We don’t pick up our car until noon, so Eric spends the morning catching up on housekeeping (ie. playing on the computer) and I, taking my responsibility as navigator seriously, study the road atlas.
I’m trying to sort out the best route to get to our first destination – Sossusvlei in Namib-Naukluft National Park – but I’m completely stumped. Not knowing the roads firsthand and only hearing how bad they can be to windshields and tires, I can’t seem to figure out the best route to go. Fortunately, the owner of the hostel we’re staying at gives me a few helpful pointers, so we now have a general game-plan in place before picking up our car.
Speaking of which, it doesn’t take long for Eric to name our new ride.... everyone, meet “Vinnie”!
After going through the whole “sign your life away” process with the rental company and making a quick stop at a grocery store to pick up some supplies – water, bananas & cookies – we head off into the great unknown. And when I say “the great unknown”, I truly mean the GREAT UNKNOWN… neither one of us knows what to expect.
Because of the late start to our trip – it’s about 1:30pm by the time we’re actually out of Windhoek – we know we won’t make it all the way to the national park today, so we stop off at Namibgrens Rest Camp for the night. It turns out to be some pretty posh camping for us – a definite step up from our previous experiences of “ghetto camping”.
It even has a trampoline.
As you can see, it doesn’t take Eric long to break out his Spiderman impersonation.
The sun wakes us up early, so by 7:30am we’re on our way.
The scenery is amazing – it’s like nothing either of us has ever experienced before! Some areas are completely barren and everything is dry… it’s hauntingly beautiful.
We make a pit-stop along the way in the “town” of Solitaire. And by town, I mean a population of 20. It’s marked by an automobile graveyard which is pretty neat, so we take some time to look around and snap a few pics for Eric’s Dad, as we fill Vinnie up with gas – petrol stations can be few and far between ‘round here.
Because of our early start this morning, we arrive at Sesriem Camp Site, which is the closest campsite to Sossusvlei, in time to get the best spot around.
We quickly set up our stuff and head out into the park because as far as we’re concerned, if our campsite is this good, we can only imagine what the rest of the park will be like.
Boy, are we right…
Words just can’t describe Sossusvlei.
And of course, the trip wouldn’t be complete without a scramble up a dune.
This one is known as “Dune 45” because it’s located 45km from the entry gate.
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