Deserted deserts
Soussesvlei, Namibia, 2009-10-27 12:00 by Laerke
Namibia is spectacular scenery, long distances, dry desert land, amazing sunsets, African landscapes just as we Europeans imagine them and probably much more that we are yet to discover.
Soussusvlei is a surreal un-earthly place of towering orange sand dunes intercepted by a few flat pans where the ground/sand is so dry it looks like rock. In this white pan flanked by tall orange dunes are some poor trees who thought they could make a living there but were horribly wrong. Now they stand there all dried up, looking so out of place that you have to blink a few times to make sure your eyes are not deceiving you.



We could drive most of the way to Sossusvlei; it was a beautiful drive as hot air balloons rose on the sky accompanying the big yellow sun in its ascent and a lone jackal ran towards the rising sun as our car approached. The last 5km however are too sandy for our little Citi Golf so we had to walk, it was a bit of a tough slog through the sand, but the views of the rising sun making the orange dunes glow as the first light hit them well made up for it.
Walking back in the middle of the day under the hot sun was another story… but we covered up against the burning rays, put on lots of sun-lotion and drank lots of water and luckily about half way we got a lift by a lovely South African family in a 4x4. You can always count on the South African to help you out! Back in the comfort of the AC in our little car we quickly regained our strengths and set out for more dunes.



We scrambled up and down the dunes, struggling on the way up and almost flying as we ran back down, getting sand everywhere in the process :-) We had a picnic lunch by a big dune; Dune 45 called so because it is by the 45km marker on the road.



We stay at a camp site near Sossusvlei amidst open savannah landscape teeming with birds, geckos and hares. Here we have enjoyed sundowners while taking in the views and had our dinner under a big, starry night sky, the only thing we hear is the wind and the buzzing insects. At night we fall asleep close together in our yellow tent with sand in our hair and calm souls.

2009-12-09 08:42 by Salim
Wow, that is a beautiful place!