Sossusvlei floods

Sossusvlei is a dry pan in the middle of the Namib Sand Sea. The area is well known as having some of the highest dunes. The gap between the dunes is largely created by a river that occasionally will flow down into the dune field.

Most years the river flows say between one and eight times, and runs dead in the river sand, many kilometers from Sossusvlei. However, on rare occasions, the river has enough water or flows for long enough to reach Sossusvlei.

Yesterday was such a day. The river floods the pan at Sossusvlei, and will leave a lake in the middle of the dune field which usually lasts some months. The last time it flooded was 2006, then 2001 (only a small flood,) 2000 and 1997 over the last decade. Often the river may only reach Sossusvlei once or twice a decade.

We will still see how much water actually got to the pan, before knowing if water will remain in the pan for any length of time. If it does, we expect to see many birds fly in to live in the little lake in the middle of the dune field!!

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