Sossusvlei

From the entrance of the Sossusvlei National Park, it was sixty kilometres on paved roads to the first car park for two-wheel drive vehicles. From there, the road turns into sand so we lowered the tire pressure on our four-wheel drive and drove the final three kilometres to the parking area for Deadvlei. The key to not getting stuck in the sand is to drive at a steady pace and not to stop until at the car park.

We drove this route back and forth several times over the next two days. We watched how the light shifted from sunrise to sunset over the Sossusvlei dunes and Deadvlei—a clay pan so dry the skeletons of trees dead from 600-700 years ago have yet to decompose.

NamibRand Nature Reserve

NamibRand is a private nature reserve located on the edge of the Namib desert. The reserve started in 1984 when a man named J.A. Brückner integrated a number of former farms for land and wildlife conservation. Today the reserve consists of more than 215,000 hectares (or 2,150 square kilometres).

Wolwedans DuneS Lodge

Wolwedans is a collection of camps on the nature reserve and eco-tourism is what allows the reserve to be financially self-sustaining. We stayed at the Dunes Lodge, which has ten chalets resembling tented camps. The first morning we went on a scenic drive in an open Land Rover to explore the vast and untouched reserve. We saw plenty of oryx, Namibia’s national animal, some ostriches and springbok and a few zebras off in the distance. The reserve is not where you would go for a typical animal safari as the highlight here is the unique landscape.

Later on we had sundowners on the dunes and then a private dinner under the stars. That night it started to rain and it did not stop until the next morning. We couldn’t believe we were rained on yet again in the desert. It rains only once every couple of years in Namibia. While we felt we had the worst luck with the weather, the staff didn’t seem to share our sentiment. In this part of the world, rain is a blessing.