Namibia is the African country home to Sossusvlei’s giant red dunes.
Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan in the Namib-Naukluft National Park, within the Namib Desert. Towering red-orange dunes surround the pan, and the colour comes largely from iron oxide in the sand. Some dunes rise more than 300 metres, making the area one of Namibia’s most recognisable landscapes.
The name Sossusvlei is often used broadly for nearby attractions, including Deadvlei and the dunes around it. Deadvlei contains the dark, preserved trunks of camel thorn trees that died after water flow from the Tsauchab River changed. The region is extremely arid, and rainfall is scarce. Sossusvlei is not a separate country or city; it is a landscape within Namibia’s protected Namib-Naukluft area.