At 5 am we had packed our stuff to the car and were ready to take on the dunes of Sossusvlei, the second UNESCO World Heritage Site of Namibia. Sossusvlei has got it sand from the Kalahari Desert millions of years ago when the Orange River washed it down to the Atlantic, and today its dunes are constantly changing shape. The only way to realize its size is to climb to the top of the dune. The magnitude was the most evident when we started our one and a half hour hike to the top of the Big Daddy dune before sunrise (after driving a crazy 4 km sand road leading to the dune, only accessible by a 4x4).
As the sand is almost softer than snow in Lapland, every step takes an effort, so there is no sense starting the climb after sunrise, as the temperature can go as high as 50 degrees during the day. From the surface the dune looks gradual, but it has its surprises - after an hour of hiking there was a steep climb up which really took an effort (at least from us, there was the German couple from our neighboring campsite walking up past us, we’re not sure if they were even sweating…)
At that point Timo chose to take his shoes off, as our socks were full of sand (note: wearing shoes with a breathable canvas is not a good idea).
All the hard work eventually paid out: the view from the top was overwhelming, almost too much to take in. As the sun kept rising, the only thing that broke off the silence were our toes in the sand. Doing this was a privilege!
After climbing the 325 meters up to the highest dune in Namibia, there is only one thing to do: run down like crazy!! The feeling when you are running down the dune knee deep in sand is totally deliberating. The sand makes this thumping sound and one leap can take you five meters down at once!
The same time you can see Deadvlei with its white clay ground and dried tree trunks coming closer with every step.. Priceless!
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