Another must in Namibia is getting up way before sunrise & climbing the Dunes to see the sunrise from the top. We started at 4:45 and actually saw the sun peak though before our final ascent. It was still magnificant.

When the sand is fresh and you get to make your own footprints, it is a truly magical feeling. The quick weather change is also very interesting. You start out when it is cool & windy and end up in the desert heat & blazing sun! Thankfully our Kili climb taught us to carry lots of water. Others ran out & were sucking on stones to get the saliva glands flowing!

The colour changes of the dunes in different lights is also truly amazing. This is Dune 45 after our descent. You can still see others all the way up. Dune 45 is so called because it is 45 km from a variety of places and easily acessible for an early climb.

We ate a hearty breakfast at the truck and then prepared for our afternoon outing. As you can see, the desert was very hot & dry & the sun quite strong by now. We hiked 7 km, through deep sand, to an area known as Deadvlei which means dead valley. The trek there was long & flat with beautful views of all the dunes along the way.

When we reached the end, the view was on the OTHER side of a huge dune. Janet could not believe that she would have to climb up yet another dune & thought she would make sandangles instead!

Just as quick, Janet experiened some of the life on the dunes! This sand skink was cute but too close for comfort! It's like a snake that swims on the sand.

So....up again we climbed, getting so much sand in our shoes, up the dunes! The view from the top was quite surprising. Deadvlei includes a dried up lake and all around, you guessed it - more dunes! It was actually very picturesque but time was tight so we scurried down (the best part) and made the long walk back to the truck.