Short: Up at 5:30am for sunrise in Sossusvlei, watch the sunrise and hike the Sossusvlei dune, head back to Sesriem to shower, head north for Swakopmund, find a hostel for the night, book the next days activities, eat pizza and watch the European soccer matches, pass out.
Long: Niki and I were very proud of ourselves for getting up at 5:30 this morning and driving the 75 km’s to Sussuvlei for the sun rise. It was well worth it. The park doesn’t open to outside visitors until 7am and therefore the campers are the only ones able to drive to the dunes for sunrise. Once again, for at least the first thirty minutes, we were the only ones at the Sossusvlei dune. We took advantage by hiking to the top of the Sossusvlei dune and took quite a few pictures and some video. Breakfast was on the hood of Besty and after this we headed back to Sesriem for a shower and some lunch. One note if you’re ever in Sesriem – The bakery next to the ranger’s office makes an outstanding toasted ham and cheese sandwich.
Long: Niki and I were very proud of ourselves for getting up at 5:30 this morning and driving the 75 km’s to Sussuvlei for the sun rise. It was well worth it. The park doesn’t open to outside visitors until 7am and therefore the campers are the only ones able to drive to the dunes for sunrise. Once again, for at least the first thirty minutes, we were the only ones at the Sossusvlei dune. We took advantage by hiking to the top of the Sossusvlei dune and took quite a few pictures and some video. Breakfast was on the hood of Besty and after this we headed back to Sesriem for a shower and some lunch. One note if you’re ever in Sesriem – The bakery next to the ranger’s office makes an outstanding toasted ham and cheese sandwich.
Although we were told the drive from Sesriem to Swakopmund would only take 4-5 hours, it took more like 5-6. The road is completely unpaved, and while some portions of the road are excellent and allowed for a speed of around 100km/hr, at least 50 km’s worth was in terrible condition. As a precaution to running the fuel tank dry we actually used one of the Jerry cans to get us to Swakopmund comfortably. We rolled into Swakopmund around 3pm.
Swakopmund is a very unique city in Namibia. It has an extremely strong German influence and this is evident the second you enter the city in both the architecture and names of shops and streets. The main portion of the city is very affluent and it is no surprise this was the Namibian city Angelina Jolie called home when she adopted a Namibian child. The weather is also a bit odd. When we drove in from the desert bright cloudless skies turned to a misty fog as we entered the city. Swakopmund is along the coast and we are told that while the area gets almost no rain, it does suffer from continuous bouts of cool, misty, fog off the ocean. After looking at accommodation options, we decided that after camping for a week we would stay in the dorm of a hostel (Desert Sky Hostel) for the next two nights. Luckily we were able to park the car in a secure parking area within the hostel grounds.
Once settled in the dorm we booked two tours for the next day, one fun (Sandboarding), and one culture (A township tour). After this we grabbed a beer at a German brew house, had a quick pizza for dinner, and then met a nice Dutch guy at one of the bars to watch the Holland/Romania soccer match. Both Niki and I had trouble staying awake at the bar, and we went to bed immediately following the match.
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