Taking Route C14 our drive towards the remotest point of our Namibia journey, actually of our entire journey in Africa. Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the National Park. The name Sossusvlei is often used in an extended meaning to refer to the surrounding area, including other neighboring vleis such as Deadvlei and other high dunes, which is one of the major visitor attractions of Namibia. The name Sossusvlei is of mixed origin and roughly means marsh. Vlei is the Afrikaans word for marsh or field, while Sossus is Khoisan spoken by the nama tribe here, and means no return or dead end. Sossusvlei owes this name to the fact that it is an endorheic drainage basin, a drainage basin without outflows, for the Tsauchab River. Millenias ago the river was flowing into the Atlantic ocean. Wind has shifted sand into his path in such great proportions that the dunes became an obstacle too big for the river to So the Tsauchab was stuck in the middle of nowhere. As a consequence of its fascinating and surrealistic landscapes, Sossusvlei is
one of the most photographed places in Africa. music videos, and movies have been made there, for example The Cell, The Fall and Steel Dawn. So what are we waiting for? Nenad step on the gas !!!
Soon the yellowish sandy dunes along the Atlantic coast gave way to mountains with black and dark grey rock formations of volcanic origin. Crossing Kuiseb Pass we stopped to admire the views of the Kuiseb Canyon and the Karpfenkliff. After hours of dust and gravel we reached Solitaire. Solitaire is a small settlement about 100km away of the National Park and our Lodge. It features the only gasoline station, bakery with a coffee shop, and the only general dealer between the dunes at Sossusvlei and the coast at Walvis Bay. There is no Pub, that distinguishes it from such remote settlements in Australia !!! The dealership is run by a Portuguese couple. He was born in Angola when it still was a Portuguese colony and fled the war of Angolan independence to South Africa. Having worked in the skiing resort Laax, Switzerland for years, where he also met his wife, (we are always fascinated by how destiny works),
he decided the remoteness and heat suited him better than the glaciers and the stress in Swiss gastronomy, so he bought this business. 1948 Willem Christoffel van Coller bought 33,000 hectares of land from the Government of Namibia for the purpose of farming Karakul sheep. The name of the farm was given by his wife Sophia. The word Solitaire has two meanings; it can mean a single set diamond and Solitaire can also mean solitude or loneliness. For someone running out of gas with his car it could well look like a diamond, but generally we would side with the second interpretation. As the settlement is the only one in a large perimeter, everybody stops there. Thus it has also an important news exchange and information source for the and tourists. We of course stopped, ate and drank something and chatted with whoever was around. Refreshed, we drove the last part to the Lodge, where a quad buggy outing was awaiting us to check out the vicinity of the camp and have some fun in the sand.
verandah during a colorful sunset. Again there were very few guests and not all facilities were in operation. Nenad did not know if he should pity the staff (as in South Africa they rely for their on tips given by the guests), or be upset that not all what is advertised is also available. He decided not to worry about luxury problems and enjoy what he has and enjoy the interaction with the local people.
Next early morning, under a wonderful rising sun, we set for our desert activities. If you want to play in the sand you better start early before the temperature gauge climbs to 40 and before the dry hot wind picks up, making the sand so hot that you barely can walk on it and definitively not touch it.
