Sossusvlei

My vist to the tallest red sand dunes in the world!!

 Sossusvlei located in the Namib Desert is the home to some of the largest red sand dunes in the world and a few weeks ago I got the  opportunity to climb to the top of one of them.  This trip was outstanding, even though we happened to go during one of the hottest weekends in the last 25 years.  One day temperatures reached about 116 degrees... and we were tent camping!!

On our first night we set up camp and quickly ate dinner before setting off to hike a smaller dune to watch the sun set.  Those dunes were beautiful and I had no idea how much more impressive the dunes we would climb the next morning would be.

The next morning we woke up at 4:30am and headed further in to the park where all the large dunes are located.  We first hiked in to Deadvlei (translated Dead Marsh) which is a white clay pan.  We managed to finish this hike and watch the sun rise before it got hot, stopping to take some really fun pictures where the lighting was great!

Next we headed across the road to hike "Big Mama" a dune that is 919 feet above ground, and the second largest dune in the Namib Desert.  Luckily we were able to finish before it got too hot because let me tell you I was a little bit winded from climbing that!

Once we reahed the top of " Big Mama" we sat and enjoyed the amazing view of Sossusvlei which is the famous salt pan that the area is named after.  The salt pan is oval shaped and is covered in a crust of salt and iron rich sand.  The reason the dunes in Sossusvlei are red is because of the high iron content in the sand.

To make our way down the dunes some of us took our shoes off and ran/stumbled down the huge mounds of sand.  It was quite the exhilarating experience and I'm sure glad I didn't fall because I will be finding sand in my hair for the next year as it is! 

Etosha National Park

Some of my highlights of the trip so far have been the game drives we did while in Etosha National Park, Namibia's largest park stretching over 8500 square miles. Our first night in the park we stayed at Dolomite Camp, which consisted of about 20 bungalows on a hill overlooking the Savannah.  It was by far one the of the most beautiful places I have every stayed.  That night we went on a game drive at about 4pm.  It started out slow with some sprinbok, zebras, and guineafowl and we were all getting a little discouraged because we really wanted to see some elephants, which are rare this time of year.  Suddenly we turned a corner and there in front of us was a herd of elephants!  I have never been so humbled by nature in my entire life.  Elephants are so graceful for being so large, but when a mamma elephant got a little anxious about us being so close to her baby I was very aware that these beautiful animals could end us in just seconds. 

The next morning we went on another drive where we got to see more zebras, socialable weavers, and even a wild cheetah! Our guide said that in all his years game drives he has never been so close to a wild cheetah.  That was a very cool experience, I feel so lucky that I got to not only see a whole herd of elephants but a wild cheetah too!

Although we were able to see elephants and a wild cheetah, I still really wanted to see a lion.  On our last night we decided to arrange an extra 6am game drive on the morning we were leaving with hopes of seeing a lion, and you know what? We did!! Not only did we see one lion but we saw two prides,  one of which was coming back from a kill.  So cool!!