Sossusvlei

From Swakop I continued to Sossusvlei. On the way there, you pass the so-called 'Tropic of Capricorn', made visible by just a sign on the side of the road. This is the latitude where a perfectly straight stick placed vertically in the ground will cast a shadow at 12 noon. In other words, north of this latitude there is no shadow at 12 noon because the sun is directly overhead, and south of this latitude a stick would cast a shadow.

Sossusvlei is a desert landscape with the tallest sand dunes in the world, up to 350 meters high! One of them, not the tallest, that would be 'Big Daddy', but the most famous one with breathtaking 360-degree views, is 'Dune 45'. I was able to climb this one with great effort and barely made it to the top! And that was even with cloudy, rainy, windy, and not particularly warm weather! I can't imagine what it would be like at 30°C with no wind and bright sunshine! =P But the view from up here made up for everything! =)

Back down, I continued to Deadvlei, which is right next to it, but the last few kilometers to the parking area just before it require a 4x4 vehicle! Otherwise, you won't make it through! And it's best to stay in 1st gear, don't let go of the gas, don't shift, and under no circumstances stop! Otherwise, you'll get stuck in the deep sand and won't be able to get out! But I made it through in one piece! =D The last 300-400 meters to Deadvlei, you have to walk through the sand and over another small dune. Deadvlei is a small 'forest' of dead trees that died over 500 years ago but didn't decompose due to the extreme dryness here! And even though it's only a few kilometers from Dune 45 and it was cloudy, rainy, windy, and cool there, the sun was shining here again and it was around 28°C-29°C! When I arrived, there were only 2 people there and I practically had the trees to myself for a photo session. Shortly after, a whole group of tourists arrived and Deadvlei was crowded again! There was a pretty large group of Swiss people. I noticed them at Dune 45 when I was climbing down. They arrived in several SUVs, and even though there was a clearly marked parking area with poles in front of the dune, one of them had to drive his SUV between the poles and all the way to the dune! It wasn't like there weren't already several cars in the parking lot and visibly waiting in front of the poles! They were immediately told to turn back, and when I returned to the parking lot, I heard the driver saying in Swiss German, yeah, we got yelled back! Now these Swiss people were climbing up the trees, even though there was a sign right in front of them with big letters saying 'Do not touch or climb the trees!'. Well, Swiss people are just a bit slower in understanding, aren't they?

Afterwards, I made it back to the campsite just in time before it got dark, and the next day, I started the long drive to Lüderitz! =)