Namibia Skeleton Coast - Leg/Day 1 - Landscapes & Landmarks
Flying at altitudes of several tens to several hundreds of meters over the Namib desert, the vastness and beauty of its landscape vistas are awesome and humbling. Dazzling desert floor colours and intriguing rock formation structures. We enjoyed these panoramic views with almost endless visibility in the sunny-and-dry August weather. This wonderful flying being supplemented by stopver landrover drives and by some walks, we enjoyed the best of three safari 'worlds'. Each giving us a different perspectives, sensations and emotions of this fascinating pristine desert wilderness
The first desert mountain & plain vistas on our flight to Sossusvlei
Wind-blown sand rippels stabilised by a thin veneer of patchy vegetation.
Intriguing ring-shaped growth of vegetation. The peculiar growth phenomena is widespread across the Namib desert. It is described as 'fairy circles of grass formation', known only from the Namib and from the Pilbara desert region in Australia. A few oryx trails criss cross the vegetation veneer.
The vast sea of sand dunes hemming in the 'Sossusvlei'. The Sossusvlei plain is the valley of the Tsauchab river. The name Sossusvlei translates to “dead-end” (from the Nama word “Sossus”) “marsh” (from the Afrikaans word “Vlei”). It describes the geographical downstream blockage of the river by the moving sand dunes. Downstream being a relative word here ...... The Sossusvlei is a dry plain of clay and salt flats for the very most of times. Only very rarely and for short periods does it turn into a shallow lake when strong rains fall in the neighbouring Naukluft Mountains.
Studies have demonstrated that the sands of these 'Skeleton Coast dunes' originate for the greater part (about 80%) from the sediments carried by the Orange River way South on the border with South Africa. Once expelled into the Atlantic Ocean, strong along shore currents carry these sediments northwards along the Namibian coast as far North as Southern Angola. A distance of more than 1700 kilometres !
Sister plane at three o'clock,
Vista of Sossusvlei and resting on it (top middle-left) 'Dune 45'. This dune is also visible more hidden behind the forefront dunes in the foregoing image.
'Dune-45' claim-to-fame is that it features in just about any tourist brochure on Namibia and, hence, that is climbed (and photographed) by tens of thousands of tourist every year. So did we just hours later on our programmed Sossusvlei flight stopover. Note the access road to the dune and the single tree (black speck) at the dune end of the road.
Sossusvlei flight stopover
Vintage Toyota Landcruiser meets vintage Cessna 210.
'Dune 45' and its landmark aging tree
'Dune 45' climbed. Overlooking part of the Sossusvlei 85 metres below.
The 'sanding' wind will take care of re-shaping the ridge crest, infilling the footprints along the tourist beaten track
Back in the air, heading for the coast and then on to 'Kuidas' bush camp for the night.
Massive sand wave riches stretch as far as the eye can see with the somewhat haze-limited visibilty.
One of the many 'celebrity' skeletons of the 'Skeleton Coast'. The 'Eduard Bohlen' wreck at Conception Bay
The german passenger/cargo steamship built in 1891, ran aground in 1909 in thick fog on a voyage from Swakopmund on the Namibia coast to Table Bay in South Africa.
The 'Eduard Bohlen' rests high and dry (most of the time). Captured nicely in close-up silouette in a low fly-bye
Cormorants roosting on the beach. Their large numbers clearly point at the generously available food (fish) in the Skeleton Coast near shore waters.
Overflying a flock of flamingos on the wings. Skimming the flats by only a few metres, the long-angle afternoon sun light makes them 'chase' their sharp shadows.
'Waves' of sand dunes rolling ashore at a right angle to the coast line to the South of Walvis Bay port.
Note the small flock of some ten flamingos standing in the shallow beach line water (white dots, lower right).
Walvis Bay port.
Prominently visible is the harbour extension under construction with a targeted completion by end 2018. Built by the Chinese Harbour Engineering Company and funded by the African Development Bank. Its 40 hectares will accomodate the Walvis Bay port new container terminal.
A variety of ships anchored off near Walvis Bay port
Refueling the Cessnas
Fly by of beach front communities heading North out of the Swakopmund township.
Salt pans purple and white make the desert beach front extra colourful
The 'Zeila' shipwreck.
The Norwegian built South African fishing trawler ran aground on 25 August 2008. Sold as scrap metal on its (last) towed voyage from Walvis Bay to India (Bombay), the tow cable broke and it wrecked 20 km North of Wlotzbaken.
Colony of Cape Fur Seals at Cape Cross.
Breeding colonies are found along the South Atlantic coasts of Namibia and South Africa. Their distribution is tied to the Benguela current of the Sount Allantic Gyre. Along this section of the Atlantic coast upwellings of cold nutrients-rich Southern Atlantic Ocean water secure the presence of a rich food chain at the top of which the Cape Fur Seal is well sustained in large numbers.
Sadly, as the name gives away, man's (economic) interest in the animal is after its fur and also after the oil extracted from its 'blubber' (body-fat). The oil, traded under the name of 'Namibian Sunshine' is a principal source of the 'Omega-3' fatty acids. Namibia has a substantial sealing industry with exports of seal pelts mainly to Turkey and oil primarily to China. Reported (2016) trade numbers are sobering. In the past decade, an estimated 400.000 pelts were exported out of Africa (Namibia, South Africa, Angola) and some 125.000 litres of Sunshine oil by Namibia. In Namibia 80.000 Cape fur seal pups and 6.000 bulls are killed annually (by culling quotation).
Link: Cape Fur Seal Trade (Source: National Geographic - Wildlife Watch)
Landed for a beach picnic
Overflying the 'Moon Valley' (Ugab rock formations) heading inland (East) on the last flight stretch to the 'Kuidas' bush camp
Touch down and landrover pick-up on the flats of the ephermal Huab River flood plane.
Yet a kilometre drive to go up the valley slope to Schoeman's private 'Kuidas' bush camp