Namibia 2.0

Since I'm still Que-tipping sand out of my ears, I feel Namibia posts are still fair game.   And it is taking me FOREVER to go through my 1000+ snaps.

Days 3 of our Chameleon Tour

One benefit to waking up before the ass crack of dawn is that I got to see all thousands and thousands of stars that filled the sky with out the light from the full moon hindering my vision.... I was stupid and only brought an Iphone camera so no amazing pics, unfortunately.    Also a benefit to waking up early, I had the guide to myself, so I got a couple of private lessons in star gazing and am now able to identify the Southern Cross.  I wanted to help prepare breakfast, but by the time I was up at and out at 5:15 am he was already done.... all I had to do was put the water on the stove for coffee.

Day 3 consisted of a day at the Namib-Naukluft National Park... climbing and running down, 3 of the biggest dunes:  Big Daddy, Big Mama, and Dune 45.    The climbs weren't as challenging as they looked, except for maybe Dune 45, where it was already mid-day and the sun was blazing.  Also the path of the morning climbers had already blown away and Alison had to forge our trail.   The view was well worth it!   Absolutely amazing and we had a great view of  Oryx grazing and running below. Dune 45 is the star dune of Sossusvlei and is often featured on National Geographic and other sources.   It's going to be fun to have bragging rights now, every time I see it pictured somewhere.

  On the first dune, Big Daddy, I was getting a little dizzy looking down and see how high we were (Big Daddy is 325 meters high)... I didn't realize that there was no real way to fall off the dune.  The sand is so soft, if I did fall over the ridge, I would have just sunk.   This realization made the others that much easier and more enjoyable.  Running down the side was like skiing in the sand.  The view from the top of Big Daddy into  Deadvlei below was breath taking.   Deadvlei is a grave yard of trees on the dry river bed that have been dead for hundreds of years.

Dune 45

Hey Ostriches!

About to hike up Big Daddy

Sliding down into Deadvlei

Deadvlei

Big Mama

The team on Big Mama

Alison and I on Dune 45

In the evening, we hiked the Sesriem Canyon, one of the only places with water in the desert.

He swore there's fish in there... I didn't believe him

I

After returning to camp,  I said hi to Mr. Oryx that was sleeping under my window, spent some quality time with cocktails in the pool and then a sunset hike to see the sun set over the Naukluft mountain range.   

Hi Oryx

Hi fancy cocktail

Goodbye sun