Dune Days

The Namib Desert in South Africa was the staging area for running ‘the sand’ and taking on entirely new wheeling techniques.

by

Words and photos by Robb Pritchard

Running rocks, mud, side-slopes, water-crossings, hill descents, ruts - you name it - as an enthusiastic off-roader, I've done them all. Once I even drove over a frozen lake in Russia. Short of living in the Southwestern United States where desert conditions are the norm, driving on huge sand dunes will be a new experience for you. It certainly was for me. 

I recently travelled through Namibia, South Africa, and visited the coastal town of Swakopmund where I met Werner Schapp, the owner of a local 4x4 shop called Opposite Lock. With the western reaches of the Namib Desert on his doorstep for 22 years, he’s a man who knows how to drive on sand. So this was a perfect opportunity for me to learn from his extensive experience. 

Displaying a variety of ARB products, chunky tires and robust bumpers, the Opposite Lock showroom looks like many 4x4 shops the world over. However, selling extreme aftermarket parts is not Schapp’s true passion. It’s using them. 

With its flash wheels and mean-looking grill, his Jeep wouldn't look at all out of place at SEMA. Although it might seem like it’s just on display to show off at the shop, it's a very capable off-roader. 

Driving slowly south on tires that were at a half-a-bar, the high dunes were dominant across the landscape. Being a few hundred metres high, they were real mountains of sand. At first, they looked totally inhospitable and inaccessible but it’s Werner's job to teach people that they are not. Putting the Jeep into the low-box, the demonstration and lessons began. 

While he explained the low-pressure on the 35” tires have a large footprint, it’s the torque of the powerful 3.8 L V8 engine that helps overcome the power drain that the sandy conditions can cause. At 5,000 rpm, the custom exhaust made a nice rasp while running up to the first blind crest. 

With the horizon just sand and sky, it made for a strange, barren landscape. Of course, a trained eye is necessary to make out the undulations, steps and huge drop-offs. Otherwise, if some over-confident but under-experienced driver came blasting along he'd find as many traps and pitfalls as the toughest off-road route. 

“If you air down the tires and put it in low-box, most 4x4s are already capable,” explained Schapp. “But a good driver can do a lot more in a bad car than a bad driver can do in a good car.” 

After eight hours of lessons of practicing how to read the flowing terrain, safely edging over the sheer slip-faces, and spotting smaller steps, which are really hard to see but can cause big hits when you find them by surprise, is enough to change a completely hostile environment into a wilderness wonderland to explore. Of special note, Land Rovers are not allowed. It sounds really odd, but 110s are prone to falling over on side-slopes so they are not granted permits. 

All I could see was bright sun. I was constantly surprised when Schapp chose an unexpected line around a hole and by the feel of the vehicle when it rose and dipped over the crests that I couldn’t see, which made me feel seasick. However, it was temporarily cured by a big rush of adrenaline when he confidently drove towards a spot in the sky and straight off a vertical slip-face. It takes quite a lot to scare me in a 4x4, but the high-pitched noise from the air compressing in the tire tread had my heart racing. 

Then it was my turn. At first, the powerful engine lurched the Jeep forward but it felt like I was driving on four flat tires. I had to resist the urge to get out and check to see we weren't dragging a few carcasses on the rims. But then the foot of the dune started and 10 m (33 ft) into the experience, we were already further than we would have been if we were driving my overloaded Hi-Lux on 31” tires, and it kept going. 

After putting my foot down a little more, the Jeep paddled up to the first ridge. The next part was a bit steeper, so I gave it a bit more gas and we roared up pretty easily. Schapp explained it's pretty much impossible to get the Jeep stuck. 

“With the diff-locks and tires you can still just drive out if you did manage to bury the axles,” he said. “Just put it in low box 1st, let it tick over and the tires will dig down to the cooler ground below the hot, fine upper layer of sand. When it does, the damp sand is more compact and has more grip. That's all it takes.”

We were then high up on the top of a ridge. In one direction we could see the fleet of oil rigs anchored offshore and in the other direction we saw the huge and empty expanses of the Namib Desert. The tire tracks of where we ran previously were nearby so I knew it was fine to go down as it was well within the Jeep's capabilities.

“Go on,” Schapp urged. If the Jeep bellied down on the crest we would be stuck. So I put my foot down and over the ridge we went until the nose of the vehicle was pointing pretty much straight down. Even though the bottom caught the top of the dune, gravity dragged us over. With my foot off the pedal, the Jeep partially surfed down and by the time we made it to the bottom, I had a huge smile on my face and was ready to do it again. But we first had to get back up. 

The technique for this is a little different. Despite only needing gas and momentum, there are a few things not to do. The first temptation when losing speed is to turn and bail out of the climb. This is a big mistake among the dunes. You'll make it to the bottom but only after a series of barrel rolls. No matter how much you dig down in the side of a steep dune, all you need to do is put it in reverse and gravity will do the rest. 

The real issue is at the top. If you go too fast, you’ll get airborne. If you go too slow, you’ll get ‘beached’ on the ridge. I did both before I got the hang of it on the third run. One of the challenges among the dunes is that not only is each one different, they change shape day by day. 

Despite how confidently I drove along the blind crests of the dunes on the way back down while following our earlier tire tracks, it's not possible to learn routes through the desert - all you can do is learn to read the terrain of desert and what's coming up in front of you. Different directions of wind can build up a lip of a dune into a small wall. If it’s taken at the wrong angle, the vehicle can be knocked over - not ideal when you’re at the top of a 50 metre (164 ft) high wall of sand. 

The other secret to Werner's Jeep's capabilities is his Jeep’s suspension as the set of Tough Dog shocks has nine different settings. The softest setting is for the high-speed ‘un-tarmacked’ roads of rural Namibia and the hardest setting is for the dunes. 

“When you’re running in the sand, you don't want the body to roll and put one wheel into the sand more than the one on the other side,” said Schapp. “You also don't want the axle to bounce. When that happens, the wheel loses contact with the ground, which costs traction and power.”

After a good hour or so of driving around holes, over lips and crests, and surfing the slopes of valleys, I was beaming from ear to ear but my achievement probably doesn't mean much to someone who does this for a living. I now have so much more appreciation for Dakar and rally-raid drivers. 

Driving is hard and technical enough among the dunes given we were commonly driving a little more than walking pace. The idea of trying to race on this territory on stages that last hundreds of kilometres sounds insane. Plus, a lot of the buggies are only two-wheel drive cars and some even race in 10-ton 1000 bhp trucks!

However, tours are not all that Werner manages. Four times a year he runs a five-day event called Battle of the Dunes, which is shown on South African TV to a massive audience of 3 million. Ten people come in their own standard 4x4's and bakkies with three days of learning on harder and harder terrain finishing with two days of televised competition. This I would love to see!

To arrange a dune driving session for yourself or would like a longer tour out of some hard trails in the Wilderness of Namibia you can contact Werner at info@battleofthedunes.com