Thur. May 21st ‘24
Bliss. Just sat enjoying a cup of tea, no Internet or outside world to intrude on our peace. Sadly, we need to move on, so time to pack up and head back to the main road (aka dirt track). Leaving the campsite, the track has fences on both sides but a silly oryx got himself on the wrong side and insisted on running along the road in front of us. Each time he veered off and we tried to pass him he swerved out in front of us. Eventually, we gave up trying to pass and stopped for coffee from our thermos. The oryx eventually charged the fence and managed to jump over to freedom.
At the main road (dirt track), the plan had been to turn right and head for Duwisib Castle – an old German-style castle. However, this would be an extra 100km to see an old European castle so we decided to turn left and take the direct route. In theory, this should get us to our next accommodation by lunchtime and have time to relax before our sunset drive. This seemed like a good plan but the road surface was the worst we had encountered so far.
En-route we passed a grader lorry who was smoothing the rutted road surface and sure enough the surface improved but the damage had been done. About half an hour from our destination we got a puncture but did not manage to stop before we had totally wrecked a tyre. We both learnt many many years ago how to change a tyre (thank you Dad) so Dave was soon under the vehicle sorting the jack and after much huffing and puffing all was sorted. I was a bit disappointed that no-one stopped to help, as at least half a dozen vehicles passed us. Maybe we looked competent or they just did not want to waste their time helping others, who knows. People are just too busy nowadays and engrossed in their own lives, sad really.
Lunch was waiting for us at Dead Valley Lodge washed down with a much needed beer. What a great location. We had picked this place to stay as it is between the two gates into Sossusvlei which meant we could access the park an hour before sunrise and stay in the park an hour later than other guests who were staying outside the park. Last time we visited, eleven years ago, we were with a tour group and stayed outside the park and so had to fit in with the group itinerary. This time we could make our own agenda.
Sossusvlei (meaning dead end marsh) is probably the most visited place in Namibia and the giant red dunes are definitely what the country is most famous for (even featuring as a background for Windows PCs at one time). The Tsauchab river flows through but most of the time is dry on the surface but the tree roots find their way through the sand to the water below. It is a salt and clay pan surrounded by these big red dunes and just so photogenic. Getting to take more pictures of those dunes now that we are a little better at photography was our top priority when putting together the itinerary for this trip. Also in the park is Deadvlei but more about that tomorrow.Today we want to focus on the dunes themselves.
Despite our setback, we still had time for a late afternoon drive into the park and watch the changing colours in the fading afternoon sunlight. Having done some research we knew we needed our long lenses as some of the dunes are set back from the tarmac road and off-roading is strictly forbidden. The road from the gate to the end is 60 km. We also knew Dune 30 (the 30th dune from the gate) is photogenic so we stopped and played with different light scenarios.
Next was the famous Dune 45, which is by coincidence 45km from the gate. This is the one we climbed 11 years ago and I remember it being had work then! Today we satisfied ourselves watching others climb whilst we clicked away. We would leave the last 15km until tomorrow morning, so conscious of when the gate was being locked we headed back along the tarmac road in good time. A quick stop at dune 40 to find too late for the light and shadows today. Still a three course meal was waiting for us at Dead Valley Lodge so contented we put our cameras away and finally had time to relax for the evening, not thinking about our 5:30am alarm.