RED SAND DUNES NAMIB DESERT SEA OF SOSSUSVLEI IN THE NAMIB-NAUKLUFT PARK NAMIBIA
Video report of December 2020 tour to Sossusvlei red sand dunes in Namibia’s Namib-Naukluft National Park in southern Africa. Weather was sunny and windless.
КРАСНЫЕ ПЕСЧАНЫЕ ДЮНЫ РАЙОНА СОССУСВЛЕЙ В ПАРКЕ НАМИБ-НАУКЛЮФТ НАМИБИЯ
#SossusvleiRedSandDunes #NaukluftParkNamibia #NamibSandSea
Sesriem & Sossusvlei:
Sossusvlei (sometimes written Sossus Vlei) is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park of Namibia. The name “Sossusvlei“ is often used in an extended meaning to refer to the surrounding area (including other neighbouring vleis such as Dead Vlei and other high dunes), which is one of the major visitor attractions of Namibia.
The name “Sossusvlei“ is of mixed origin, and roughly means “dead end marsh“. Vlei is the Afrikaans word for “marsh“, while “sossus“ is nama for “no return“ or “dead end“. Sossusvlei owes this name to the fact that it is an endorheic drainage basin (i.e., a drainage basin without outflows) for the ephemeral Tsauchab River.
Environment
The Sossusvlei pan proper is the flat ellipse in a lighter shade of color seen behind the dune in foreground (mostly on its right).
The Sossusvlei area belongs to a wider region of southern Namib with homogeneous features (about km²) extending between rivers Koichab and Kuiseb. This area is characterized by high sand dunes of vivid pink-to-orange color, a consequence of a high percentage of iron in the sand and consequent oxidation processes. The oldest dunes are those of a more intense reddish color. These dunes are among the highest in the world; many of them are above 200 metres, the highest being the one nicknamed Big Daddy, about 380 metres high.
The highest and more stable dunes are partially covered with a relatively rich vegetation, which is mainly watered by a number of underground and ephemeral rivers that seasonally flood the pans, creating marshes that are locally known as vlei; when dry, these pans look almost white in color, due to the high concentration of salt.
Fauna in the Sossusvlei area is relatively rich. It mostly comprises small animals that can survive with little water, including a number of arthropods, small reptiles and small mammalians such as rodents or jackals); bigger animals include antelopes (mainly Oryxes and springboks) and ostriches. During the flood season, several migrant bird species appear along the marshes and rivers. Much of the Sossusvlei and Namib fauna is endemic and highly adapted to the specific features of the Namib. Most notably, fog beetles such as the Namib Desert Beetle have developed a technique for collecting water from early morning fogs through the bumps in their back.
Sossusvlei
Sossusvlei is about 66 km past the Sesriem gate. The last 6 km can only be traversed with 4WD vehicles as the concrete road ends and sand begins (the place where the concrete road ends is known as “2x4 parking“ as any non-4WD vehicle must stop there). Sossusvlei is a clay pan, of roughly elliptical shape, covered in a crust of salt-rich sand.[1] While the pan has been shaped over time by the Tsauchab river, the actual flooding of the pan is a relatively rare event, and sometimes several years pass between one flood and the next one. The river is dry most of the year, and even when it is not, it carries relatively little water to the vlei. The vlei is surrounded by high orange-reddish dunes, partially covered by a vegetation comprising grass, bushes, and some tree (mostly of species Acacia erioloba).
© Exploring Namibia TV
Soundtrack:
Seclusion
by
The Tides
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