Sossusvlei

This morning (Sunday) we were up at 4:30 to be ready to go to Sossusvlei at 5. It was a bit of a rush and the Swiss ended up waiting for us for a few minutes. Only later on the way back did I recall the story our Contiki tourguide told us about the Swiss and their precision timing that I realised we may have stressed them out a bit :p

We did however make good time to Sossusvlei and got to the last 5km strech (the 4×4 bit) as the sun stared rising. We took a few pictures and then braved the soft sand. Thomas handled the road well while we passed some unfortunates who got stuck. When I asked him if he did a course he laughed and said “No, I learned it in the snow”.

We then walked up the main dune behind Sossusvlei and admired the view from the top. Thomas attempted the sand board we had brought along but it lacked a crucial ingredient: Cobra Wax. The result was Thomas sliding over the board or if he could stay on mollasses in slow motion. This provided much entertainment for the other 3 couples on the dune. Andre also had a go (after making Thomas bring the board up). The results were identical with the grand finale being the board snapping in two.

We then wandered down to the bottom and made our way back to Dune 45, which we also climbed. Climbing dunes is hard work! I killed both sets of batteries during the mornings excursion. I suspect however they might be near end of life.

By 9 it was cooking so it was back to camp to pack up. I took a walk around our site to see if I could find our cutlery container which was stolen by wildlife the previous night (a fox is under suspicion), but was out of luck. A bit of procrastination did count in our favour as the unwashed dinner dishes got left behind. I will be stirring my tea with a fork.

We had some lunch. The Swiss have been trying to bake bread in a cast iron pot and their practice paid off. We said goodbye and headed off to a nearby campsite. We did however decide to take a look at other places along the road for something better. We stopped at A Little Sossusvlei Village for directions, ice and potential camping. The lovely lady there pointed us towards Tsauchab River Camp. Absolutely fantastic. Warm welcome, cold beer and a lovely atmosphere.

If you happen to be in this part of Namibia I would not stay anywhere else. They even sold us some Gemsbok steak which was divine and loaned us some freezer blocks to help keep the fridge cool. It almost felt like going through moms fridge 🙂 Oh and there’s a pool as well!