Sossusvlei

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Next stop was one for a sunrise in the Namib Naukluft National Park. The area is called Sossusvlei and is full of gorgeous sand dunes with a reddish hue. The people at reception said we couldn’t make the 60km journey to the end where the best views are because the gate opened up at 5:15am and the sunrise was one hour later. We decided to wake up a bit early and wait in line. We were at the gate by 4:50 and low and behold it was open with no one in sight! Away we went. Made it all the way to the last 2km where you cannot pass without a 4x4. There are tractors with enough space for 20 on the trailer in which you pay extra money to get a ride there and back. Good thing we had a 4x4 and a crazy Italian driver. The way to drive on pure sand is to let out a bit of air in each tire and drive with quick jerking motions back and forth, left, right, left, right, sporadically to kind of surf on the crest of the sand wave you just created. Difficult stuff, but fun to watch lol. Very surprisingly and against Anja’s likings we made it all the way! And in time for the sunrise!!!! Climbing the dune was the boring part, but taking amazing photos and running down the dune was the fun part!!!! We also had a walk through the deadvlei which is a place where there used to be some kind of high content salt lake where trees grew but now the lake is all dried up and the trees are merely a former shadow of their once lively nature. Fun times yet again! Ps, we made it back without getting stuck once. Impressive, very impressive.

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