Sunday, July 26, 2009

keetmanshoop to sossusvlei



our one night of "luxury" in keetmanshoop ------------------- "we're on the road to nowhere..."



safety in numbers seems to work for birds too



our odd campsite, sheltered from the wind -------------------- the beckoning dunes



wildlife in sossusvlei




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gale force winds on dune 45



and the view










natures love = a sand storm









deadvlei









a carni dune dweller







the never ending straights
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the song that comes to mind when driving this stretch is "we're on the road to nowhere". indeed, this is how one feels when the GPS one, looong straight line and for as far as the eye can see, with not even a cm of a bend. the tar roads do have speed limits of 120 km/h, the gravel roads do not...not that either make much of a difference. it is easy to suddenly reach 160 (sorry margs) with not a care in the world - one doesn't pass a soul, human or animal.
the surroundings of sossusvlei were spectacular! the bold red dunes beckoned to us from the moment we laid our eyes on them. having set up camp in a rather perculier site, we watched the masses of sand change from brown to orange to brilliant red.
the following day, we faced the gale force wind and tackled dune 45 and attempted to walk 10 kms in a sand storm to deadvlei (nature proved her point, we turned back and ended up catching the taxi). deadvlei consisted of a white basin with a dead tree forest, surrounded by red sand dunes. a weird and almighty sight to behold.

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