Day 4 to 6 - 3rd to 5th November - into the Namib Desert

Point of departure : Aus

Point of arrival : Namib Rand Nature Reserve

Accommodation: Sossusvlei Desert Lodge(www.andbeyondafrica.com)

Km travelled today: 348km Cum: 1 665km (gravel 339km cum 528km)

Countries so far: 2/16

Where to next? Swakopmund

Total number of photos taken: 123 (cum 367)

We are on our way to Sossusvlei…. We should get there some time today… and we did, at about 1pm after stopping off at Duwisib Castle.

Duwisib Castle - a stone castle complete with fortifications, turrets and gun-slits, sitting on a dusty hill in the middle of the African bush.Baron Hans Heinrich von Wolf, married to a millionaire American heiress, completed the castle in 1909 and bred horses.Sadly he was killed in Europe in 1915 on the battlefields and his wife returned to America and never came back to Africa.Apart from the fact that it is a couple of 100km's from anywhere the castle was really quite depressing inside and we cannot imagine what possessed the man to build it a century ago …. A monument to his own folly.

Then our arrival at the luxurious Sossusvlei Desert Lodge with everything one might expect from & Beyond (used to be known as CCA) establishment.A maximum of 20 guests, beautiful views of the yellow bushman grass plains, granite hills, ochre dunes in the distance and azure skies. First class service, warm and friendly staff and beautiful surroundings - what more could we ask for.

Our first activity in the afternoon with Fillon our guide (and Paul and Anne from the UK), was a nature drive, without much expectation of serious game viewing.Well, not only did we see a coalition of 5 brother cheetahs on a gemsbok kill but also one of the recently introduced giraffe having just given birth.Baby was still on the ground, not even standing and mother trying to clean her (we decided it was a girl) and coaxing her on her feet.We did eventually see those first tentative steps and the rest of the family gathering round to offer their support and congratulations.Our sundowner break was spent watching them meet the new arrival.What a great afternoon.

Day 5, at the lodge, started with a short drive to the dunes and then quad biking in the dunes again with Fillon, Paul and Anne. For the relative novices that we are it was just FANTASTIC!With the ups and downs, twists and turns, through the thick ochre sand of the dunes we felt like kids with new toys.Then back to the lodge for a splendid breakfast and a bit of relaxing by the pool as it started to get extremely hot.In the afternoon we drove through to the petrified dunes, drove up the dunes and then back along the sand dunes.We ended not having a sundowner on the dunes due to the mini sandstorm.The evening we spent half an hour with Di, the astronomy guide - the highlight was seeing Jupiter with 4 of its 63 moons/natural satellites through the 12 inch telescope.

Day 6 - started with a brisk walk across the plains, half way up a mountain, to see Bushmen paintings.A little disappointing but some still visible notably, giraffe, ostrich and some human forms.Oh well, back to the pool to while away the hours until lunchtime.Afternoon we went quad biking on the dunes again - told you we are like kids with new toys.

Our thanks to Chris, Annelie, Jeff, Ruth, and all the staff at Sossuslvei Desert Lodge for making our stay a most memorable one.

And now our resident poet - John has this to say:

The lodge, the plains, the great outdoors,

The giraffe and cheetah, quads and more,

The dunes, and sense of time and space

Its no wonder we really like this place.

The pool to while the daytime hours

The room, the skylight and outdoor showers

The patio dining in the evening's cool embrace

It's no wonder we really adore this place.

Our departure time is now upon us,

But no one can take our memories from us,

It's the staff who provide the human face

It's no wonder we really love this place.