My other half (OH) and I are on the road in Namibia.
Long dusty journeys on gravel roads, from one spectacular desert view to another.
With his usual style, OH takes me to wonderful places for rest breaks.
A Wimpy in the middle of nowhere, followed by a concrete picnic spot with its own dog, miles from any signs of habitation.
But it is all in a good cause, for the scenery is nothing less than spectacular, and we were heading to Dead Vlei at Sossusvlei, a land of dunes and dead trees.
Dead Vlei is a landscape photographers' paradise. 600 year old dead trees that have not decomposed because it is so dry. The river bed that once fed them water has long since dried up.
The ground is dry clay.
We got up at 4.30am to be there before the sun got too hot.
The park gates open at 06.15, and an orderly queue had formed.
In we went and drove along beside the enormous dunes.
We passed Dune 45, which is climbable, and saw a steady line of human ants making their way up.
Our guide was determined that we should avoid the crowds, so we climbed a different dune and learned about the plants and animals of the desert.
Mole and bird tracks
some grass
and lots of sand
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| Sossusvlei |
Slowly we made our way towards the small area that is the famous Dead Vlei.
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| Deadvlei |
As we approached our guide informed us that we could take 'as long as we wanted.... 5 or 10 minutes'.
FIVE OR 10 MINUTES!
I had come half way around the world to see this.
My fellow travellers were not photographers, and had no idea what I thought of his generosity.
I rushed across the dry clay to the farthest trees, took a few quick pictures and then ran back to the folk waiting patiently for me.
I don't think they believed me when I said I could have spent hours there.
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| dead camel thorn trees at Deadvlei |
We stopped at the desert toilets and headed off for a picnic lunch.
Moral of this story; don't go to iconic photography spots with non photographers.
Next time will probably never happen, but it was wonderful all the same.
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