Gather round my friends as I tell you a tale about Dune 45, the largest sand dune formation in the world, located in Sossusvlei in Namibia. This was hands down the hottest temperature I have ever experienced. It would have easily been 49 degrees and the wind was like a hair dryer. None the less this was definitely a highlight of this Africa trip!
We continued our journey along the bumpy dirt road through the desert until we came across a mountain range. We knew we must be close to our next camp ground.
Once we arrived to our camp site it would have been 2pm and the sun was in full effect. This was the first experience I have had of being out in the actual DESERT. It was so damn hot and the wind was like a hair dryer constantly blowing on you.
There was not much shade in sight so we parked the truck under the two trees we could find. One of the trees had this HUGE birds nest with some support from a metal pole as the nest was that big.
Off in the distance BOOM we spotted a swimming pool in the middle of the desert. It was like a mirage.
This was the best thing in the world right now. We grabbed the esky and my only thought was we will have to drink our way through this heat.
We got to the pool and the water was a bit murky it must have been from and underwater river close by. Without hesitation I jumped right in. To my surprise the water was cold!.. Actually very cold.
So we spent the afternoon pool side and drinking our way through the heat.
Set up our tents then started to prepare dinner.
Then had an early night as the next day we were off to climb the famous Dune 45 at sunrise.
Ate our dinner and watched the beautiful sunset.
Dune 45, Sossusvlei Namibia
The next morning we did some stretches getting ready to climb these sand dunes. We all jumped into the truck then headed to Dune 45.
As we got closer to the dunes the morning mist was all around.
The landscape felt like we were on another planet. Sand dunes as far as the eye could see.
We got to the base of Dune 45 and filled our water bottles up, then started our steep accent up the dune.
It is quite a work out walking up sand dunes as every step your feet sink into the sand. But with the morning fog all around us, it was such a magical sight, as we climbed our way through it.
By the time we finally reach the top of Dune 45 we are now 170 meters of the ground looking down at people which look like ants. You don’t notice how high up you actually are as you are concentrating so much on climbing the dune. It’s not until you stop and look around you realise how high you actually are.
We chilled out on top of the dune, taking in the amazing view as the sun slowly rises in the sky.
We decided to climb down the dune a different way then we climbed up. Straight down the side. There was lots of small animal foot prints in the sand everywhere! We even came across a Sidewinder. But we kept our distance from that guy haha. Once back on the ground we made our way back to the front of the dune.
There were many old tree trunks on the walk back which made for some good photos 😊
What an adventure that was. We headed back to the truck for some more water and to take in the image of the sand dune we just conquered.
In the mean time check out my other posts from this African adventure as we make our way down to Cape Town, South Africa.