It’s still dark as we wait at the entrance of Sossusvlei. We’ve arranged a ride with the 4×4 drivers working at the famous dunes, since we cannot enter with our bicycles. It’s a bit chilly, but we know it will be blazing hot again once the sun rises.
When the open truck arrives with the workers wearing thick jackets, gloves and wool hats.., we believe our T’s are not sufficient for the ride… They convince us to bring something warm, so quickly we take our sleeping bag from the tent and my God, we needed it! It was the most chilly ride ever! Elmar and I are tucked away with our sleeping bag wrapped around us, our fingers freezing because we have to hold the bag up. Some workers are laying on the ground of the open truck in order to catch less wind. It’s an hour from hell! And when we arrive we first need a few minutes to warm up again. But the sight of the deep red colored dunes is worth the effort. We walk the spines, wander among the dead trees of Deadvlei and jump down in the sand. It’s amazing here!
Elmar at Sossusvlei
After the dunes we follow the remote tracks through the Namib dessert with the only other viewers being zebras, impalas and oryxes. We are on our way to diamonds! In the South of Namibia near Luderitz is a small ghost town, Kolmanskop, complete with hospitals, schools, homes with furniture etc. It’s amazing to see how the dessert is claiming back its territory here. We do find a diamond, nothing more than a pin’s head and costs no more than 6000 dollars! It’s quite a disappointment that Elmar doesn’t buy me one.. 😉
Zebra crossing