Second only to the Etosha National Park, Sossusvlei is one of Namibia's top tourism draw cards. The attraction is its monumental dunes with their magnificent colours, ranging from ivory, yellow-gold and ochre to rose, maroon and deep brick-red, paling and deepening as the day progresses, making the area a visual feast for artists and photographers.

 

Sossusvlei is a feature of the Tsauchab River, which rises towards the north in the Naukluft Mountains. The Tsauchab River formerly emptied itself into the sea but gradually became blocked by mountainous dunes of windblown sand, to form the spectacular end vlei as we know it today.

 

The road to Sossusvlei, which starts at Sesriem, is flanked by exotic pink, orange and maroon dunes, with the purple and blue Tsaris Mountains receding at the back and wide expanses of waving, yellow grass dotted with the occasional ostrich, springbok or gemsbok stretching ahead. About four kilometres from the farmhouse towards the north is the picturesque Elim dune, partially covered by vegetation. Centuries-old camel-thorn trees command the dry Tsauchab River course all the way to the vlei.

 

Four kilometres before reaching Sossusvlei, the road -- which up to this point can be traversed by two-wheel drive vehicles -- disappears into thick sand. The remaining distance of just over 300 metres can be completed by four-wheel-drive vehicle or on foot. The latter is recommended, as it gives a good idea of the extent, scale and grandeur of the surroundings.

 

It takes exceptionally heavy rains in its catchment area for the Tsauchab River to bring down sufficient floodwaters to penetrate the dune area and fill the vlei. When it has water, the vlei is an impressive sight, attracting flamingos and other aquatic birds and giving new life to the vegetation of the area. Other than the imposing camel-thorn trees, Acacia erioloba, of which the older specimens are estimated to be at least 500 years old, there is a wide occurrence of brackbush and the sprawling narra plant.

 

According to pollen research done at the vlei, there was a much wider spectrum of plant species in former times than there is today, which implies that it was once a high-rainfall area sustaining a wide spectrum of fauna. Nowadays mainly springbok and gemsbok frequent the Sossus environs, evident from the occasional spoor and chewed narra fruit.

 

The magnificent dunes surrounding the vlei, measuring from their base up to 350 metres high, are reputed to be of the highest in the world. They are in effect monumental pile-ups of sand that have formed at the end of longitudinal dune ridges, bordering the erosional trough of the Tsauchab River. The vlei lies at an altitude of about 570 metres above sea level, the crests of some of the dunes exceeding altitudes of 960 metres.

Because of their multi-crested shape, Sossusvlei's dunes are referred to as star dunes, a formation that can best be seen from the air. The four or five sinuous crests, which meet at the highest point, are the result of multi-directional winds that play the sand back and forth.

 

At times exceptionally strong winds blow at the vlei, causing the dunes to 'smoke', forming convoluting blankets of sand that swirl sinuously upwards on the windward side, and then break over the crest. A striking feature of the area is the white deflationary clay-floor pans that occur among the dunes, starkly set off by the flamboyant red mountains of sand surrounding them.

 

 

About four kilometres from the Sesriem entry to Sossusvlei, the meandering Tsauchab River disappears into a narrow gorge, the Sesriem Canyon, eroded over centuries by floodwaters deep into the layers of schist and gravel deposited there millions of years ago. The gorge is up to 30 metres deep, varies in width from one to two and a half metres at the top, widening towards the bottom, and is approximately one and a half kilometres in length, becoming shallower and wider as it approaches the dunes.

 

After good rains, the deep pool at the narrow section of the gorge fills up. Sesriem derives its name from the days when the early settlers, to scoop water, lowered a bucket into the ravine by six ox-riems (thongs) tied together. A number of different tree species grow in the canyon, of which the laurel fig, Ficus ilicina, is one of the more conspicuous ones. The permanent pools are inhabited by several fish species, primarily barbel. A track leads into the canyon from where the conglomerate layers are clearly visible. 

 

A campsite managed by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism is situated close by under huge camel-thorn trees, and close by there are several lodges in the surroundings from where visits to Sossusvlei are undertaken via the entrance at Sesriem. Fuel and refreshments are sold at this point.

 

 

There are few iconic images that beat the quiver tree or kokerboom, Aloe dichotoma, its stylised shape giving it a prehistoric appearance, especially when etched against the deep colours of a Namibian sunset.  

Situated on the farm Gariganus, 23 kilometres north-east of Keetmanshoop, the Quiver Tree Forest is a worthwhile detour, especially for keen photographers. Here several hundred of these curious trees can be seen growing as a dense stand amongst the rocky outcrops that are so characteristic of the southern parts of Namibia. The stand was declared a national monument and fenced for tourist viewing some fifty years ago. 

Reaching heights of up to seven metres, the quiver tree is one of four Namibian aloes that are classified as trees. One of these, the bastard quiver tree, Aloe pillansii, is sometimes confused with the kokerboom, the difference being that A. pillansii has a taller trunk with fewer, more erect branches and a sparse crown, and has a much more limited distribution, being confined to the areas just north and south of the Orange River. The quiver tree, on the other hand, grows fairly commonly along Namibia's western escarpment from the Orange River northwards into Kaokoland.

 

In June and July quiver trees are covered in bright yellow flowers, attracting large numbers of birds and insects to their copious nectar. Baboons tear the flowers apart to get at the sweet substance, often stripping a tree of its blossoms soon after they have appeared. One of the quiver tree's most attractive features is its bark, which is smooth, often with a pearly grey or golden sheen, sometimes flaking and cracked into diamond shapes, frequently folding like melting wax.

 

The Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, Simon van der Stel, recorded this fascinating and distinctive tree in 1685 where it grew in the northern Cape. He noticed that Bushmen fashioned quivers for their arrows from the soft branches, and it was this custom that gave rise to the tree's common name.

 

 

The longest river in Namibia, the Fish, flows for more than 800 kilometres from its source in the Naukluft Mountains to its confluence with the Orange River, 110 kilometres east of the Atlantic Ocean. Over millennia it has carved one of the world's greatest canyons, a 550-metre-deep chasm that twists for 160 kilometres through eroded cliffs of ancient sandstone, shale and lava deposited almost two billion years ago. 

 

Quiver trees and euphorbia species dot the arid desert plain through which the canyon flows. With the exception of extremely dry years there is always water in some of the pools, due to the intermittent flow of the river. They contain small- and largemouth yellowfish, sharptooth catfish, tilapia and common carp, and sometimes water leguan. Klipspringer, rock hyrax, ground squirrel and baboon inhabit the cliffs and niches of the canyon walls, while tracks at the waterholes bear witness to the leopard and mountain zebra that also frequent the area. Many birds are found here, including the olive thrush, Cape robin and African black duck.

 

Centrepiece of the Fish River Canyon is an 85-kilometre nature trail regarded as one of Southern Africa's major hiking challenges. In terms of difficulty the trail is compared to the daunting Otter Trail in South Africa and ranks among the Big Five hiking trails in the Southern African region. Hemmed in by sheer canyon walls towering above the meandering river, the trail takes four to five days to hike, starting at the northernmost viewpoint close to the Hobas campsite. Chain handholds are provided to descend to the canyon floor. At the bottom is an enormous pool where hikers can cool off before continuing further, determining their own pace and choosing where they want to set up camp. Along the way they can enjoy rugged scenery, peace, solitude and total wilderness. The trail ends at the Ai-Ais Hot Springs Resort, where hikers can relax in the soothing thermal waters of the hot-water spring. The hike can be undertaken only from 15 April to 15 September, due to high summer temperatures and the danger of flash floods during the rainy season.

 

 

Few other towns in Namibia convey the same sense of being in a time warp than the quaint harbour town of L?deritz on the southern Namibian coast. With its undeniable old-world charm and fast-developing tourism infrastructure it has become a sought-after holiday resort. Typified by the German-colonial architectural style, the buildings with their gables, winding stairwells, bay and bow windows, turrets and verandas cling to the rugged black rocks facing the deep-blue Atlantic waters where fishing boats ply their trade. 

 

Two of the most striking buildings are Goerkehaus built in 1909 on the slopes of the Diamond Mountain, and the Felsenkirche close by, consecrated in 1912. Others are the old Station Building (1914), the old Post Office (1908), the Turnhalle (1912--1913) and the L?deritz Museum, which houses the Eberlanz collection.

 

The L?deritz Peninsula has numerous beaches, bays and lagoons, including the popular Agate Beach and Grosse-Bucht frequented by bathers. A replica of the stone cross or padr?o planted by Bartolomeu Dias in the bay of Angra Pequena (Little Bay) can be seen at Dias Point, and on Shark Island a plaque commemorates the German merchant, Adolf L?deritz, after whom the town was named. The remains of an old Norwegian whaling station can be seen at Sturmvogelbucht.

 

There is plenty of interest for bird-watchers and nature lovers in the L?deritz surroundings. The shallow lagoon is frequented by flamingos, cormorants and seagulls, and while sailing in the bay, seals and dolphins can be seen playing in the water. The colourful Bushman's candle and unusual species of dwarf succulents grow in the area, including lithops.

 

A relatively recent development in the harbour town at Harbour Square below Hafen Street is the L?deritz Waterfront, its windows shaped like bull's-eyes, steel girders and ropes and triangular sun sails creating a seaside and harbour atmosphere. On the other side of Hafen Street is Market Square, a complex of shops, offices and flats in the same style. The L?deritz Yacht Club has its headquarters at the L?deritz Waterfront.

 

 

There are few places in Namibia that captivate the imagination more than the crumbling scattering of buildings that can be seen from the road 10 kilometres inland from L?deritz, all the more so because the former diamond-mining settlement is gradually becoming engulfed by the ever-shifting sands of the Namib Desert. At one time the focal point of the diamond industry in Namibia, it was deserted in 1956 following the discovery of richer diamond fields further south, and the establishment of Oranjemund as the central hub of the diamond-mining industry.

 

Kolmanskop is the best-known of several former diamond settlements -- Elizabeth Bay, Pomona, Bogenfels and Charlottental -- that today lie abandoned and disintegrating in the restless sands of the Sperrgebiet, the remote area set aside for mining and prospecting in German colonial times. 

 

The name Kolmanskop can be traced back to a transport driver named Johnny Coleman. At the turn of the century Coleman was a citizen of Aus, a tiny settlement situated 125 kilometres inland from L?deritz. Before the railway was built, he transported goods from Keetmanshoop to L?deritz by ox wagon. During a fierce sandstorm he was forced to abandon his ox wagon on the small incline on the main road from where Kolmanskop can be seen. It stood there for a while, giving rise to the name Colemanshuegel, which subsequently became Kolmanskop.

 

The origin of Kolmanskop lies in the momentous discovery of the first diamond in April 1908 by the railway worker Zacharias Lewala amongst the sand he was shovelling away from the railway line near Kolmanskop. His employer, railway supervisor August Stauch, had instructed him to look for sparkling stones, and when Lewala showed him the 'pretty stone', Stauch was convinced that it was a diamond. Once this was confirmed, the news of the discovery spread like wildfire, causing a frenetic diamond rush that caused adventurers and fortune hunters to converge en masse on the newly discovered diamond fields. L?deritz emptied virtually overnight and hopeful diamond hunters descended in droves on Kolmanskop, some on horseback and camels, others in horse carts and ox wagons, some even on foot. In some areas diamonds lay scattered in the open on the desert surface. Historical photographs show miners crawling across the sand on their hands and knees collecting diamonds.

 

Kolmanskop soon became a bustling little centre, featuring a bakery, butchery, a soda and lemonade plant, a furniture factory, a public playground and swimming pool, a fully equipped gymnasium with skittle alley and a well-equipped hospital that featured the first X-ray museum in Southern Africa. It also developed into a lively hub of German culture, offering entertainment and recreation for the affluent mining officials, who lived in large, elegantly designed houses. Sunday afternoon strolls through the town were described as follows: "Fashionably attired in well-cut outfits, the better halves of the diamond kings walked through the deep sand, their left hands, mostly in cotton gloves, holding their longs trains very stiffly, while their right hands held their feathered and flowered hats in place against the pressure of the wind".

 

The town reached the pinnacle of its development in the twenties, when it accommodated about 350 German colonialists and 800 Owambo contract workers. But when richer diamond fields were found further south and operations moved to Oranjemund, the decline of Kolmanskop was rapid. Soon the wind was whispering through the deserted streets, broken windows and open doors, as crumbling structures and disintegrating mining machinery gradually succumbed to the encroaching desert sands, to become one of Namibia's most intriguing relics from the past.

 

In 1980 the crumbling town was opened for tourist viewing when the mining company CDM (today's Namdeb) restored several of the buildings and established a museum.  

 

 

Mankind has always loved and admired horses and been intrigued by the mystique of the desert. The combination is undeniably tantalising, stimulating curiosity and inspiring the imagination. 

For almost a 100 years the renowned desert horses of the Namib have been roaming free between L?deritz and Aus, centring around Garub, a water point that lies about 100 kilometres east of L?deritz and is maintained by the nature conservation authorities. In times of extended drought, supplementary feed has been put out at Garub to save them from starvation. It is here that the desert horses can be observed and photographed as they come to drink. 

 

The origin of the horses remains a mystery fuelled by speculation and myth. One theory is that a ship carrying thoroughbred horses from Europe to Australia ran aground near the mouth of the Orange River, and that the strongest animals reached the shore and found their way to the Garub plain. Another is that the horses are direct descendants of 15 000 military mounts brought from Germany in 1904 to the then German South West Africa. Yet another is that they are descended from some 6 000 horses belonging to South African soldiers who camped at the borehole at Garub in 1915. There is also speculation about the so-called Kubub stud bred at the Kubub Station under management of L?deritz mayor Emil Kreplin, who supplied workhorses for racing and mining purposes. It is thought that the Kubub horses added to the evolvement of the desert horses of the Garub plains. 

 

The most popular, romantic and oft-quoted theory is that they are descendants of the horse stud belonging to the eccentric German nobleman, Baron Hansheinrich von Wolf, who built a European-style castle among rolling red hills 72 kilometres south-west of Maltah?he for his American bride, Jayta. The story goes that when Von Wolf was killed in action in 1916, the Baroness, crazed with grief, released the 300 horses into the desert. They are believed to have roamed the veld around Duwisib Castle until 1950, when some wondered 150 kilometres south-west to the waterhole at Garub and became the ancestors of the herd that exists today.

International and local equine experts attribute the survival of the horses in this harsh, alien environment to unique adaptations in their physiology and behaviour patterns. Hopefully these extraordinarily resilient animals will be around for many years to come to grace the beautiful stretch of landscape between L?deritz and Aus.

 

 

Set aside as 'Forbidden Area' a hundred years ago by the German government following the discovery of the first diamond by the railway worker Zacharias Lewala at Kolmanskop in 1908, the Sperrgebiet National Park is set to become yet another gem in Namibia's portfolio of parks. Once it is proclaimed it will do much to bolster the economy of southern Namibia, particularly in the towns of Rosh Pinah and L?deritz.

 

Known internationally as the source of exclusive diamonds, the Sperrgebiet covers some 26 000 square kilometres of dunes and mountains that shelter numerous biodiversity gems. To date the research conducted in this area has recorded 776 plant species, including 234 that are unique to the area. In addition to the plants, there is also a high concentration of unique amphibians and reptiles, and relatively large populations of gemsbok, springbok and brown hyaena.

 

A limited form of tourism is currently practised in the Sperrgebiet. A day tour undertaken from L?deritz to view Bogenfels, the 55-metre rock arch that juts into the Atlantic Ocean, also stops at the old ghost town at Elizabeth Bay, the seal colony at Atlas Bay, the ghost town of Pomona and the legendary M?rchental (fairy valley) where early prospectors collected diamonds by moonlight. 

 

Tour operators have been given concessions by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to conduct a limited number of tours per year along the stretch of coastline from Sylvia Hill northwards to Sandwich Harbour in the Namib-Naukluft Park. Points of interest on the itinerary are Saddle Hill, Koichab Pan, Sylvia Hill, Conception Bay, the wreck of the Eduard Bohlen, the diamond settlements Grillenberger, Charlottendal and Holsazia, Fischersbrunn and Sandwich Harbour. Participants drive in their own vehicles and are accompanied throughout the trip by a nature conservator from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. There are no facilities along the route, so the group has to be a hundred per cent self-sufficient in terms of fuel, food supplies and camping equipment.