So we left Swakopmund early, noone was actually functioning proprerly at that time as it had been a hectic but fun few days. Our next destination was Sesriem, which is the gateway to Sossuvlei the iconic Namibian dunes that everyone talks about. The day started out cloudy and it looked like rain however a few hours later and the sun was burning very brightly and very hot in the sky. All was quiet on the bus though as most of the truck got some sleep after stocking up on drinks and things at the servo (that is garage to me and you).

Our first stop was at the smallest town in South Africa and to be honest the name of it has slipped my mind at the present time, however what I do know is that they sell the best and biggest apple pie I have ever seen. Honestly the portions are absolutely epic and the small place is best known for its apple pie. So after filling up on apple pie we could barely move to get ourselves back on the truck. It was not much longer on the truck until we got to the campsite in sesriem.

A s we were travelling along the landscape wass becoming more dry and desolate, although there was a good few animals around including a heck of a lot of Ostrich, just standing there (luckily not in the middle of the road) quite oblivious to what was going on around them. The campsite was rather big and hot and dry. I mean literally dry becasue as we parked up the truck and set up for lunch we went to fill the handwashing bowls as ususal and no water came from the tap. That is right people zilcho water was coming from them there taps. Luckily we had a bit of water in the jerry can but not enough to see us through to the next day so we were praying that the taps would magically work again later on that day.

Despite the drout in the taps, there was water in the swimming pool and it was nice and cool too. We wasted no time in launching ourselves into the pool much to the annoyance of the german people sat around and in the pool. We were making a habit of annoying people I cannot imagine why!!!! A little while later we headed out in the midday sun to do a bush walk. Yes I am sure that this defies all advice of keeping out of the sun to avoid adverse effects but wiht limited time it has to be done. Approximately 30 minutes later and we were at the drop off point. This place was so arid it was ridiculous. Ten or more birds were clinging on to our drinking water tank trying to lap up the few drops that were finding their way out of the tank, that is desperate man. You wonder how any life at all can be sustained in such an environment.

Our bushman guide came to meet us and took us off in his 4x4 to the pint where we would do a hike.... in the sweltering heat. On the way he was pointing out animals such as a afamily of ostrich and some kudu. These animals would differ enourmously from their counterparts across the way where water is readily available. This was demonstrated by them bringin over a kudu from a different part of Namibia to the desert and it died in a few days due to the water shortage. The other animals have adapted and eat various plants to survive the arid desert.

So our guide took us on a walk through the desert. On the way he told us about different water sources, this included a plant called ostrich food, eating small lizards raw and using ostrich eggs to catch condensation it was all amazing stuff. He also showed us a few of the animal/insect life in the dunes. There were quite a few lizards running around, he got one to bite onto his finger and it wouldnt let go. The way he caught  it was pretty cool aswell using shadows to fool it into running a certain direction. He also showed us the baboon spider. This was my favourite thing. Basically the baboon spider lives under the ground and they make a trap door.  The bush man was able to see where these trapdoors were, I didnt have a clue and he prized one open with a stick and dropped some sand down the hole and lo and behold the spider came running up and shut the door again. It was brilliant, he repeated this two or three times.

The actual formation and evolution of the dunes is interesting. Sossuvlei are ones that do not move owing to the changing direction of the wind. They gradually increase in length until the two dunes on each side meet in the middle. Then when the Tsauchaub river gathers up enough momentum and volume it fills the desert pan up until the point where the sand dunes have met. everything beyond that becomes dead vlei but grass and trees are able to grow where the water has saturated the ground. This happens cyclically , there is no real determined lenght of time but the amount of time between the last two saturations was three years. Dead vlei was truly an amazing site which i cannot put into words really, only from looking onto it you feel dwarfed by the vastness of the pan.

Bushman traditions were also conveyed to us and it was  heart warming to see that despite the struggles in the past with farmers taking and dividing the land the indigenous people are still able to carry on their traditions and pass down important information from generation to generation. Goodness only knows how long it will continue but lets hope for some considerable time to come.

As if that was not enough hiking we hopped back on the truck along with about 10 bees who also like our water and headed to dune 45. This is the most accessable dune and is frequently hiked up byindividuals and groups of people. Most people get up a some hideous hour and hike at sunrise but we decided to hike at sunset. It was hard work getting to the top and we did contemplate stoppping half way up but being ever the achievers we marched on until we got to the peak and sat and watched the red sand and sky changing colour as the sun sank behind the dune. it was beautiful. The fun part after was that we were able to run down the side of the dune, brilliant.  As we drove back we were treated to a beautiful combination of colours in the sky, twighlight, and also the streaking tail of a comet as it burned its last few hours on earth. 

We had dinner when we got back to camp, I stubbed my toe on this post that was about shin high so goodness only knows how I missed it , but you know me. Also I could have sworn that I saw a zebra or some similar sized aniimal trotting across the camp ground from the direction of the bar into the bush, wierd, it was not larium day otherwise I could quite have easily blamed it on that. Before heading off to bed to rest my aching muscles I lay and watched the stars, I could not get over how spectacular they were nor how many there were it was great. I was half looking out for jackals though I had seen them wondering around and didnt want to get nipped by one of them so after a short time I headed off to bed, though the solid dusty ground was not exactly an inviting prospect.