Sossusvlei Dunes

The Sossuvlei dunes line both sides of a depression that goes on for 60k or more, and then some more in other directions. They climb up the inselbergs, and, in my opinion, probably cover many others. These are some of the world's largest and most extensive dunes. If you like sand and dunes you will really like Sossusvlei. We set forth early, 6AM, in the company of Dave and Marian and James and Margaret, hoping to catch the photographer's best friend, morning light. Some members of our group were out even earlier.

You drive on actual pavement to the end of the road, then ride
a safari truck through sand to the main walking area; above, my
favorite formation, a nearly S-shaped dune, hundreds of feet high

Looking around

Obviously there is occasional rain

Us, there; thanks, Dave

A vlei, that is, dried lake bottom

Higher up, Christine and Jim are already into second breakfast

Here I am trudging along a ridge; I hate sand

Big Daddy, the tallest of the dunes hereabouts..300m?

Looking back to the S

Big Daddy; some of our group climbed it

The ridge on the right does not go...

So Vicki and I got the gist of the sand and dunes experience
pretty quickly, and catch the first safari truck back to the parking
lot

Appreciating the scenery and the deep sand and the fact that we
are not stuck in it

As others are

4WD and AWD are great, but you really need high clearance too
for this environment

Attempted pano

Violet says "please get me out of here!"

Note here the dune blowing up the mountain, almost like a
glacier in reverse

We were the first back to the campground, the electricity had
been restored, and we spent the rest of the afternoon in air-
conditioned comfort, sans sand