We left Agama River Camp at 5:45am to catch the early sun at Sossusvlei and Deadvlei in the Namib desert. More importantly to avoid the long queue at Sesrium Gate and an incipient heat stroke. We are from the desert, but this one is different or maybe not. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to the desert in UAE.

We drove through the Namib National Park, stopped by Dune 45, 80 meters high, and walked up. Some of the dunes reach 400m! An hour later, we drove by several other dunes with peculiar names such as Big Mama and Big Daddy, to Deadvlei. After breakfast, we took a buggy and maneuvered our way into the desert. We hiked for a kilometer until we saw the famous Windows screen saver.

Deadvlei used to be an oasis but then dried up. As a result, scattered salt pans and dead trees are spread across the iron-rich desert. Every decade, water from a river close by, flows through the Sesrieum Canyon hoping to reach the Atlantic. It drains into the desert before it gets there and as a result creates this spectacular scenery.

We picked up lunch at the gas station in Sossusvlei, and headed towards Swakopmund at 12:30pm. We drove along exotic landscapes one of them, the famous Moon Landscape. I am not one to know much about topography, but this was serious.

From and To: Agama River Camp to Swakopmund

Distance: 520KM

Time: 7 hours driving, excludes couple of hours in the Namib

Photos are unfiltered