day 9 & 10: sossusvlei and christmas day (namibia)

We spent two nights at Sesriem, and drove into Sossussvlei both mornings. The first morning, we slept in (until about 6:45am, when the sun was already hitting the tent), made coffee, and moseyed out to Sossussvlei to explore. We climbed the dune above Dead Vlei, a famous dry pan with dead trees scattered throughout that make for unique pictures. While we were there, we spotted a group climbing "Big Daddy," the tallest dune around the vlei. We decided that we'd better try to peak it during our sunrise walk the next day.

So, on Christmas morning, we woke up around 4:45, packed up camp in ten minutes, and drove over to the gate. We were the first ones out into the park when the gates opened at 5am, and we cruised out in the dark watching the stars slowly disappear and the dark outline of the dunes appear on the horizon as the sky got lighter. We parked the car an hour later, and jogged across another pan to start our climb. We huffed and puffed as quick as we could to get up to a point high enough to watch the sun rise. After resting and watching for a while, I convinced Jim to stick with our climb (we were getting tired with no one else on the dune to make tracks for us to walk in!) and we made it to the top of Big Daddy before running back down. (To get yourself off that sand dune you've worked so hard to climb, you just point your feet toward the bottom and start running! A scary feeling when it is really steep, but the sand is deep and soft and slows you down).

We have two videos from Christmas morning on YouTube: Climbing Up and Running Down.

We got a late start this morning, and it was hot, hot, hot for our climb up the dune above Dead Vlei.

Dead Vlei.

Sweating in the sun.

Just hanging around! It was really hot out, ok? We were acting a little silly.

Pool-side in the shade later on Christmas Eve. It was all we could do to keep cool.

Hurrying to the dunes on Christmas morning!

Starting the long, slow climb.

Sun is getting closer....

There it is! Merry Christmas!

Can you see the lizard tracks in the sand?

Already sweating!

Taking a rest halfway up!

 

This peak is where we are headed.

Getting closer! Two Austrians caught up with us as we sat for a rest a bit higher up, and we exchanged pictures.

Made it! It was beautiful at the top. We're looking out onto the Namib desert, and there isn't a road for miles.

Looking back at Dead Vlei.

Feeling accomplished!

Looking over Sossussvlei.

And just like that, we're back down the hill and hiking out. Here's Big Daddy from across Dead Vlei. We estimate it was around 700-900 feet tall.