Sunrise and Sand Dunes

We are staying at Sossusvlei Lodge, which is just outside the first of the entry gates to the National Park. There are two gates and the outer gate opens 1 hour later than the inner gate, so it pays to join the queue earlier than the 7am opening time. You can stay in between the gates but it is more expensive.

This morning consists of two parts, with the first spending time photographing the huge sand dunes in the early morning light. They were fabulous both in colour and the lovely sweeping curves. We even saw hot air balloons drifting over the dunes, catching those morning colours.

On a number of occasions, we left the vehicle to walk a short way to pick out compositions involving the trees that were dotted around, with the dunes as a backdrop. The phone photos here don't do it justice, to be honest, but I loved this location, having been looking forward to it.

At around 9:15 a.m. we arrived at a car park where we had to transfer to another vehicle. The sand trackway from here would take us to somewhere I have dreamt of visiting for a very long time, so I was very excited at this point.

There is no way a normal vehicle can make it through the sand, and I even saw 4x4 vehicles stuck. So the rodeo ride to the final car park is quite an experience, mainly because the drivers don't hang around, presumably so they can do more journeys and earn more money. The bumps do make you feel your spine is being reformed, though. Great fun.Read more