After Kelley and Erik left, we sailed from South Africa up the west coast to Namibia. Years ago, daughter Liz told me I’d love Cape Town, South Africa and she was right. She also told me that the dunes of Namibia were a photographer’s dream, so we planned a trip into the Namib Desert.

We flew from Luderitz in a four passenger Cessna to the Desert Lodge of &Beyond Resorts in the Sossusvlei area. It was a tiny cluster of 10 rooms in the middle of nowhere. I had my doubts when I saw the lodge from the air, even more so when I saw the landing strip was just the desert, cleared of rocks. But the resort was beautiful and we had an amazing few days. Gemsbok (a beautiful antelope), mountain zebras, ostrich, and hyenas roamed freely in the area (as do cobras and scorpions).  The stars at night were blinding.

The first night we went up into the red-sand hills for a glorious sunset. I’m no geologist, but as I understand it, these dunes are rich in iron, which oxidizes (rusts) to form the red or orange look. Additionally, particles of another form of iron oxide called magnetite become charged from blowing through the air, and help hold most of the sand in place, keeping the interesting forms the winds produce.  It makes for great contrast against the blue sky.

 

Early the next morning we left the lodge for a hot air balloon ride at sunrise.  What a way to see the stunning topography!  When we landed, the chase crew had arranged a big champagne breakfast right at the landing site. This crew would be great to hire for a tailgate team!

 

 We also spent time with the young couple who ran the ballooning operation.  They saw a need for a school for the kids of the workers in this remote region.  They used their staff to build a cute little school, hired two European teachers, and are now working on raising funds for a little school bus.  We were very impressed and plan to help support them. http://little-bugs.org/

 

On the final day, we went to the famous dunes east of Sossusvlei – the tallest in the world – to watch the sun come up.  Here, prevailing winds from the ocean blow east and winds from the valley blow west. They converge at the peaks of the dunes, creating sharp lines that look like sand sculptures.  And at the end of the valley is a place called Deadvlei where an expanse of flat, stark-white salt and clay create a “floor” that is surrounded by 1200 foot red dunes. It was an oasis 1000 years ago before a river changed course.  The remains of dead trees were preserved by the dry air and appear “frozen in time.”  The resulting vista seems surreal and is the subject of many calendars and print advertisements.  

I had been looking forward to this part of the trip for weeks and cleared my camera memory sticks to make room.   I’m glad I did.  I’ve been trying to cull them down to a manageable number, but just can’t seem to get my favorites to below 200 images. It was hard to pick just 10 for this blog. Best viewed by clicking on one and scrolling through them.

 

This time two videos.  The first one is about 14 minutes (sorry) and includes ATV drive at sundown, hot air balloon ride, the red dunes, and finishes with a bit of the band the ship had to a desert dinner in Walvis Bay.  I liked them so much, I’ve added a second 7 minute video of their last song of the evening.  Elemotho Galelekwe is the his name. http://elemotho.com/

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