Ninety seconds on Sossusvlei
Before noon, come for shade and a quieter climb: living camel thorns shade the picnic tables by this pan, and far fewer visitors climb Big Mama, on its eastern edge, than the area's tallest dune.
Walk out across the pan from the parking at the end of the track. Its oval floor is crusted with salty sand, and grass, bushes and camel thorn trees grow on the dunes around it.
Climb Big Mama from the pan's edge for a view over the park's dunes. Its sand is firmer underfoot than on most dunes here, so you sink less with each step.
Bring all the water and food you need from Sesriem, because the only water in the park is at the rest camps.
In a rare wet year the Tsauchab River reaches the pan and turns it into a lake between the dunes. The sand track floods too, because the track runs in the riverbed. Leave the car at the 2x4 car park then and walk in, since 4x4s get stuck in the wet sand and mud.
Sesriem, and further afield
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