Off-Roading Through the Dunes of Sossusvlei: A Namibia Highlight

Morning in the Namib desert. We made a speedy exit from the Gondwana Desert Camp in order to be at our next destination early. Today was a very exciting day. We were heading to the Sesriem campsite which is located within Sossusvlei National Park. If you haven’t heard of Sossusvlei before, Sossusvlei is home to some of the tallest sand dunes in the world. This National Park is made up of majestic red dunes as well as flat white ‘vleis’. Vleis are areas where water stands in the rainy season but are otherwise bone dry and crisp white in colour.

The best time to enter Sossuvlei national park is either first thing in the morning (at dawn) or in the evening. Did I enter at either of these? Let’s see, I entered Etosha National Park at midday, the supposed worst possible time to visit, I wasn’t going to stop with my bad timings now.

After indulging in some lunch at Sesriem, we set off into the desert at midday – the hottest time of the day. However, with our air-con blasting in our faces, we were quite oblivious to the heat.

Facts about Sossuvlei!

Sossusvlei is located in the Namib desert which is the oldest desert in the world.

The Namib desert is also home to the highest sand dunes on the planet.

Sossuvlei is actually named after the Sossusvlei pan which is the largest ‘vlei’ in Sossusvlei.

The most famous ‘vlei’ in Sossusvlei is Deadvlei. Deadvlei literally translates to ‘dead marsh’. It’s named Deadvlei after the numerous dead camel-thorn trees which are trapped in the pan.

The camel-thorn trees died after their water supply was cut off as a result of dunes being formed all around them. Without water, they could not survive. The trees have remained intact as the sand dunes block any winds from weathering them.

To find out more information about Sossusvlei, check out this awesome article I found on everything you need to know about Sossusvlei.

We expected it be at most a 30 minute drive from Sesriem to Sossusvlei. However, it actually took us just over an hour to reach the 2×4 parking at the edge of Sossusvlei. The main part of Sossusvlei is only accessibly by either 4×4 or a shuttle. It is forbidden to take a 2×4 into the heart of Sossusvlei, and with good reason. This is where the tarred road ends. The rest of the way is off-roading through relatively thick sand. A regular car simply wouldn’t be able to handle it. So if you have a 2×4, you have to leave it in the car park and take a shuttle the rest of the way.

I was grateful to have chosen a 4×4. I couldn’t wait to go off-roading through the desert! But before we went any further, I had to get out the car and delate our tyres from 2.2 psi to 1.6 psi. 1.6 psi is actually more on the fuller end for the tyres but I thought I could always deflate them later on if there was an issue. You can take your tyres down to as low as 1.1 psi.

Thus our drive through the desert began! We soon learnt that we had to drive following the fresh tracks of other cars. At one point my partner tried to drive over much thicker sand which was a route that looked like it hadn’t been travelled for a while. We soon learnt why no one had driven there for a while. The car became stuck in the sand. There was a lot or roaring and revving but the wheels just wouldn’t budge. My partner played around with the different settings, putting the car into a low-range gear but in the end it was a shove from me to the back of the car that freed it from its sandy prison. I must be kinda strong, right?

Entering the park not long after midday actually turned out to be a very good idea. After spending another hour driving to the heart of Sossusvlei, we’d already burnt through 2 hours and it was 3pm. Sunset and the park closing time was at 6pm. Driving to Sossusvlei could admittedly be quicker but I was having too much fun leaping out of the car taking photos. A shuttle drove past me as I ran behind our car, filming it from behind. The shuttle driver cast me a sidelong glance, clearly wondering if I was lost or just having fun. I smiled at him and waved before he sped up and continued his drive.

My aim for the day was to find Deadvlei as this place is somewhere that has always fascinated me. The photographs I have seen online are so eerie and beautiful at the same time. I could already imagine what photo I wanted to get. Well, turns out it’s not as easy to find as I thought. The 4×4 parking is not a clear car park. There were 2 vehicles beside a very low rope fence so I assumed this was the parking. There was also a small sign that said ‘Deadvlei 14km’ but I had no idea where it wanted me to go. I asked several people for directions. The first group I asked said I had to trek into the desert over 2 rises. That made sense so I began my journey. On my way, I bumped into a man who was asking me where I was heading.

“I’m looking for Deadvlei.” I told him.

“Me too.” He smiled before getting out his phone and loading google maps. “I think it’s over these but I don’t know.” He was pointing in the complete opposite direction. He explained his reasoning for this before disappearing into his car and driving off to find Deadvlei. Now I was even more confused!

I decided to stick at the original route but after 15 minutes of walking on my own through sand, I became tired and started to feel a bit overwhelmed. The 2 rises had turned into 5 and each one was very difficult to conquer. Walking through sand is extremely tricky. If I’d thought I’d find Deadvlei in the next 10 minutes, I would have continued. However, I honestly had no idea if I was even heading in the right direction so it seemed stupid to continue walking deeper and deeper into the desert past even more sand dunes. I couldn’t even see the car park anymore! So, I gave up and returned to the car where my partner was. He didn’t take the walk with me as he wasn’t feeling too well. He’d objected to me wondering off on my own but I’m stubborn and don’t let anything stand in the way between what I want to do. To me it seemed crazy to be in Namibia and not even try to see Deadvlei. Who knew when I’d next be back and have the opportunity to see them again?

Despite getting hopelessly lost trying to find Deadvlei, I still had an incredible time. The dunes of Sossusvlei are breathtakingly beautiful, unlike anything I had ever seen before and just being in their presence made me feel humble and in awe. It’s hard to feel disappointed as you stand, your shoes thick with red sand, soaking up the vast expanse of golden dunes encasing the area. The perilous sun shines down, scorching everything it touches and the vast blue sky looks on in amazement. Sossuvlei definitely made an impression on me and I would definitely class it as one of the highlights of my 2-week road-trip around Namibia.

We drove through the dunes for a couple more hours, racing over rises and getting stuck at least once more. By the time we decided to leave, the sun was already starting to set. I was amazed that we’d spent over 4 hours here! It had gone past incredibly fast. But as we reached the tarred road out of Sossusvlei, life had another surprise in store – and not a good one!

I had to increase the pressure in the tyres as we returned to tarred road which wasn’t an issue, or so I thought. We were down on 1.6 psi but I had to increase it up to 2.2 psi. I started pumping air into the tyres when suddenly the tyre pressure machine cut-off. Uh, oh. I couldn’t for the life of me get it to work. Perhaps I’d blown a fuse in it? If only it was that simple. It turned out it wasn’t the device that was broken but the whole of our second battery. That meant that not only could we not inflate the tyres, our fridge had now stopped working and it was filled with food! Meat, milk, cheese – all these items were going to get way too hot without a fridge.

Fortunately, there was one thing which could help us get by and that was plugging the fridge into a plug when we reached our campsite. However, as luck would have it, our plug socket at the Sesriem campsite was bust! The campsite called out a mechanic who was able to fit a new socket to the tree very quickly. Our food would survive another day! I just hoped our tyres would do the same. Fortunately, I hadn’t deflated them down to 1.2 psi as they just wouldn’t be able to cope with tarred or gravel roads. 1.6 psi may just have a chance of getting us back to the tarred roads safely (this part of Namibia mainly has gravel roads bar the one taking us to Sossusvlei, so we were okay for now). Our plan was to stop at a gas station as we reached the tarred roads where someone could help us inflate our tyres. But let’s see if we make it that far!

---

Ellamckendrick.com is a free online resource. If you have found this website useful for planning your adventures, you can show your support by buying me a coffee. Thanks so much!