Namibia - Tevas or hiking boots?
Namibia - Tevas or hiking boots? - 29th Aug 2012 - 11:23am
Trip - AZN - DISCOVER NAMIBIA, Departure Date - Saturday 20th October 2012
We're off to Namibia in October and are wondering about suitable footwear for climbing Dune 45 - we usually go everywhere in Teva walking sandals but wondered about their suitability for climbing hot sand! We don't want to be dragging our heavy hiking boots along if it's too hot to wear them. Should we be buying lightweight walking shoes instead? Would a pair of trainers suffice for that one day of dune climbing? Any thoughts gratefully received.
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Claire & Kevin G - 29th Aug 2012 - 11:24am
Claire & Kevin G
Dune 45 - 29th Aug 2012 - 1:42pm
Hi there, I was at Dune 45 last year and you won't need proper hiking boots to do this. There was a whole variety of footwear worn by by people on the Dune from barefoot (yes, honestly!), just socks, sports sandals or trainers. Any of those should suffice and if you're going first thing in the morning, the sand isn't too hot then either. Have a great trip, Namibia is great!
Many thanks Laura, that's - 29th Aug 2012 - 3:25pm
Many thanks Laura, that's really good to know. We're trying to keep the packing as light as possible.
Claire & Kevin G
no shoes - 29th Aug 2012 - 9:42pm
you will climb dune 45 for sunrise, therefore it will not be hot. barefoot or tevas will be fine. you wont need big shoes.
no shoes - 5th Sep 2012 - 1:26pm
I tried it both with trainers and without. The downside of trainers is that you get sand in them and it stays there for days. Once I took them off (barefoot) I found my feet sunk further into the sand so I would go for tevas.
Hiking Poles - 10th Sep 2012 - 9:17pm
When climbing the dunes, would hiking poles help? I don't want to take them all that way just for one day's use if they aren't going to help......
Exodus Staff
No need for hiking poles, - 11th Sep 2012 - 12:01pm
No need for hiking poles, sossusvlei has the highest sand dunes in the world but, the climb up the ridge of Dune 45 is actually not all that strenuous, it's a gentle enough slope. The pole would probably end up being more of a hinderence sinking in the sand (the same way your feet do.
