Tires 1-25: Sossusvlei

Due to the lax requirements of international travel, two more Gerndt’s were allowed to enter the Country of Namibia. Gerry and Donna were picked up by a transfer of the finest bed and breakfast along the Tropic of Capricorn. We drank beer, caught up on life, and did a driving tour of the little capital, then like good hosts, kicked them out to fend for themselves to discover the continent. We will leave it to them to catch you up on their travels in Botswana and Zambia, maybe in a blog called More Cheeseheads in Namibia.

Part 2 of the Africa trip for the Gerndt’s was the road trip with their daughter and son-in-law, which was posthumously entitled 324 Tires. Since we couldn’t play the License Plate game, we started yelling out “Tire” for every shredded piece of rubber we saw in the bush off the gravel roads. Our first day was an eight hour drive to Sossusvlei to experience the red dunes.

“Tire!”
“ How many is that?”
“That was twenty.”
“Do you hear that?”
“Yeah, it’s like a flopping sound.”
“Twenty one.”

So with 20 km to go to our stop, tire 21 was born by the most unassuming stone you’d ever seen, a stone just like the billions of others driven over. In 100 degree heat, the team got her changed in twenty minutes. For the remainder of the 1000 km of the trip, every stone became a suspect.

Tire 21

Rock 1,071,258,003

Sossusvlei is an utterly unique place in the world. It is the eastern most extension of the Namib desert, and as the dunes travel inland, picking up minerals, the sand morphs to its characteristic red. That evening we watched the sunset on the porch of the thatched rooms and spotted springbok. The sunset was fantastic, but Sossusvlei is known more for its sunrise.

Hobbit Sunset

The Gerndts

Whiskey Sky

The following morning we were shuttled 70 or so kilometers into the park as the moon and stars still dominated the sky. Once entering the dunes, the pre-dawn light cast a glow on the riverbed we traveled and the numerous patterned white faces of the desert Oryx. Further in, we came to a stop and were directed up the spine of a long geometric dune in order to see the sunrise 30-minutes off. It did not disappoint.

The clouds were scattered and isolated creating a kaleidoscope of the new light competing with the scenery of cold red sand expanse panorama. We took many photos, said many oohs and ahhs, and simply sat to watch the slowly changing light show. Afterward, we were instructed to take the steep way down to the Dead Vlei salt pan behind us. The group of 20 Chinese men in sports coats slid down on their butts, as did the 70 year old German woman enticed by the giddiness.

Glorius Dune Sunrise

Sossusvlei Red Dunes


Dune Climbers


Dune Climbers II

Dead Vlei is the cul de sac of the Aub and Tsaucheb Rivers, blocked by the boundary of the dunes. During rare flash flood rains, the water fills these pans and evaporates, leaving the characteristic white surface with the texture of hardened clay. At the higher side of the pan, 700+ year old trees have been frozen in time, while at the lower elevation, where the water still floods, desert plants, shrubs and trees seemed to be the only living items. We did see however, a lone Oryx wandering across the pan like a martian horse on the Moon, and later a lonely Ostrich on a red dune like a dinosaur on Mars.

We spent two more hours wandering dunes, the pan, taking pictures of men in sports coats, and testing an African long drop. The afternoon was naps, reading, and buying a tire in the middle of nowhere, an early Christmas gift to the bed and breakfast owners.

Dead Vlei


Dead Trees

Dead Trees II

Dead Trees III


Krysta On "Big Mama" Dune


Dune 45

The road to Sossusvlei was kind, only killing 25 tires. The coming road to Swakopmund would prove to be a massacre. All those little unsuspecting stones were on the hunt.