Hardap

Drive: 375km

We woke up all refreshed from the quietest night ever and come out of our nest at the crack of dawn. At breakfast, we marvelled at the deafening silence of the night, truly expecting to be hearing the local animals going about their nocturnal lives. Maybe there just aren’t any animals around here we said.

A little later as we were strolling toward the sunshine we discovered subtle prints, just a few meters away from our tent! A print with the unmistakable 5 little cushions reminding us this was not our land (see photo).

It was time to leave our little improvised paradise camp. But first a quick pit stop to fix our tyre, at the petrol station / convenience store / restaurant / accommodation - the definition of one stop shop. Assisted by Piet and his crew the tyre was quickly fixed and we were ready to go.

Back on the road we were. On the way to the Red Dunes of Sossuvlei, the much expected first destination of our Honey moon. The road was a classic Namibian strip of desert surrounded by rocky mountains. But the closer we got to our destination, the more the landscape started showing off. The layers of orange, red and brown of the hills; the dephts of blues and greys of the mountains afar; the patches of greens at our side; the true palet of Namibian colors was unfolding in front of us.

One last patchy rocky road until we finally arrived at Sossus Oasis Camp, our home for two nights. Or so we thought. As we arrived to check in, after queing in the heat for the very busy entry park, we realized our booking was in fact for another Camping. "The camp you booked, Namib Naukluft, is 100km that way" the lady said, "and we are fully booked here unfortunately." But with a genuine apology and kind smile, Petronella agreed to find us an unofficial spot for the night, that she even walked us to. "You won't have any electricity though" she said - so we answered "but you have beers on tap right? WE'LL TAKE IT" we had a good laugh and proceeded with the check in. A couple of beers later, we had made a new plan. Spend the night here, hit the dunes early in the morning and head straight to Swakopmud after.

After hitting the very refreshing pool, we set up camp, poured ourselves a well deserved G&T and started making dinner. Menu of the day: sardines au citron for the apéro and chicken curry in the potjie for mains. A lovely evening in the warmth of the desert and packed up to be able to leave at 6 in the morning.

Check out the photos and recap videos belowLes mer