By no means a long day was planned today, just a touch further into the desert to Sesriem, so that we would be able to use that as a jumping-off point to Dune 45 (so called simply because that's how far along the road it is from the park entrance) for a sunrise tomorrow. First, though, a somewhat time-killing stop at Moose's Desert Bakery, at Solitaire, a pastry oasis miles from any settlement. And there's precious little passing traffic. In fact, Namibia & traffic do not belong in the same sentence. Curious to say the least.
Sesriem Camp is somewhat larger and better-appointed than Boesmann. We have returned to the theme of empty, though. And the showers are gorgeous!
Over lunch, taken after erecting tents and lashing them together to ensure their staying in place in the high wind (yes, more dust!), the weather forecast for tomorrow took precedence. There was a high likelihood of cloud ruining the sunrise over Dune 45, so things got rejigged. The group set off there and then to see it while the going was good. Before that, though, a two-hour desert walking trip around Deadvlei and Sossusvlei. A strong, persistent wind got up, however, and I did not take the risk; there is no wind-free bolt hole out there for lens cleaning/removal when things go pear-shaped. And, in any case, I was already down to wearing only one lens, so removing the other would have made me a 24-carat liability. I cleaned the truck, listened to music and wrote blog instead.
When we returned to Dune 45, however, something in the brain told me I had already missed so much on this trip by doing the wallflower act that, having watched the others set off up the thing, I just said bugger it and took off after them. I expected a hot workout, but in effect it was not so, just a concerted, three-up-two-back plod up the ridge of shifting sand. The view from the top was well worth the twenty minutes.
High wind and unpleasant volumes of dust caused an early retirement, 2030. It rained in the night, but the promised storm did not materialise.
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