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| It was a photo similar to this on the cover of a Namibia guidebook that got me interested in Sossusvlei. How can these red dunes survive wind, ocassional rain and the passage of time? Human footprints are quickly erased. |
Africa is, I think, the most intriguing of continents. From the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania to the wonders along the Nile, its historical records are the world's oldest. Its Saharan deserts, its tropical jungles and its endless plains are home to much of our most iconic wildlife. And its peoples, long abused by colonial powers and slave traders, today are finding their own paths in the 21st century. We first went on safaris in 2016; our 2026 trip was to different areas.
I don't think Namibia makes into many Americans' safari plans, though there are a number of desert safari camps and there is some wildlife to be seeen. Namibia, which is twice the size of California but with fewer than 3 million people, is the dryest African country south of the Sahara and the most sparsly populated.. From the air it appears as multi-colored endless desert, punctuated by bright white salt pans. At Sossusvlei, white salt pans are surrounded by towering red sand dunes, the highest dunes in the world, as tall as 1,300 feet or 400 meters. We were there to see this unique landscape, but there's more here than the dunes. There are miles and miles of nearly barren plains overlooked by small mountain ranges. The plains were where we saw wildlife.
On May 2, 2026, a Saturday, we flew Airlink from Johannesburg to Windhoek, the capital of Nimibia, where we boarded a Wilderness Air flight (aboard a 12-passenger single-engine Cessna Caravan) for Sossusvlei. All the other passengers were headed to a wildlife conservation meeting at Little Kulala, one of two camps there operated by Wilderness, the company that had helped plan our trip. We were at their other camp, Kulala Desert Lodge. "Same guides, same food," a Kulala guide said when we asked about the difference between the two camps.
Here we stayed three nights in a thatch-roofed cabin that had a small roof deck for guests who wanted to sleep under the stars. It was too cold to even think of that, but the starry skies at Sossusvlei are amazing thanks to its extremely dry air. Everyone was happy to point out the Southern Cross and other constellations to us. The Milky Way was visible in a way I've seldom seen before. As for the "same food," the cuisine reflects the emphasis Wilderness places on local culture. While there were no game dishes, there were unusual greens and other vegegables. And one night staff members sang and danced during dinner. I used to wince at such displays, thinking of people of color being ordered to entertain guests. But here the staff seemed to enjoy it even more than the guests.
Our guide, Castro ("You can call me Fidel," he joked) took us and two other couples, one from Arizona and one from Nashville, on drives through the dunes with opportunities to climb. Since I was nursing a minor leg injury, I did as little walking as possible, but Jane and the others ascended "Big Daddy," at least part of the way up, and made their way through dunes to DeadVlei, a canyon of mummified trees. When a shifting water pattern a thousand years ago caused the trees to die, the climate was too dry for them to rot in the normal way, They simply turned into black monuments to their own destruction.
As for wildlife, we saw impala, jackals, oryx, weaver birds, wildebeast (blue gnus) and more. A literal highpoint of our time there was when Castro wrestled our safari vehicle, a converted Toyota Hilux four-wheel drive, up a mountain to the very top for our "sundowner" drinks. A memorable ride and a memorable view.
If someone planning their first-ever safari trip asked for advice, I probably wouldn't suggest Namibia. But if you've already checked off all the wildlife you want to see, start a list of deserts and put Sossusvlei on it.
Here are some photos:
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| As seen from the air near Sossusvlei, a dry riverbed separates red and white sands. |
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| Accommodations at Kulala Desert Lodge are in thatch-roofed cabins. The one in the foreground was ours. |
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| At Kulala, our bed faced the entrance in a typical layout for safari tents and cabins. The bathroom was at the rear behind the bed. |
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| Wildebeest and impala seen on a safari out of Kulala Desert Lodge. |
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| An oryx, one of Africa's many kinds of antelope. In areas with hyenas, one might find detached oryx horns on the ground. They're the only part of this animal that bone-chomping hyenas don't consume. |
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| Hikers approach one of the many dunes at Sossusvlei. |
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| It's a long climb to the top of a dune. The soft sand makes it even more difficult. Climbers are told to step into the footprints of people ahead of them. |
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| Our guide stopped on a drive to let us get a close look at weaver birds' gigantic nest. |
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| The gigantic structures have many openings into individual nests. The tiny weaver birds are constantly expanding or rebuilding the nests. |
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| Hikers enter a ravine near Sossusvlei. |
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| One of the many black-backed jackals that we saw near Kulala Desert Lodge. |
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| Our Kulala Desert Lodge driver managed to get our safari vehicle to the top of one of the nearby mountains where he set out a "sundowner" cocktail bar for us and another couple. |
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