At the end of the sand track the road simply stops. In front of you lies a flat, pale grey surface, dunes rise on every side, and somewhere below it a river you cannot see soaks away. Sossusvlei is the point where the Tsauchab gives up.
- Length of the Tsauchab
- 150 km
- Straight line to the Atlantic
- 52 km
- Documented flood years
- 1997, 2000, 2006, 2011, 2022
- Floor of the pan
- Clay and salt
Vlei is Afrikaans for a shallow hollow that holds water after rain. Sossus comes from Nama and means something close to no return, a dead end. The name describes exactly what the river does here. The Tsauchab rises in the Naukluft mountains, cuts through Sesriem Canyon after about 80 kilometres and stops after roughly 150. From this pan the Atlantic is still 52 kilometres away in a straight line.
Reaching the pan at all is the exception. Documented flood years are 1997, 2000, 2006, 2011 and 2022, and one source offers a rule of thumb of one event about every ten years. How long the lake then stands is disputed: sossusvlei.com writes that after four weeks it is all over, while German Wikipedia gives up to 18 months. The strength of each flood probably explains the gap. In February 2011 Sossusvlei was cut off from the outside world for a while.
- Time needed
- an hour for the pan itself
- Cost
- covered by the park entry fee
- When
- early morning, and after heavy rain in February and March for water
- From Sesriem gate
- 65 km, 75 minutes
Our tipAsk at the gate or at your lodge whether rain has put water in the pan. In most years there is none, and anyone arriving with the brochure picture in mind finds a grey, cracked surface instead. The last five kilometres to the pan are deep sand.
Sossusvlei: frequently asked questions
Is there water at Sossusvlei?
Only rarely. Documented flood years for the pan at Sossusvlei are 1997, 2000, 2006, 2011 and 2022, and in between the surface lies dry. How long the water stays is given by sources as anything from four weeks to 18 months.
What does the name Sossusvlei mean?
Vlei is Afrikaans for a shallow hollow that collects water. Sossus comes from Nama and means something like no return or dead end, so Sossusvlei is the hollow that nothing flows out of.
Where does the Tsauchab end?
The Tsauchab ends in the pan at Sossusvlei, about 150 kilometres after it rises in the Naukluft mountains. From there the Atlantic is another 52 kilometres in a straight line, a distance the river never covers.
When is water at Sossusvlei most likely?
Water reaches the pan at Sossusvlei only after heavy summer rain, roughly between January and March, and even then not every year. One source puts the rule of thumb at one flood event about every ten years.