Desert nomads at Dune 45 and Deadvlei, Namibia

We woke with a slow start, we hit up the supermarket to gather supplies for the next three nights on the road. With just a brief lunch stop at solitaire, the entire day was spent on unsealed roads so we were stoked to finally arrive at Namib Naukluft around 4 to set up camp at Sesreim. A group of us then decided to head down to Sesreim Canyon to explore, sighting a beautiful sunset and the most magical full moon over the distant mountains. Back at the camp, a big feed of chow min later we called it a day and headed to bed. 

We woke to the alarm at 5, darkness still surrounded us as we packed down our tents and staggered up onto the truck. About half hours drive down the road we pulled into a car park at Dune 45 and began to climb the massive sand dune amongst many other tourists. We were climbing up the spine of it as sand tricked away from under my feet I began to feel uneasy and stopped half way to take in the majestic sunrise whilst Sean rallied to the top. The sky was alive with a variety of colours, & after we descended back down, we threw down breakfast & were back on the road. 

We weren’t done with dunes however, our next stop was the picturesque Deadvlei - a massive salt pan sprinkled with 900 year old bare ‘petrified trees.’ We had to take a 4x4 across the sand to get to the carpark, & follow it up with a walk over gently sloping dunes to reach Deadvlei. The pans were surrounded by giant dunes, the highest of which, Big Daddy measures over 300 metres! We walked around admiring the world’s oldest ecosystem, & decided we needed the birds eye view. o we agreed to climb up a steep, massive dune the hard way, & our legs burned as we made our way to the top. What a workout! Reaching the top ,- & somehow not collapsing - we took in the incredible views, snapped a few photos & then we were suddenly running down the dune as fast as we could without toppling over! 

We were only a few hundred metres from the camp when we came across a car accident on the side of the road. The badly injured man told Vee that one of the wheels on the ute he was driving popped unexpectedly, & the whole vehicle flipped off the road. He was incredibly lucky to not only survive, but to come off without any serious spinal damage. 
We arrived at camp just as the sun was setting, quickly pitching tent & enjoying a nice hot shower. Sean cooked an amazing - if a bit spicy - venison curry on mashed potatoes. After a bottle of delicious Malbec & a game of Monopoly Deal (a new card game Chloe taught us all,) we called it a night early, & were straight to bed.