Downhillrun at Sossusflei
Then we want to go deeper into the Namib Desert to Sossusvlei and some more dunes, where a lake is formed in the middle when it rains. Here we will need our four-wheel drive for the first time, because instead of taking a shuttle jeep like the tourists, we prefer to drive through the deep sand ourselves and have a little desert rally. Luckily Veronica has read beforehand what to consider when driving on sand. First, never stop in the deep sand, rather drive the diesel at full speed in the first gear through the hills and secondly always orientate at the track grooves of the person in front.
That works surprisingly well and is a lot of fun. We are sooo cool, we could participate directly in the Rally Dakar. When we reach Sussousvlei we decide to go for another hike through the dunes. But actually only because we want to slide down again later on the flank of the dune. With some breaks and some teamwork it works quite well and this time we arrive all 3 together and without ambulance thoughts at the top. The hikers who are ahead of us are twice as old as we are, by the way. Not a good sign for our fitness!
The view from up here is amazing. Everything seems so surreal, the orange dunes and the steel blue sky, like a painted postcard. If I didn’t have the feeling that the desert sun would soon burn everything including myself, then I could sit here forever. When the water gets scarce and believe me, water gets scarce in a desert quite fast, we set off on the way down. Running down at the side of the dune is a lot of fun and Mirko is in top form again. A young Springbok couldn’t have jumped down the dune better! After that we have a rather long way ahead of us, because we want to continue to Swakopmund to the coast and we certainly have a 5 hour drive remaining.
The drive seems endless, over gravel road and again gravel road we go back to Solitäre, from there we cross two pass roads, which are scenically totally spectacular. If I was still on the moon in the Namib desert, one could easily think you are on Mars. Huge dark brown stone canyons pile up right and left beside us and for at least 200 kilometres there is nothing but one single lodge, the Rostock Riz.
On the whole way there are only 3 cars approaching us and one is on the left side and has a flat tire. Fortunately they don’t need any help and we don’t have to get out at 300 degrees. We will probably have a flat tire soon enough.
We continue through the desert and drive a hundred kilometres through a flat stone desert, no tree, no bend, no nothing at all. We drive a hundred kilometres through a flat stone desert, no tree, no bend, no nothing at all. Only straight ahead and always straight ahead. That is so tiring for me Suddenly two strange black dots appear on the horizon and we guess on some animals, ostriches for example, we have already seen them from a distance. As we get closer, we can hardly believe our eyes. There are really two tourists with a bicycle on the way. So if they’re not totally crazy, then who is? They probably have 200 kilometres of desert ahead of them before they reach the next lodge. Hopefully they have enough water with them!
What is also strange is that you can see a kind of stone pile at the roadside. My guess is that it is some kind of spiritual thing. As I will learn later, they are markings but without a deeper meaning. People mark where, for example, there was an accident or where they hid their diamonds or where they might have found something. Good to know, on the next desert trip we will search every stone heap for diamonds.
Next: Souvenirs in Swakopmund (coming soon)