May 8

May 8

Sesrium & Namib-Naukluft

We began our day before sunrise, driving back into the dunes just after a 6 am.   There was actually a line-up of vehicles waiting outside the park gates, which is what Bonnie had alerted us to.  This is the reason we reserved far in advance to ensure ourselves a spot at the one campsite inside the park gates.  

The park gates didnt open for others until well after we were back at the dunes so we had made a good decision! 

This time we hiked up a different dune. Al and I hiked up the main ridge and along for some distance.  Charlotte and Devon proceeded along several ridges to multiple summits.  It was an amazing experience!   

A picture tells a thousand words; we hope you will return to see our photos in a week or two, after we will have found suffient Internet to actually post photos. 

Our next adventure of the day was a short hike down the Sesrium (dry) river canyon.  At first we only saw the narrow crack from above, and no way down.  Then we discovered a way in and were able to walk a good distance.   The  canyon was dry except for a couple of small pools, but debris on the canyon walls indicates how high the water can be - and how powerful- during,those few weeks each year when the water is running. 

We headed off to our next destination: Namib-Naukluft NP.  We were only going a short distance east into the mountains but driving around the mountains and on gravel roads seemed to take a few hours.  

When we were almost at the park gate we got a flat tyre!  Devon rose the occasion and within less than 25 minutes we were driving again.  Impressive! 

The N-N NP is an appealing place for hiking, which was our goal for our relatively short visit.  Once we had our tent set up on the creek edge we followed a trail along the creek and up a small hillside.  (Yes, the creek actually had water in it! ). The trail we followed was part of a multi-day hike which we would have enjoyed.  However, when the sun goes down around 5 pm and it is full-on DARK by 6 pm we had to restrict our late afternoon hike to a limited area.  the next day we would hike a linger circuit.....

There were baboons around the camp, which we were warned about be because they can be quite aggressive, and destructive.  We were warned to NOT leave our tents up while away for a hike, and to NEVER leave any food unattended.  We were warned that baboons had been known to jump on tents and tear them apart.  However, while we were in camp the baboons kept a safe distance and were no problem for us. 

We turned in early - as usual - because after several hours of darkness it seemed the obvious option, and because we planned to get up early for our hike the next morning.