The Dune Belt
The Dune belt between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund is a curios phenomenon. South of the Kuiseb river the dune sea stretches hundreds of kilometers inland, and North of the Swakop river there are no dunes at all.
At only a couple of kilometres wide, there is a road either side of the dune belt between the towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. The coastal road runs between the dunes and the ocean, with a stunning beach on one side and the breathtaking dunes on the other side.
Dune 7 at Walvis Bay has been a star attraction for as long as anyone living here can remember. The South African army trained troops on it when Walvis Bay was still under South African rule. These days, people exclusively climb it for fun and to enjoy the beautiful views around. The picnic area at the foot of Dune 7 is kept clean and tidy by Dune 7 Adventures, who also serve some kick-ass coffee.
This entire dune belt can be visited with several of Awesome Chapters’s tours. It is part of the Introduction to Walvis Bay tour, the Stunning Swakopmund tour, the Curious Coastal Settlements tour, the Magnificent Moon Landscape tour as well as the absolutely stunning Beautiful Lanscapes and Landmarks tour.
Dunes look their absolute best when they are completely un-disturbed. In contrast with Dune 7, which is trampled by tourists, the spots here are never visited and you get a feeling of being the first human to set eyes on it. With the shot above, you can see the characteristic black streaks in the dunes. The black streaks are iron deposits, and you can easily capture some by running a magnet through the sand.
This little desert dweller was spotted at Dune 7. A little larger than a Namibian dollar coin, they are very, very rare sight indeed.
The sinuous shapes of the dunes are accentuated by the shadows cast by the sun when it is low in the sky. When you pop out to the dune belt early or late in the day with your camera, you are sure to capture some amazing shots to awe your friends back home!
Paco Rabanne shot the most expensive ad ever in Africa in this dune belt. You can see the ad by clicking here. Awesome Chapters was part of the team providing some transport for the humongous crew needed for this effort. Rain is quite rare in these parts, so when there are clouds in the sky everyone gets excited. Here dust was blowing in from the desert and rain darkened the dunes.
The camera people loved the colors and the dust, the cast and crew not so much.
The blue you see there is the usual color of the sky, with most of the days of the year being without any clouds at all. In the foreground there is a Dollar bush, one of the many protected species of flora in this area.
If you zoom in on this picture you will be able to see some people climbing the dune. While dune 7 at Walvis Bay is not the highest dune around, it is still pretty impressive with a height of around 100m.
Walvis Bay has an average of four trains a day running from the port in to the rest of Namibia. These old locomotives are from the South African times, and are doing their job for more than the last three decades.
