Sossusvlei is famous for it’s dunes, and Deadvlei is famous for its iconic images of dead acacia trees surrounded by dunes. Originally the confluence of two rivers, the dunes have won this battle and the only reminder are the dead trees.
The national park opens at sunrise (7am in September), and there is a mad rush on for vehicles that want to reach the dunes to climb them in the cool of the morning. At 7:15, there is only a queue of 6-8 vehicles. Anyone staying in the park at the Namibian Wildlife Resorts accommodation has a slight head start.
We continue on to Deadvlei, which is a 1.1km hike through the dunes.
Early morning is the best time of day to catch the shadows of the trees without a large number of people walking through the shots. As we are leaving, the number of people arriving is increasing, so we’ve been lucky to have Deadvlei almost to ourselves.
After breakfast, we stop for a quick look at Sesriem Canyon. It doesn’t look like much from above, but has a trail leading to the base of the canyon that might be worth exploring on another day.
The evening drive finds some zebras, but no aardwolf!
A pretty sunset this evening too.
