring to the length of the rope needed to draw water.

Guinea hens. Not the smartest birds

Above and below: Ostrich

Transfer to Sossouvlei Lodge and the Namib Desert: 3/5

 We started our trip with a visit to a vast graveyard of unmarked tombs that is a memorial to some of the thousands of Herero and Nama people who were slaughtered by the Germans between 1904 and 1908. The Germans had developed a colony here called German South West Africa 20 years earlier, but the tribes rose up against their overlords to protest the taking of their land and cattle. In retaliation, the Germans exterminated 80% of the Hereros and 50% of the Namas. Reparations were finally agreed to in the 2020s, but it is questionable whether the survivor's decendants will ever see it.

This is the neat German part of the cemetary

These photos are the native cemetary areas
and the monument to the genocide.

The bus ride started on somewhat bumpy paved roads, but mostly relied on even bumpier dirt/gravel roads, sometimes with extensive washboarding. They call this type of drive an African Massage.

The geological uplift is very apparent here.

There is a lot of nothing on this drive.

We finally arrived at the Sossouvlei Lodge, which has a collection of individual cabins, some, like ours, with a direct view of their huge reserve. It is a very dry time, so there wasn't a lot of wild life wandering around for us to see.