Namibia Travel affected by floods

In early February 2011 many Namibia tours were affected by floods. The usually dry and world-renowned landscape at Sossusvlei with its panoramas were transformed by the strong flowing Tsauchab River into a vastly and extremely different setting with large pans of water filling the areas at the base of some of the world's tallest dunes. This resulted in access to this area becoming very limited. 

The red dunes of the Namib Desert, west of the Sesriem Canyon are commonly referred to as Sossusvlei but what they are actually referring to is the salt and clay pan that sometimes serves as a 'drainage basin' for the Tsauchab River. Even though the pan is called Sossusvlei it is actually the huge sand dunes that attract its many visitors from around the world to enjoy Namibia travel. These are the biggest and oldest dunes on earth and they form part of the southern Namib Desert, which stretches over 80 000km along the western coastal part of Namibia.

With the exceptionally low rainfall in this region the recent floods meant that visitors to the Sossusvlei were witness to a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The heavy rains flooded roads, preventing residents and tourists from reaching Sossusvlei and the consistent rains resulted in the Tsauchab River breaking its banks and causing the roads to wash away. The flowing water cascaded through the Sesriem Canyon and beyond, 20-30km into the Sossusvlei basin. Usually the river only reaches the canyon and then dissipates, very rarely reaching the pan. However, water blocked off a 5km stretch of road commonly known as 2x4 parking and the Sossusvlei was only accessible through a few 4x4 routes. This meant many tourists in smaller vehicles could not leave the area. In many cases 2x4 and 4x4 vehicles had to be towed through the river in both directions.

The Namib Desert very rarely experiences rain and is one of the driest deserts in the world, having survived arid conditions for millions of years. However with the Sossusvlei being only 60km from the Atlantic Ocean, the cold air meets the warm air and far reaching fog materialises, providing some form of water for plants and animals that call the desert home. 

Comments

Name *
Email (For verification & Replies)
ChronoComments by Joomla Professional Solutions

Submit Comment