Big Daddy Dune in Namibia: Knowing my limits!

Hello, this time I am coming back to tell you about a family adventure in the Namibian desert. We were on vacation in this country during the month of September 2021.

In our way to the Big Daddy

We were staying at And Beyond Desert Lodge and on September 22 the activity of the day would be to travel to the Dune Big Daddy in Sossusvlei. We woke up very early because we had to take advantage of the fact that the heat would be less suffocating considering that we were in a desert region.

Follow our Ranger

We traveled an hour and a half from the hotel to this very touristy area of ​​Namibia. Our hotel guide, Michael, drove the jeep and we parked at the foot of the dune. We weren't the only ones in this attraction.

We followed him and of course, from the previous day he suggested we dress appropriately to withstand the heat and the sand of the desert. We started to climb. Of course it was difficult considering that the dune has a very soft surface, due to the sand.

 

My heroes

My family decided to go up but I wanted to go straight to Death Valley, famous in all the photographs in magazines and specialized books in Namibia. As we went up, other tourists and perhaps Namibians were following us, so even though our guide asked me if I wanted him to accompany me, I walked alone towards the parking lot and then towards the famous valley. I realized that that day I would not embark on the adventure of walking to the top of the dune. But my husband and my daughters were determined to live this adventure. Adrenaline rushed through their veins like good Swiss adventurers. I decided to go on the nice side of adventure and wait for them contemplating Death Valley.

With a panic of waking up the hyenas or meeting a snake or an oryx

On the top

When I was at the foot of the dune, I didn't see anyone. But he remembered the way a little. I saw the tree that showed a watermark. I remembered it from the explanation. Our guide told us that that year it had rained so much that the valley had been flooded. If to our surprise that arid land had been completely full of rain. I continued on my way but I was completely alone. No one else was approaching the dune to climb it. It seemed that they had already closed the entrance to the dune and no one else could enter to climb it.

Amazing view from Big Daddy!

I started to panic because I remembered the snakes that cross the valley and even the interior of the dune. But not only that, I was terrified of an encounter with the hyenas that live in that place. This I had already told you in my previous post. And of course, of the Orix, ruminant mammals that although they would not kill me to eat me, they would do so because they felt threatened by this intruder.

That day the feeling of panic approached me. I felt very alone in the midst of all the people, whom I could not see. I knew that my salvation was a couple of meters away, but I could not find the way. Michael was reassured when I returned alone on the road, because he knew I was carrying my bottle full of water. I knew that nothing could happen. Or is it perhaps? Well, fear grew and I already saw the first one full of her babies peeking out of the first bush. And I started screaming and running.

I was in love with this tree at
the Death Valley

Then I remembered everything I have learned on safaris. Predators chase everything that moves, a ranger had told us during one of the game drives. Stop running. I had decided to run because it was urgent for me to get to the parking lot.

I knew I had made a bad choice, I did not climb to the top of the dune, I returned halfway. But it was too late. It was no time to regret it. Fear kept taking hold of me and I started screaming. Help!

My swiss people, happy after reach the top!

Nothing, no one answered me nor did I find anyone. Then the image of the mother hyena came back to my mind, angry because she woke up her cubs. This is something I also learned in one of our game drives. Hyenas sleep during the day, during the mild heat of the African savannah, in this case, the desert.

More about this beautiful and quiet place

So be quiet. Suddenly I started praying. Please don't find me a snake and less hyenas. Suddenly I stopped being afraid of the Orix.

Drink water and I came up with the idea of ​​climbing a hill or mini dune. I thought, well, maybe I will find the snake but I need to look in that direction and look for the parking lot. And yes, I did. I had already found my address.

Can you believe it? Sometimes rains
in this part of the world

Walk to the place and ask a guide for the way to the valley. When I got to him, what I found was the best image I have of Sossuvlei.

I can't believe the rain has flooded this arid region. The scattered dry tree trunks were the perfect setting for taking selfies or group photos. It didn't take long for my family to come down. They had the best experience sliding down the valley once they reached the top. There were my Swiss goats. They were not the alps, but they were in the heights. His spirit was fueled by adventure and risk.

Our ranger preparing the lunch

We took the photos and returned to the jeep. The adventure was not over and we continued under wild terrain.

The tick that bit my daughter

Even if I didn't climb the dune, I was dead. I think the psychological stress and of course, the heat, had defeated me that day. I climbed the jeep as best I could and Michael took us to a place near the dune ideal for a picnic. We sat comfortably at one of the tables of the place and our guide dazzled us with the food that the hotel had prepared for us.

Back to And Beyond Sossusvlei
Desert Lodge

Suddenly I felt like a mosquito and shook my foot. Anyway, we regain strength and before we leave, my daughter shows us a picket on her ankle. And it wasn't just that, I found the tick nesting in his sock.

Yes, this bug bit it. Luckily my daughter was able to shake the animal. The tour guide explained to us that probably an Orix was lying under that tree and the ticks had attacked him. That explained why we had found one on our picnic table. The ranger took a disinfecting spray from his wound bag. The picket was not at all delicate.

Well, it was not snakes or hyenas that we encountered on this excursion to Sossusvlei, but a tick of an Orix !!!!

Back at the hotel, we leaned back in our seats and rested from this adventure. The sun hugged the road and our vehicle, but our guide had provided us with our third can of cold drinks.

Sunset at the Lodge

At the hotel, our hosts were waiting for us with the famous wet towels to refresh our face and hands. We had a few hours to relax and sunbathe by the pool before going to dinner placidly under the stars of the Namibian sky.

My paparazzo

The adventure continued. The following morning the alarm clock would ring very early, before dawn for the next adventure: a balloon ride through the sky of Sossusvlei. This I will tell you in the next post. Thanks for reading me!

Game Drive in Namibia: Can you see animals at the desert?

 

View from the And Beyond Sossusvlei Lodge

Hello, we will continue talking about our trip to Namibia during the month of September 2021. We had arrived at the Hotel And Beyond Sossusvlei Lodge. That first night we had slept incredibly well.

View from the Room

After having breakfast with a majestic view of the mountains and the valley, and having spent a quiet afternoon reading and swimming in the room's pool, we prepare to start our first Game Drive through the Sossusvlei region. It would be a drive around the reserve to the Petrified Dune.

And Beyond Sossusvlei Lodge

Somebody was having fun
 in the cold water

 

Our hotel guide, Michael, originally from Namibia, explained the nature of this place in detail.

Definitely in a safari through South Africa the visitor is rewarded with the diversity of the fauna of the continent. In Namibia, in the desert, the chances are less due to the adverse weather. But there are desert animals. Definitely!

Mr Orix

Desert animals

Let's go to the Drive

Molly, a friend from Cape Town, asked me when I posted photos on Facebook, if there were animals. Well, I answered yes. From the hotel you can see the famous Orix, a kind of cattle, ostriches and Springbocks. There are also jackals, especially one that ventures to walk through the hotel's courtyards where visitors' clothes are hung and through the garbage dumps. We saw this hotel mascot one night when we were enjoying the stars on the terrace of the room.

Our Ranger, explained us the footprints

And there are also hyenas. Apparently the legend is true and where there are no lions, there are hyenas. This is the case in the Sossusvlei reserve. But you can't see them during the day, at least not during our drive, but you can hear them at night. And also the jackals.

Apparently the only ones who have no enemies in Sossusvlei are the oryx, as their number is significant. From our guide Michael, we learned that male Orix are loners and overly defend their territories. The fights between them are impressive considering their size. Their long, sharp horns, strong as steel, are their best defense weapons.

Beautiful place 

There are obviously vipers, including the dreaded Cape Cobra species. Michael told us that he is talking about the behaviour of these reptiles. Normally they do not attack the human being, on the contrary, they flee from him. They only attack if they feel threatened and don't like open fields. They move through the undergrowth or under the ground. If they leave their safe place, it is to look for water or food. They even move into the mountains or in the dunes of Sossusvlei.

The Petrified Dune

Leopards, Elephants and other animals are sure to be found in Namibia, but in other regions, like Etosha. On this trip we decided not to continue to the north of Namibia. That would be for the next one.

The hand of God or the presence of aliens?

No explanations at all about this phenomenon

We continue in our traditional Safari vehicle. We didn't see much different along the way. The mountains and Orix. But the Petrified Dune was special. But before reaching it, Michael showed us an area where the ground had changed color. Even small circles could be observed.

NamiRand Nature Reserve

For him the most normal explanation was that God had been his creator. For me the best proof of the sensation that I had been feeling since I arrived in Sossusvlei: the presence of ufos.

These circles were formed in the mountains with stones that had changed colour. They were darker. Everyone can interpret this phenomenon. The reality is that in this area nature changes.

At the sunset

We continue the journey to the top of the dune. Yes, the Safari vehicle got on without any problem. Time turned a sand dune, worth the redundancy, into solid material. At the top, our guide prepared everything for the famous sunset drink. The view was wonderful and we took the opportunity to take family photos.

We returned to the room flooded with solar energy and all the knowledge that our guide provided us. We rest a little and get ready to go to dinner the delights of the Hotel And Beyond. Our table was al fresco and we enjoyed the silence of the desert. This is not always the case, but this time we don't hear anything.

Thank you very much for reading me. For the next entry of Landing I will bring you the adventure of walking through the famous Dune 45. Quite a challenge.

Landing in Namibia after Lockdown

After landing, we were ready for the desert!

Finally, after almost two years without taking any plane, we flew to Namibia from South Africa, where we live. In Lent 2020 we wanted to go to this country, but with the restrictions due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, we decided to travel to South Africa. Namibia is South Africa's northern neighbour.  We flew on September 20, 2021 from Cape Town.

The safest way to drive on the streets of Namibia

First impressions of the country

We decided to fly and not travel by car, due to Covid's requirements, because it was safer that from the capital, Windhoek, we could get the results in the time necessary to take the plane to Cape Town. We arrived at the Cape Town airport and came across a desert. These are the times of Covid, hardly anyone travels. The flight was with Airlink and in less than three hours we were in Windhoek. Its airport is small, so the German plane looked like a giant on the runway. We rent a car from Europcar. 

We met this giraffe in our way to
 the Oaniob Resort

Lake Oaniob Resort

We did not leave the agency without having seen a video explaining the dangers of driving on the wild streets of Namibia. As not all roads are paved, drive slowly and try to drive from the center and not to the side, as rocks and speed can cause fatal skidding. Well, that's where the adventure began. The first giraffe appears: in a Lodge on Lake Oaniob In less than an hour down the road we started seeing Baboons monkeys on the side of the road and a giraffe. 

Best place for a family vacation

Welcome to Africa. We did the lunch break at the Lake Oaniob Resort lodge restaurant. There we ate in front of the lake. There were not many tourists, but in pre-Covid times this place was the preferred place for tourists with children. We hope those times return. This place is in the Rehoboth West region. The food was good. I had some spring rolls and my husband tried his first Cordon Bleu of the trip.

Coffee break at
 Conny´s Restaurant and
Coffee Shop

Impossible to stop pausing with Gunther, the owner of the Conny Coffee Shop The journey continued along the desert side roads to reach the Conny´s Restaurant and Coffee Shop. Out of nothing, because there is nothing between Windhoek and Sossusvlie. The owner, Gunther, of German descent, made us coffee. But first, her puppies Flecky and Panda welcomed us by biting our hands to get our attention. Don't worry, they were just messing around. The German style filter coffee was delicious. It was to be taken alone, without milk or sugar and we did it. He had chocolate muffins, which he baked, but our daughter delighted in a vanilla ice cream that he made himself. The coffee beans are imported from South Africa, from the Bean There! I can totally recommend it.

Gunther, the owner share with us the great
coffee and a nice talk!

Tourists usually arrive in trucks to have a break. His coffee is very famous in the tourist guides. Then he told us about the Covid era in his community. He also told us about his adventures in Argentina and Brazil and of course, he showed us the map of Namibia. But we had to leave to reach our destination, the lodge at NamibRand Nature Reserve, near Sossusvlei. 

And Beyond Sossusvlei Lodge,
a Hotel in the middle of the desert

Did we reach the end of the world? 

 

Finally, we had our time to enjoy!

After the delicious coffee and the pleasant talk we arrived at And Beyond Sossusvlei Lodge. Yes, in the desert the doors opened before our eyes. A curious jackal, mascot of the hotel, greeted us in the residential area of ​​the hotel employees. Growing up, this jackal is the hotel's pet that it looks for in its trash cans. When we got to the hotel, I definitely had the feeling of being in the furthest place from civilization. 

Romantic Dinner with special views

The hotel is located in a reserve of I don't know how many kilometers. The first thing that came to my memory is that this place would be ideal for any extraterrestrial civilization. Landing a ship there would be the easiest thing to do. No animal in these directions would have enemies. There would be no lions, because there were hyenas, jackals and of course, thousands of a species of cattle called Orix, the African cow. If you ask me for a description. I felt in an unreal world, without civilization, or at least what we think is a civilization. But in short, amazing, wonderful. A mystery of nature. The Namibian desert. Namib, original name And we arrived, well I will tell you about this in the next post. Thanks for reading me and see you soon.