A relaxed departure as we were leaving at 0830 but were all still up before 0700 hours. Drive through increasingly rocky hilly plateaus until we reached Fish River Canyon. This is the second largest canyon after the Grand Canyon - except there us debate amongst those in the know as to whether it is actually a gorge. Eons ago there was much volcanic activity in the region which pushed the earth's fissures further apart creating this awe inspiring landscape. Due to...

We were on the truck and leaving the campsite this morning at 0530 hours to get to the infamous Dune 45 in time for people to run to the top to watch the sunrise. It was something of a race with many other people staying at the campsite doing the same thing ... the dune is about a 40 minute drive from the campsite. The dunes in this area are red sand - a stunning range of colours as the sun rises. Tessa went right to the top and along to the end whilst Vikki we...

Back on the truck this morning - up bright and early to make the most of an en suite shower (3 of us had shared an 8 person dorm for the 3 nights in Swak) and a stroll to a local cafe for breakfast - thrilled with the choices available Vikki had a bacon & avocado Benedict whilst Tessa enjoyed a vegetarian breakfast burrito. Got back to the hostel within plenty of time for getting on the truck only to discover that Driver Dave had taken it away to fill it with...

Whilst Tessa had a very relaxed morning Vikki went off on a tour of desert life. She saw geckos, lizards, chameleons, birds, insects and even some snakes. Admittedly with the latter she stood some distance away and let Ben take photos with her camera. It was quite small but size does not matter ;-) Having fallen in love with there being sand everywhere she climbed to the top of another dune and sat appreciating the beauty of this environment before leaping gazell...

We spent the morning sandboarding. It was great fun! Both of us had chose to do the lying down version whilst a few of the others did the standing up like snowboarding. We were given a helmet, gloves, and elbow pads along with a piece of plywood. That was it. The first dune was the lowest and we were taught how to brake without feet. Then we went for it at least 4 more times including a sitting up tandem. Walking up the dunes was hard work ... a great workout! ...