I always have an excuse not updating the blog, and now it is my family.
Finally the girls arrived. Even if their entry into Namibia wasn't as smooth as it could have been. Freakin bureaucrats... But well, they are here and that is what matters. And I've been spending all my free time with them.
Flyin' and family, things couldn't be better.
But here I am again.
East abeam WBV
And as my Hungarian readers asked me to write and post some pictures on the routes I fly this post is going to be dedicated to the SossusFly scenic that we use to fly quite often. A roundtrip that you cannot be tired of. An amazing scenic flight over world's highest dunes in the Namib Sossusvlei area, the Kuiseb Canyon and the Diamond Area as well as some shipwrecks along the Atlantic coast. And here are a couple of pictures as well.
Kuiseb river, a natural border between the sand and the stone desert
The SossusFly is a 600 and something kilometres long flight. Usually two hours and a couple of minutes.
It first takes you over the stone desert to the South, past Walvis Bay towards the Kuiseb River dry river, which we usually meet at the Swartbankberg.
Swartbankberg
The Kuiseb is a border between the sand and the stone desert. Passing the Gobabeb Desert Research Station and some topnaar bushman villages we get to the canyon of the Kuiseb river. A really wild and fantastic formation.
Topnaar bushman setlement along the Kuiseb
After flying for a while on both sides of the canyon we get to the Zebra pan, where we can spot some animals (zebras, ostriches, oryx...) we take a Southerly heading and enter the wast sand desert, the Big Namib towards the Sossusvlei area.
Tsondabvlei
Passing the Tsondab dry river and vlei there are petrified dunes, proof of the prehistoric age of this desert. The changing dune world warns us that we're soon at the Sossusvlei area, flying towards the Tsauchab dry river valley.
Dune 45
The valley is the so called Dune Corridor. With the worlds highest dunes on both sides. These dunes can reach up to 400 meters. And because of having winds from different directions the dunes here are more sided. The star dunes. Most famous of them being the Dune 45. Over this dune we turn West and follow the valley, passing quite a few vlei's (clay pans). Here's an other very famous vlei, the Deadvlei, with quite a few dead and soaked acacia trees. Right after passing the Deadvlei we are at the end of the valley, where the Tsauchab river dissapears under the sand dunes. This is the actual Sossusvlei.
Again we have a longer trip over the almost endless sand. Depending on the temperatures the desert is playing a colourful palette. From greyish magnetite to reddish iron oxide. And we are approaching the coast and the Diamond Areas. There are three more camps here, abandoned. Skeletons from the past.
Diamond camp No. 2
Leaving the camps we fly to the coast to pass by the famous Edward Bohlen shipwreck. A one hundred meter long cargo ship that ran to ground in 1909. Also proof of how quickly the desert claims the ocean. The shipwreck today is couple of hundred meters from the coast. As the sand moves into the Atlantic 30 centimeters a year.
Along the coast there are lots of seal colonies and a the beautiful contrast of the desert dissapearing right in the ocean is breathtaking.
Speeding North along the coast we pass the Shaunee shipwreck. And the Langwand (Long Wall), where the sand falls steeply into the water.
Langewand with a fog stripe
Sandwich harbour is our next destination. A huge bird sanctuary with enormous flocks of flamingos, cormorans, pelicans.
Salt works at Walvis Bay
And we are back at the Kuiseb river. More exactly the Delta of the Kuiseb river. With the Walvis Bay salt pans on the Northern side.
Walvis Bay harbour and V5-FLY
In a couple of minutes we are West abeam Swakopmund. A quick glance on the Jetty, the Lighthouse, gears down... and we are on right base 17.
A Pleasure Flights 210 on my tail
