Things to do
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Deadvlei
Come for the dead camel thorn trees standing dark on a white clay floor below orange dunes, best seen in low light, when they throw long shadows across the pan.
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Namib Sand Sea
UNESCO inscribed this dune field in 2013 under all four natural criteria, making it Namibia's second World Heritage site after Twyfelfontein. Fog off the Atlantic, far more than rain, supplies the water that its beetles, geckos and lichens live on. The sand itself arrived by river and ocean current from the Orange, far to the south.
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Sossusvlei
Sossusvlei is a pale clay pan where the dunes stop the Tsauchab River, and you climb those dunes straight from its floor. Big Daddy, the biggest, is a long haul through soft sand, and its crest shows you Deadvlei and the whole dune sea.
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Dead Valley Lodge
Opened in 2019, this lodge of twenty air-conditioned tented chalets stands inside the park on the road between the gate and Elim Dune, facing the dunes and the mountains. Its guests pass the inner gate an hour before sunrise and may stay in the park an hour after sunset.
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Dune 45
Forty five kilometres along the road from the gate, which is where the name comes from, a star dune stands right beside the tar road, close enough to climb while the early light lasts. The ridge underfoot is soft and the crest opens the first clear view across the dune field. Most vehicles stop here on the way in.
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Elim Dune
Reached on a track from the campsite rather than the main road, this dune stands clear of the rest of the field and lies before the inner gate, so it is the easiest sunset climb for guests staying inside the park. The climb is short and steep, and the view from the crest runs east to the Naukluft escarpment.
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Hiddenvlei
A second dead pan lies off the route the shuttles run, holding camel thorns of its own and a good deal less traffic. The walk in follows a line of marker posts across open sand with no shade. Go before eleven, when the heat and the haze set in.
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Little Kulala
South-west of the gate, on a private reserve, each thatched villa at this camp has a rooftop platform for sleeping out under the stars. The reserve has its own entrance into the national park, so the morning drive avoids the queue at the Sesriem gate.
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Sesriem Camp
Namibia Wildlife Resorts runs this campsite of 44 pitches just inside the outer gate, each beside a camel thorn tree, with a pool, a small shop and a bar. Campers pass the inner gate an hour before sunrise, which is the simplest way to reach Deadvlei or Dune 45 in first light. The trees give some shade at midday, not much.
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Sesriem Canyon
One easy walk is all you need for this narrow gorge, cut by the Tsauchab River into layered rock a few minutes from the Sesriem gate. You can fit it in before or after the dunes, on the same day.
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Sossus Dune Lodge
Namibia Wildlife Resorts runs this timber and thatch lodge along a low ridge inside the park gate. Being inside counts for more than the rooms do: guests pass the inner gate about an hour before the outer one opens, which is the difference between reaching Deadvlei in first light and reaching it afterwards.
