Thursday, April 19, 2007
Namibia Road Trip: Day Five
Today we had a mega early start. We were heading to the dunes at Sesriem so we were left at 5am in order to have visited the place before the sun had risen high enough to make the temperature unbearable. We were told at dinner the previous night that the gate opened at 6am, so to avoid the queues that gather, we left a whole hour before. I banged my knee badly on a step in the dark on the way out, which jarred the joint. Not so fun to sit huddled in the back of a Landrover on a bumpy gravel track!
The early rise worked out well, as we were the first car to reach the gate. Soon a queue of about 9 cars and a bus we behind us. While we waited for the gate to open at sunrise, we ate our breakfast - a box of goodies that the lodge made for us. At 6am, we were finally let in after about a half-hour wait, and we passed through the office to get a pass, then through a second gate, and then we were in. We drove for something like 20-30 minutes through the large expanse between dunes either side of us, and eventually reached Dune 45.
This is the most visited dune in Namibia, and it is possible to walk up it. Of course, we did. I was struggling with my now stiff right knee, but we all made it to the top, including India, who was carried by Milja and Heikki some of the way. Walking uphill is hard enough, but on sand, it is a lot more challenging. The views from the top were amazing. If you look on a satellite image of the area we were in, you can see that the sand seems to be brushed aside leaving a massive gap in the middle. Matias and I made it to the top first, and we sat and watched the sun rise higher over the dunes in the distance. Once everyone had arrived and had taken in the surroundings, we decided to head down the dunes, but not along the path. We headed down. We all scaled the steep side of the dune (which was difficult for me without being able to bend my leg properly), and had a lot of fun in the process. We were down the bottom by 7:30am.
Once de-sanded and back in the car, we continued driving West towards Sossusvlei, the area right at the end of the 'gap'. From there to the West coast, there is nothing but sand. We stopped, Heikki walked for a bit, Milja and I crammed in some reading, and then Matias and India had their turns at driving :)
On our way back to the lodge, we had a quick trip to another canyon, the Sesriem Canyon, this one a lot smaller than the Fish River Canyon we saw a few days previous. We saw some baboons running past on the other side, and had a quick peek down into the gorge.
Back at the lodge, we relaxed for the afternoon. We had some lunch, played cards and swam. At 3:45pm it was time for horse riding. I was looking forward to it this time, after riding properly for the first time two days ago. We had an amazing time on the Sunset Ride, speeding around on the very open, and massive, plains (which was actually quite scary!). At sunset we reached a spot where there was a table set up with drinks and finger food. By the time we were back on our horses to head home, it was dark, and we couldn't see much further than a few metres ahead all the way back. Apart from upwards. We could see the stars so clearly, and it was so beautiful. India fell aslep on her horse and was quickly transfered to Milja's horse with her to stop her from sliding off silently without us knowing. And as per usual, we were treated to another thunderstorm over the mountains ahead. We got back, had dinner and fell asleep early, as we had an even earlier start ahead on Sunday - we were heading home.
The early rise worked out well, as we were the first car to reach the gate. Soon a queue of about 9 cars and a bus we behind us. While we waited for the gate to open at sunrise, we ate our breakfast - a box of goodies that the lodge made for us. At 6am, we were finally let in after about a half-hour wait, and we passed through the office to get a pass, then through a second gate, and then we were in. We drove for something like 20-30 minutes through the large expanse between dunes either side of us, and eventually reached Dune 45.
This is the most visited dune in Namibia, and it is possible to walk up it. Of course, we did. I was struggling with my now stiff right knee, but we all made it to the top, including India, who was carried by Milja and Heikki some of the way. Walking uphill is hard enough, but on sand, it is a lot more challenging. The views from the top were amazing. If you look on a satellite image of the area we were in, you can see that the sand seems to be brushed aside leaving a massive gap in the middle. Matias and I made it to the top first, and we sat and watched the sun rise higher over the dunes in the distance. Once everyone had arrived and had taken in the surroundings, we decided to head down the dunes, but not along the path. We headed down. We all scaled the steep side of the dune (which was difficult for me without being able to bend my leg properly), and had a lot of fun in the process. We were down the bottom by 7:30am.
Once de-sanded and back in the car, we continued driving West towards Sossusvlei, the area right at the end of the 'gap'. From there to the West coast, there is nothing but sand. We stopped, Heikki walked for a bit, Milja and I crammed in some reading, and then Matias and India had their turns at driving :)
On our way back to the lodge, we had a quick trip to another canyon, the Sesriem Canyon, this one a lot smaller than the Fish River Canyon we saw a few days previous. We saw some baboons running past on the other side, and had a quick peek down into the gorge.
Back at the lodge, we relaxed for the afternoon. We had some lunch, played cards and swam. At 3:45pm it was time for horse riding. I was looking forward to it this time, after riding properly for the first time two days ago. We had an amazing time on the Sunset Ride, speeding around on the very open, and massive, plains (which was actually quite scary!). At sunset we reached a spot where there was a table set up with drinks and finger food. By the time we were back on our horses to head home, it was dark, and we couldn't see much further than a few metres ahead all the way back. Apart from upwards. We could see the stars so clearly, and it was so beautiful. India fell aslep on her horse and was quickly transfered to Milja's horse with her to stop her from sliding off silently without us knowing. And as per usual, we were treated to another thunderstorm over the mountains ahead. We got back, had dinner and fell asleep early, as we had an even earlier start ahead on Sunday - we were heading home.
Dan | 
13:57 
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