FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Sossusvlei

Unfortunately internet throughout Namibia is very slow. It was difficult enough to get these posts up so photos are mostly from the phone only :(

After a hearty breakfast, we left Windhoek at 8am for our long drive to Sossusvlei in the Namib Desert, considered the oldest desert in the world. The sealed roads of the city soon became gravel roads. We later learnt that a large percentage of Namibia’s roads are gravel roads. There were not many cars around us and once we left the city limits the landscape became bare very quickly…Along our drive, we managed to spot several animals including spotted jackal, ostrich, oryx, and of course the baboon. We committed rookie error number one by not having our cameras ready! When we did take the camera out it was the wrong one…unfortunately the one with the zoom remained in the boot. Doh! It also was not easy stopping quickly on gravel roads.

The very relaxing breakfast area

Our Toyota Hi-lux with boot packed and ready

We stopped at Solitaire, a small “town” consisting of several buildings. The children were quick to point out that it was the Carsland of Namibia. There was a part of us that was perversely proud of the fact that they used Disney as a point of reference, and another that was horrified. Other than the fact that there were not many options of places to stop at, Solitaire had the honour of having the Moose Macgregor’s Bakery as one of its few buildings, whose homemade pies and apple pies have made it famous. As an aside, the toilets at Solitaire were spotless which is another good reason to stop!

Baboons

Oryx spotted on the drive

Solitaire in the middle of nowhere

Is that Mater?!?!

But there's a famous bakery!

People come for this!

Our destination for the next 2 nights was &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge, a lodge surrounded by the mountains and sand dunes of the Namib Desert. It was well worth the 6 hour drive to get here. As soon as we arrived, we were swarmed by staff. Our bags were taken out and taken to our rooms, our car parked for us, we received welcome drinks, cold refresher towels and were quickly ushered inside to the common lounge area to escape the heat. We were struck by the sheer landscape that was in front of us and the number of animals just roaming around the plains. Clint and Sarah, the managers of the lodge, gave us a welcome tour of the luxurious lodge. We were introduced to Maretha, the person who would be responsible taking care of all our meals and drinks.

A table had been set for us for lunch. We shouldn’t have had those meat pies…They were accommodating and made half portions for us, but it was still generous. The children were so overwhelmed by the unlimited choice of drink that they did not know what to order…

Will bellies full, we retreated to our very opulent and spacious rooms (individual separate huts really). As we occupied 2 out of the 10, we made up 20 percent of the guest capacity! The bathroom was massive with full glass windows giving us views to the plains. They were angled so that the interior of the huts (and the outdoor showers) were all out of sight from each other and the restaurant. Waiting for us in our rooms were information packs, an artist set, vodka and lime, unlimited mini bar, cookies, welcome champagne, fruit, chips and biltong. The children thought they were in heaven.

Oryx at the gate to welcome us. Hello!

Looking out from the common lounge area

Animals roaming around

Our room

Personal touches everywhere

View from our outdoor patio

Check out the bathroom!!!

Welcome drink and snacks

Some bubbly?!

Or maybe vodka and lime?!

The art kit. Mal challenged the children to present him a work of art

Some took it more seriously than others!

We had time to have a quick dip in the pool before having to meet up at 5:30pm with our allocated guide for the duration of our stay. Boniface would be the one looking after us. He went through the history of lodge, its ethos, projects it undertakes as well as the options of activities that we could do. He had mapped out a plan for our stay here and wanted our approval. “Yes Boniface! Let’s do it!” we said. We did not expect to go straight out for a game drive! It felt pretty special to go out with just our family in a jeep. We learnt and saw plenty! Mountain vs plain zebra, male vs female oryx, springboks, ostriches, birds and more! He took us to a mini sand dune and stopped at the top. While we were busy talking selfies, he had set up a table with drinks ready for us to enjoy the sunset.

We were completely exhausted and knew that a 530 departure was required the next day to avoid baking on the dunes so we refrained from taking full advantage of the open bar and hit the hay… it was probably some sort of super fluffy baby ostrich down but it wouldn’t have mattered.

The kids were made to feel at home. So much so that there was a magic bag where you put your laundry in and it came back washed and ironed. This is an inclusion that more hotels should adopt! Even better the clothes were sun dried so no shrinkage!

We came to realise that this level of service was a constant theme. Our slippers would magically move from the bed to the shower at various times depending on when we were most likely to need them. The mini-bar and cookie jar were like the magic pudding. We were sure that they must’ve been in the room at least half a dozen times during the day. If we ever build again we’ll have to remember to include a stargazing window above every bed – with a retractable cover of course!