From the salty sea towards the dry desert. From the coast to the hinterland. From Luderitz towards Sesriem. From paved roads and industrial traffic towards gravel roads and tourist traffic.
A good night’s rest later, we dismantled our tent, collected our awesomely big lunchbox from the Canyon’s roadhouse reception, topped off on fuel in what has to be one of the most remote tank stations worldwide and set out on the same gravel road back to the paved road leading to Luderitz, our next destination.
On the way we enjoyed a quick lunch alongside the highway with a breathtaking view (again) and arrived at Kolmanskop, a deserted old German gold mine settlement around 13:30 PM. Unfortunately that proved to be just to late for the normal (or reduced) entrance fee of 100 NAD. Instead we had to pay a whopping 300 NAD per person to enter to take some pictures in what’s basically a derricked and not maintained collection of wood, concrete and bricks which happen to be a quite lovely photographer’s setting. Or wet dream, depending on the photographer you’re talking to…
So we – or rather, Véro alone - took about 200 pictures. And yes, admittedly, those pictures are awesome and it’s even worth to pay that much…
Another 15 minutes later we arrived in Luderitz, where, after some searching around – no more mobile data and thus no Google Maps – we checked in in our self-catered lovely cottage. With an astonishing view over the Atlantic Ocean. Véro even managed to see some dolphins playin’ around in the bay. So yeah, this might classify as the best stay till date. Many more to follow.
Once refreshed and resupplied with stocks for the coming days, we went out for diner at Barrels. Our predecessors had mentioned to be there early, so at 18 PM sharp we took a table, some hake, beer and rosé wine and contemplated the past and future few days… Four more camping and away from modern society nights to come!
On Wednesday there was’t to be any more excitement than driving for 6 hours towards our next destination, Sesriem, we thought… But a very bumpy road, a giraffe and some sharp stone decided to wreck havoc on one of the aft tyres, so we had to make an impromptu stop to get the spare tire in place. Luckily Jens, very handy guy, replaced the tire in a jiffy so we were back on track in less than half an hour.
When arrived at Sesriem rest camp we saw that this was going to be a more touristy part of our trip. Over 40 camp sites and trail buses meant a lot more people going to do the same thing: seeing and climbing up the sand dunes that are supposedly Sesriem’s highlight.
And so it was, early in the morning we drove an hour before sunrise (only possible to do if you stay in the rest camp itself, not outside the main gate) towards Deadvlei & Sossusvlei as well as many others. The speed limit on the tarred road is 60 km but it was very clear that everybody wanted to get there first so we were passed by many cars… Jens still drove adhering the speed limit (during pitch-black nighttime not a bad idea), but once the sun provided sufficient background light he also sped up…
We noticed that a lot of people stopped at Dune 45 but we drove further to the end of the paved road and the start of the 4x4 track to Big Daddy and Deadvlei. At the parking spot there, you can get on a tour car (170 NAD pp roundtrip), but since we had our own small(er) 4x4 and Jens was confident enough, he got mentally prepared and we drove into the sand. It was awesome! Very bumpy, very exciting, very challenging. We had no clue were to go but to follow other tracks and look for parked cars. But we made it, unlike others at least one other car of same make and model of ours which we passed, stuck in the sand…
Once parked, we saw the sun starting to peep over the horizon, highlighting the massive sand dunes. We made our way up on one of those to get an incredible view, both over Sossusvlei east and Deadvlei west. Very rewarding after climbing your way through the sand! And even more fun is to be able to slide, jump and bump your way down again. Even at thirty-ish its an innocent childishly fun thing to do!
Once back down in the valley of Deadvlei, Véro took the opportunity to photoshoot the incredible but also almost out-worldly combination of stark blue sky, white lime ground, reddish dunes, brown petrified trees and fast rising sun… It’s not that easy to reach, but definitely worth the effort!
It was told to us that first we better didn’t risk getting stuck in the sandy 4x4-track with our smaller SUV and secondly that the sand, once warmed up, would be a lot more mull to drive through, so on the way back Jens needed some more mental preparation (and some kisses) to head back. But it went a lot smoother than on the way in and in no time we were back on the tarred road towards Sesriem. It’s advisable to keep your speed between 40 and 50 km/h, drive in manual in 3rd gear, even when driving a automatic and gearbox in low/low (if equipped). Don’t try this with a sedan or even semi-SUV’s which only have front-wheel drive. It will get you stuck, frustrated and left with a fee, since it’s also not allowed.