The first leg of our epic road trip through Namibia started in the capital, Windhoek to Sossusvlei in the Namib desert, the oldest desert in the world with the largest sand dunes.
Windhoek
Windhoek is the capital of Namibia and its largest city. Most travelers begin their journey here and here you find the rental cars agencies and camping equipment hire. Windhoek is also a good place to stock up on supplies in one of its western style shopping malls.
There are very few tourist attractions in Windhoek and it is not worth spending any more time here than absolutely necessary. I was told it has some nice German colonial architecture, but was disappointed.
The Independence Museum is full of photos of various revolutionaries, such as Fidel Castro, who popped up in Namibia’s Guerilla struggle against South African rule, but there is very little information about Namibia’s history. On the top floor of the bizarre building apparently built by the Koreans, there is a basic restaurant with a panoramic view of the city.
By far the highlight for me was Joe’s Beerhouse, a local institution, serving local dishes such as the Bushman’s Sositie – a kebab with wild game such as Kudu and Oryx.
Sossusvlei
Namibia is famous for its vast deserts with massive sand dunes. Sossusvlei is a massive salt pan surrounded by the largest sand dunes in the world in the world. It is located in the oldest desert in the world, the massive Namib desert, part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. It is a 60km drive from the entrance to the park located at the settlement of Sessriem. The only way to see the sunrise or sunset from the dunes is to stay at the NWR Sessriem camp, which is located just inside the park entrance. This is due to the fact that all the national parks open and close at sunrise and sunset, which does not allow you time to get to/back from the dunes.
Deadvlei, next to Sossusvlei, features ancient dead trees which form a nice contrast with the dunes and salt pan.
We stayed 40km away from Sesriem at the Elegant Desert Lodge campsite.
Read the next instalment of our epic trip here
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