The main reasons I fell in love Namibia is its eerie beauty. This vast and sparsely populated country really grabs hold of me; I was hooked even before I first visited fifteen years ago! Maybe it is a bit weird having a favourite type of landscape, but I kind of like a setting that punches you in the face with its presence.
As we left Windhoek behind and travelled south, the more desert-like our surroundings grew and reminded me of how it felt the first time I was here. Once again the condition of the roads impressed me, just as the German straightness of them... not too sure that the group shared my point of view though.
One thing that most aren't prepared for is the absolute vastness of this country, twice the size of Sweden, with only about 20% of its population; road trips here entail many hours in a vehicle. Our trusted Dusty, a rattling and uncomfortable old truck, pushed on, deeper into the hot embrace of the Namib Naukluft.
One thing that most aren't prepared for is the absolute vastness of this country, twice the size of Sweden, with only about 20% of its population; road trips here entail many hours in a vehicle. Our trusted Dusty, a rattling and uncomfortable old truck, pushed on, deeper into the hot embrace of the Namib Naukluft.
Two nights here is not enough, but if you're on a tight schedual, I guess it'll have to do. In the evening I decided to give my new toy, a black light (torch with ultraviolet light), a go... disappointment! I didn't find even one scorpion and gave up after overturning stones like mad for half an hour. If any of my guests saw me, they were probably contemplating calling for medical help.
We set out before daybreak the first morning, to be able to watch the sunrise at Dune 45, as you're supposed to... and as most people who come here do.
Climbing the 170 metre high dune though is breathtaking in more than one way and is definitely not for everyone, as I soon discovered. Maybe not the sort of activity you normally think of when conducting tours for 60+ groups! Some did however surprise, showing off antelope-like leaps up the entire height of the sand mountain.
The desert of the Namib Naukluft Park is a photographers dream, with its contrasts between the deep blue sky and the reddish dunes. One should probably stay from sunrise to sunset to make the most of it and capture the scenery in different lighting, but this trip didn't make laziness like that possible, onwards!
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