Kuala Desert Lodge
Saturday, August 26, 2017
We arrived before lunch and drove to our the lodge (tent pin with a flag on top on the map) in an enclosed truck. We saw our first oryx, a species we wanted to see in desert habitats.
The map scale can be changed with the plus and minus buttons on the left side. There is also a button at the upper left that, if pushed presents satellite views.
It didn’t take long to come across several ostriches and this Oryx.
We also experienced the famous Namibian winds which are the reason the sand dunes extend far inland from the ocean. The truck was a good windbreak when we got out for our first “sundowner.”
During dinner, the staff put on an excellent celebration for the visitors to commemorate Heroes’ Day, with singing and dancing explaining the history of Namibia, the heroes they honor and the several cultures represented by the staff, including one man from the Bushman Tribe. They were proud of their country and we felt privileged to be there for the celebration.
The next morning, we traveled north to the Namib–Naukluft National Park to view the famous Sossusvlei sand dunes and then set out to climb a giant sand dune. Along the drive, we saw amazing shadows and colors on the dunes.
Most visitors climb either the Big Daddy Dune or Dune 45, which we selected. Those other climbers are not at the top—but on their way to the top!
We definitely got some exercise on this dune! One suggestion was to not wear shoes, just socks. We decided to go with hiking shoes. Our experience guide, who climbs the dunes regularly, directed us not to return down the same path (like most of the hikers), but to run down the steep side. We got lots of sand in our shoes, but it was much quicker and not crowded.
After the climb, we drove over to the Big Daddy Dune (one dune today was enough!) to an adjacent area with trees that died over 500 years ago, known as Dead Vlei.
Dead Vlei is an iconic area for desert photography, and we had to work a bit to keep other visitors out of the photos. The photo above has several other visitors on its left side. If you look closely at the top of the giant dune in the next photo, you may be able to spot some climbers. The arrows are to help you.
Next, we walked through deep Sesriem Canyon.
Sunrises and sunsets out here are remarkable!
Tomorrow morning, we are going to take several flights to get up to the border with Angola and stay at Serra Cafema Camp.
On Saturday morning, we took a light aircraft flight from Windhoek out to Kuala Desert Lodge, where we will stay for two nights. There will be a lot of flights in small airplanes on this trip; Namibia is a very large country, the size of France.
After lunch, we took another drive in our enclosed truck and saw animals similar to what we saw on the way in from the air strip. The desert looks barren, but it isn’t.
