Namibia's Spectacular Dunes
First an update on Sunday evening’s night sky photography. Our wonderful guide, Taedza, found a great spot not far from Dead Valley Lodge – safe from prowling animals and free from light from the Lodge and passing cars.
The sky was magnificent – the Southern Cross stood out from the mass of stars behind it, and the Milky Way was stretching across high above me. It was a little high to photograph as a whole, but I hoped for a better view next week in Botswana when we might be able to be out later so that it is lower in the sky.
I set up my camera on the mini-tripod, and T dropped a very handy “table” that sits on the front of the 4WD’s grill [note to family & friends with 4WDs 😊]. Then using Ira’s guide, I confirmed that settings were good to go, the remote was working, and I took a couple of photos that showed the stars. Yes!
Out of the darkness a car approached, headlights blazing and dust billowing. T went up to the driver; they spoke for a while, and he then came back to tell us that we had to pack up. Apparently the rangers were not happy with us being there. We’re really not sure why, but we had to pack everything away, climb back into the car and head back to the Lodge.
Unfortunately other locations were not going to be suitable in that area, and I’m unsure what’s possible in Swakopmund. So for now we’ll wait until we’re in Botswana next week, particularly in the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans.
Monday 6 June – flying to Swakopmund
The weather here is very weird at the moment – strong easterlies are bringing warm winds from the high areas of Namibia towards the Atlantic coast, stirring up the find sand that spreads across the dunes and more widely. Although our first two nights were very cold, the last two at Dead Valley Lodge were relatively warm, with the wind waking me up as it battered the canvas on the walls and roof my lodge.
None of this stopped our planned flight from Sesriem to Swakopmund! T drove us to the nearby Adventure Centre, from where we were driven to the airstrip, our Cessna 210 (call sign V5-LXZ), waiting with our pilot, Brandon. He gave us a rundown on the planned route, noting that it would be bumpy over the dunes, and we climbed in (well, for me not really a climb, more like a crawl).
Having strapped myself in, and with all checks completed, we were soon zooming down the runway, taking off towards the west before banking to the south. I was in the right hand back seat, the shutter clicking away – Nick was in the co-pilot’s seat in front of me. Because there was no-one to my left, I could see out of that window too.
Wow, wow, wow!
We flew over the road we’d driven a few times to DeadVlei and the dunes, but now I could see the size and scale of these dunes – seeing how far they spread inland, and spectacularly, how far towards the Atlantic. Even though I knew that they went to the Atlantic coast, to actually see them stretching out for mile after mile, was amazing.
We flew over Deadvlei (the place we’d hiked to on Saturday, our first day here), and I took lots of photos to ensure I would find the right place later. I was surprised at how many of these clay pans are amongst the dunes. Of course it makes sense that they’ll be there, but to see so many was a unexpected.
Soon after crossing that area, we turned to the right and headed towards the Atlantic coast, crossing the red dunes and seeing them change to more yellowish & almost white/grey as we came closer to the ocean.
It was definitely bumpy across the dunes and also up the coast – a very fast shutter speed (minimum 1/8000 shutter speed), and using the screen on the back of the camera to “compose”, allowed me to take some reasonably sharp photos. I found that as soon as I tried to point the camera towards something, we’d hit a “bump” – why is that always the way? Even so, I’m really happy with many that I have, and I’ll put those on my photo website. More on that later.
Back to the flight. I could now see a blue smudge on the horizon – the Atlantic Ocean. As we came closer to the coast we turned right, towards the north, following it towards Walvis Bay and then to Swakopmund.
We flew over the Eduard Bohlen – this is a German cargo ship that ran aground in 1909 while it was on its way to Table Bay from Swakopmund. It’s believed that thick fog, apparently common in this area, caused it to founder. Now the sand has engulfed it, and as the sand pushes out into the ocean, the ship is about 0.5km from the shoreline, partially covered in sand.
As we flew towards Walvis Bay, we could see the dunes pushing right up against the Atlantic, often with high cliffs. The wave patterns on the shore were glorious, and the occasional white caps visible out of the left hand window caught my eye. At one point I thought I saw a whale, possibly a small pod – perhaps I saw a whale blow? I can’t be sure, but it’s nice to think that this was indeed whales - it’s the time of year that they are coming up the coast from the Antarctic.
After crossing the massive port at Walvis Bay, and the pink salt pans that are being nurtured to extract salt from the sea, we were soon on our descent into Swakopmund. It had been a wonderful 100 minutes or so – and as T reminded us when he arrived at the hotel, a vastly more enjoyable experience than the 5+ hour drive he had made from Sesriem to Swakopmund across gravelled, bumpy roads.
Brandon and the Cessna were just great – these aircraft are wonderful small workhorses that provide a different view. It was a fantastic way to see this part of Namibia, and definitely recommended if you’re in the area.
Over the next 3 days we’ll be seeing various areas around Swakopmund. This afternoon I’ll be out for a walk along the beach, to see what I can find there.
Location on Map: LINK
A note about photos. Although I’m including the occasional photo with these blogs, it seems that the hosts of the site, SquareSpace, modify colour – hence the weird colouring of the red dunes.
I’m setting up a page in elanezphotography.com and will be putting more there soon!