Witsand Roaring Sands

Witsand is an anomaly: a patch of white dunes about nine kilometres long sitting inside the red-sand Kalahari, the whiteness caused by groundwater rising and leaching the iron oxide out of the sand. The dunes roar. When dry sand slides down a steep face it produces a deep booming or humming sound, loud enough to feel, and while the physics of booming dunes has been studied worldwide - grain size uniformity, a dry surface layer over moist sand, shearing during the avalanche - the full mechanism is still argued about. The effect only works when the sand is thoroughly dry, so after rain the dunes stay silent. The Khoisan name for the site translates roughly as the place of the great noise. Around the dunes is a small reserve with birds, springbok and gemsbok, and the night sky is exceptional.

Highlights

• The white dunes - iron oxide leached out by groundwater in the middle of red Kalahari.
• The roaring - a deep boom when dry sand avalanches, audible and felt.
• The dry condition - the sound stops entirely for days after rain.
• The dark sky - almost no light pollution over the reserve.

When to go

April to September, and only after a dry spell if you want the sound. A day, or stay overnight.

Practical notes

If the sand is damp the dunes are silent - this is common and disappointing. Access is long gravel road. Summer heat is severe. Facilities are a small chalet and camping operation with no shop nearby.

Nearby

The Kuruman Eye is north-east; Upington is west.