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Where the Namib presents itself from all around
Do a 180 degree turn and the desert suddenly looks completely
different: in the east vast plains stretch out to the
foot of distant mountains, while in the west it is dune
upon dune all the way to the horizon. In Gondwana Namib
Park the Namib experience covers two sides. Even three,
in fact, because under the reddish sand there is brown
sandstone – the fossilised dunes of an ancient
Namib, which in places come to the fore imposingly.
60 km further south the Namib shows yet another face:
the valley of the ephemeral Tsauchab River cuts through
the surging sand-sea and ends in famous Sossusvlei;
every now and then, after very good rainfalls, Sossusvlei
turns into a lake embraced by tall dunes. |
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Guests of the
park spend the night at Namib Desert Lodge at the foot
of the fossilised dunes. The desert(s) can be experienced
on scenic drives, and the sandstone dunes can be explored
on a walk. Excursions to Sossusvlei and Sesriem Canyon
are also included in the programme, of course. |
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The Namib extends
along the coast from the Succulent Karoo (which starts
around Lüderitz at the coast, but further south
in the interior) right into Angola; it lies between
the winter rain system in the south-west and the summer
rain region in the north-east. The cold Benguela Current
off the coast prevents the air from absorbing much moisture;
since cool layers of air do not mix with warmer layers
on top, clouds do not form either. Thus the Namib does
not get any rain from the coastal side, but merely some
moisture in the form of fog. |
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Two of the
Namib’s three vegetation types are part of the
100 km² of Gondwana Namib Park: the sand-sea with
a few grasses only, and the gravel plains with grasses
and shrubs; along the seasonal riverbeds acacias can
be found and in places also !Nara shrubs which bear
fruit that resembles melons. Typical animals in this
area are Gemsbok, Springbok, Ostrich and Jackal. Game
moves freely between the park and neighbouring, state-owned
Namib Naukluft Park. |
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| Those
interested in geology will definitely get their
money’s worth. The fossilised dunes go back
to shifting sand dunes which existed in this very
same spot already 20 million years ago. The sand
solidified and became sandstone during more humid
periods 16 to 8 years ago. Therefore the Namib
is rightfully regarded as the oldest desert on
earth. Besides, the sandstone contains fossils,
including up to 16-million-year-old egg shells
from the ancestor of today’s ostrich. They
are proof that the large bird evolved in Africa
and not in Eurasia, which was considered a possibility
for quite some time. The sand of the young Namib
is the debris of erosion in the Drakensberg Mountains
and other mountain ranges in South Africa. The
debris was carried into the sea by the Gariep
(Orange) River, deposited along the coast and
piled up into dunes by the wind. |
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San (Bushmen) regularly wandered through
the Namib, but never lived there for any notable length
of time. Various groups of the Nama people arrived from
the 18th century onwards, including the Topnaar who
still live along the banks of the Kuiseb River. Orlam
groups (related to the Nama) followed later on as they
backed away from European settlers at the Cape. Ten
years after the area was proclaimed the colony of German
South West Africa, Witbooi-Orlam, led by Kaptein Hendrik
Witbooi, clashed with German colonial forces in the
nearby Naukluft Mountains. The ensuing peace treaty
was observed until the uprising of the OvaHerero and
Nama in 1904. |
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Power was taken
over by South Africa in the early stages of the First
World War. But only during the forties was the area
on the edge of the Namib divided into farms. Livestock
farming was tough, however, because rains are rare and
unpredictable, and the availability of grazing changes
accordingly. After Karakul farming collapsed during
the eighties, the land was increasingly used for tourism. |
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Farm Dieprivier
('deep seasonal river'), run by the Voges – an
Afrikaans family - since the forties, was known throughout
Namibia as an area of particular scenic beauty. In the
late eighties Pieter and Ella Voges built Namib Rest
Camp, later renamed Petrified Dune Lodge, at the foot
of the fossilised dunes. In December 2004 Gondwana purchased
the 10,000 ha (100 km²) area, ended livestock farming
and transformed the farm into Gondwana Namib Park. |
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