As we had to self cater at Witsand we re-provisioned in
Upington and set out. The road took us
through Groblershoop again but after that was pretty much straight going, held
up a bit with Stop and Go on sections being repaired and a hellish 50km dirt
road. The reception at Witsand is very
friendly and had a lot of info and extra brochure’s available.
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| Just a magical place |
The singing sands of Witsand is one of the Kalhari’s most
eerie phenomena. South of Olifantshoek,
a 100-mere high tongue of brilliant, white sand dunes, about 9 km long and 2km
white protrude from the surrounding sea of red Kalahari sand. On the southern side of the dunes you are can
hear the singing of the sand bests.
Merely moving your fingers through the surface will produce a muted
roar. The white sands consists of granules
blown over a body of water, forced to the surface of the desert floor. The water bleaches out the water oxides – and
with them the red covering in the sand granules. The removal of the red oxide coatings, the
dry air and the smooth and uniform size of the granules contribute to the
strange phenomenon.
We booked into the chalets – which is more of a villa. 3 rooms, 2 with single beds and 1 with a
double bed. A separate bathing area and
a kitchen/sitting room to the side.
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| On the left is the bedrooms |
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| In the middle the bathrooms |
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| And to the right the kitchen and sitting room |
We drove up to the Sand dunes to explore. The road up to the dunes was highlighted on
the map by the receptionist as a “wandel padjie” (relaxing meander). Sadist did not tell us that this translates
to climbing the dune. Much easier said
than done. In 36 degree heat we climbed
the sand dune, no water – we’re from Gauteng!
The view from the top more than compensates for the huffing, puffing,
swearing, aching, leg numbing experience.
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| White sand dunes in the Kalahari! |
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| To hot to sit on the sand so hiding in the shade |
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| The "wandel paadjie" up to the dunes |
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| "self-portrait" at Witsand |
Had a fantastic braai.
No close neighbours, so the quite and the dark has a chance to sink into
your soul. If you want to leave behind
the dead-lines, cellphones, computers and brick-a-brac of modern living and
steal away a part of Africa that is restorative to the soul – this is the place
to go.
