Sossusvlei is a clay pan set in the middle of monumental dunes of red sand, as high as 300 meters from base to crest and among the biggest in the world.
Sossusvlei - Namib desert
About 60 kilometers from Sesriem, the gravel road becomes a sandy track, which can only be used by 4x4 vehicle.
After 5 kilometers that you can also do on foot, the track ends at Sossusvlei, a white clay pan surrounded by magnificent dunes.
A deep white against red sands, the pan sees the end point of a usually dry river, the Tsauchab, finishing its course here in the Great Sand Sea.
Sossusvlei is the biggest of four pans in the area (amongst them being the Dead Vlei).
The midday heat is intense and is better spent resting in the shade.
Even during the dry season, it is not unusual to see springbok, ostriches and oryx feeding off some small vegetation growing along some water holes.