We intended to visit Sossusvlei, a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, two days’ driving away in the Naukluft National Park.
Namib-Naukluft
We voyaged across the desert by the Kuiseb Canyon and River and the Naukluft Mountains, past herds of zebra, gemsbok, oryx, springbok, ostrich, social weavers which turn entire camelthorn trees into their oversized nests, finally to Sesriem – the gate to Sossusvlei and the start of the dunes.
Social weaver birds nest in camel thorn trees on the Naukluft plains.
The desert is occasionally broken by rifts. The Kuiseb canyon leads a river through the Kriess Rus mountains.
The majestic oryx have evolved perfectly to live in the dry desert.
Springbok are dainty and skittish.
Deeper into the desert, the Naukluft Mountains attract afternoon rain clouds, but these seldom open.
