Sunrise at Dune 45

We were up at 5.15am this morning with instructions to be sitting on the truck ready to leave by 6.20am. The gate out of the park opens at 6.30am, and we wanted to be first in the queue to set off on the 45-minute drive to Dune 45. The aim was to get there in time to see the sunrise. We didn’t have breakfast before we left, but I had had the foresight to make a flask of coffee last night, so we were at least able to have that!

When we arrived at the dune, we set off to the top to get the best view when the sun rose. Dune 45 is the oldest dune in Namibia. Its name comes from the fact that it is located at the 45th kilometre of the road that connects the Sesriem gate and Sossusvlei. It stands at over 170 metres tall and is composed of five million-year-old sand that is detritus accumulated by the Orange River from the Kalahari Desert and then blown here. It is red in colour because of the amount of iron oxide in the sand. Younger dunes are white, not red.

It was freezing cold and blowing a gale as we started out. Laban advised us to climb on the corner of the dune, preferably stepping into someone else’s footsteps. I set off with good intentions, but soon faltered. The wind was really strong and I felt very unsteady on my feet. About a third of the way up, I stopped and sat down to wait for sunrise. I was soon joined by Kris and Trish. I noticed that Mark, Natasha, and Kim had stopped a little further up. We watched the changing sky for a while, but it was bitterly cold with a biting wind. Other people were climbing the dune past us and we were getting sand in our faces. It wasn’t much fun, so we descended before the sun actually appeared. It really didn’t matter. We still saw the sunrise from ground level, and were in the best place to see the dune turn a vivid red in the sun, and to see the shadows cast by the trees on the dune. Nature certainly put on a show for us! We both took some lovely photos.

As the rest of our group started to descend, we went back to the truck, where Henry had the kettle on and was preparing bacon and eggs for us all. It was so welcome!! We thawed our hands on our cups of tea and coffee, and enjoyed our breakfast as the sun came up. Perfect!!Read more