{"id":10398,"date":"2025-12-16T20:35:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T02:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/willingtowander.com\/blog\/?p=10398"},"modified":"2025-12-18T18:21:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T00:21:13","slug":"scaling-dunes-in-the-deserts-of-namibia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willingtowander.com\/blog\/scaling-dunes-in-the-deserts-of-namibia\/","title":{"rendered":"Scaling Dunes in the Deserts of Namibia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was now time to enter Namibia, one of the least densely populated countries in the world. They have about one person per square kilometer! We started by crossing the Orange river not far from our last campsite in South Africa, and headed to Fish River Canyon, most of us saying goodbye to internet connection. We’d have Wi-Fi at some campsites but e-sims don’t work in Namibia, and we couldn’t pick up a hard sim until the first city, but it was a nice break to be more disconnected. We all climbed dunes and visited petrified forests before reaching the coast in the city of Swakopmund, and the group managed to surprise two members of our group for their Birthday!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Crossing to the Canyon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This morning we were up early to get all packed up and get to the border as early as we could. We had been warned a few times that it could take a long time, and depending on who was checking the Lando, they might take all the meat she had purchased for our meals over the next few days. Thankfully we were luck, as one woman was working that day that has notoriously made everything faster. We managed to all get through in about an hour, which was great considering all but 2 of us required visas, granted most of us did their version of an E-Visa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Only spot we could take a picture on our way across the border<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We all made it through, and as they don\u2019t always consider chicken to be \u201cmeat\u201d they did not confiscate it which was good as there wasn\u2019t many options for a full grocery store for a few days. Since they budget so much extra time for this border crossing, we didn\u2019t have too far to go to get into our campsite for the afternoon. After lunch, most of us enjoyed the cool water in the shade and some fairly nice showers. I washed a few items since the sun was so bright I knew it would dry quickly. We picked up a few beers from the shop on site to share with our new friends from Bristol, as it was his birthday!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Later in the afternoon we all boarded the lando to a nearby canyon where we had a little hike along the rim to a viewpoint. It was about a mile, and we thankfully didn\u2019t see any scorpions or snakes on the route but we did see a lizard and a giant grasshopper!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While hiking I was struggling holding our 360 camera selfie stick, as one of my wrists were hurting. I thought it was just sore from the kayaking but my left wrist was not nearly as sore. I still enjoyed watching the beautiful canyon, especially with the sun starting heading towards the horizon, it even had a hairpin curve like by the Colorado river in Arizona. Funnily enough my sister and BIL were visiting that area this same weekend! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From near the middle of the labyrinth, with Mr. Wander capturing the canyon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There was also this labrynth created with stones set along the hiking trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lookout spot over the canyon where we had our dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the end of our hike we met up with Demi, Altus, and Kwagga who were making our dinner while we headed up to the big picnic table to sit with the group to watch the sun set and enjoy appetizers of cheese and crackers, and then a delicious dinner of curry stew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View from the lookout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We helped clean up and we got back to the camp a little after full darkness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sunset was beautiful<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sneakily, our guide worked with the camp to bake a cake for us so we all surprised our friend R and had a bit of dessert. Some of us were hanging out by the fire and caught a few jackals walking right through our campsite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They apparently like shoes, so there was a rule you could not leave your shoes outside the tent. They also have a tendency to just take one shoe according to Demi\u2019s experience with other clients. I tried to get a picture but it was pretty dark and didn\u2019t sit still for long exposure to work. We were pretty tired and headed to bed not long after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Making our Way to Sossusvlei<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today we only had a long drive on the schedule, about 10 hours in total. After breakfast we made our way towards Soussusvlei National Park (maybe?). We stopped on the way and Demi shared some local snacks with us, Niknaks and ghost pops, which are both maize snacks, as are many dishes or snacks made with maize. They were both pretty good but I think we both preferred the cheese flavor on the Niknaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We stopped along the way for bushy bushy next to a Sociable Weaver nest which can fit several families, and are built with protections against snakes, such as entry from underneath and thorns on the outside. It is nicknamed the Holiday Inn of Namibia because other birds will use them too. For lunch we found one of the few trees we could access with the Lando so we could have a little shade with our lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That evening when we arrived to the campsite it was so windy! Everyone rushed to set up their tents instead of getting the bags unpacked. Mr. Wander convinced me to wait, which was smart since one of the tents started to fly away! We waited until most of the bags were unloaded and started to get our tent set up. When we were able to get the door open we popped in our bags to help hold it down. Usually we didn\u2019t have to stake the tents, and the ground is too hard to really try so we did find ourselves some rocks for the straps and even unhooked the top few hooks to make the sail a bit smaller and lower to catch less wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We relaxed in the shade of the lando with some local beers we put in the coolers with R & M from Bristol while chatting with a few people. Most headed towards the gas station, or \u201cengin\u201d as it\u2019s known in both South Africa and Namibia, about 5-10 minute walk away to get some Wi-Fi. We learned about this cool beetle walking around from Altus that will hang upside down in the desert overnight so when water condenses in the morning on their bodies, it runs right into their mouth. They were pretty fast but they don\u2019t bite or hurt humans at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kwagga by night<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The following morning we had a very early wakeup so we could get to the park when it opened at 6am, but thankfully we were camped almost right next to the park. We were headed directly to Dune 45, which are counted from the ocean, but is one of the most popular as it is very picturesque from the top. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some opted to just hangout at the bottom but most of us hiked up to the top of the dune and had a little water break. Then several decided to run down the side instead of walking back down the path. It was so fun to just dig in your heels and go for it! Needless to say I had sand in my shoes for weeks after this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n