Sesriem, Namibia

Sesriem is the gateway to the sand dune desert and is the location of the National Park campsite for this area. Set in a beautiful landscape with mountains to the east and dunes to the west.

The camping area at Sesriem receives its name from a nearby canyon, the Sesriem Canyon. Early pioneers who came to the area and wanted to get water from the canyon had to tie six leather thongs to the handle of their bucket in order to draw water from the top of the canyon. These thongs were called 'leer riems' in the Afrikaans language and the word for six in the same language is 'ses'. The area became known as Ses Riems which was corrupted into English as Sesriem.

West of the Naukluft Mountains, the Tsauchab River disappears dramatically down a steep gorge in the plain, an otherwise arid region. Approximately 1km long and 30-40m deep, the water pools on its gravel bed attract many birds and animals.

Camping for the dunes at Sossusvlei is available at Sesriem as camping is not permited at Sossusvlei itself. Ordinary sedan cars can travel the 63 km on the tarred road from Sesriem to the beginning of the vlei, but the last 4 km are only negotiable by 4-wheel-drive vehicles. The nearest dunes are only a few hundred metres away from the sedan car park and are easily accessible on foot.