Sossuvlei

On my last week in Namibia I wanted to take a road trip so 3 other volunteers who were around for the week and I decided to visit Sossusvlei.
We rented a 4x4, stocked up on food that we could cook on the fire and hit the road. We actually passed by the tropic of Capricorn so of course there was a photo shoot in front of the sign.

We found a camp right beside the gates (Sossusvlei is part of a national park) and settled in for an early evening after dinner. We tried to ignore the jackal that was circling our camp while we're just on the ground in our sleeping bags. We don't do tents :)


We got up at 4.15am to have some breakfast and make our way to Dune 45 which supposedly is the best place for sunrise. And we made it in time! We were on the dune as the sun was coming up. The colors were so vibrant and there weren't many people there so it was lovely and serene. Then we headed to the the big Daddy dune and we were the first there! We had some great views again after climbing up the dune.

Finally we stopped at the dead vlei on the way out of the park. This place was mind blowing, I couldn't stop taking photos of the trees. Again, the photos will probably never do it justice. We had one more night out in the desert before heading back to Swakopmund so we stayed at a place called Solataire in the middle of absolutely flipping nowhere. It was just a camp rest stop with a lodge beside it and bakery. Since we checked into the camp site we were allowed to use the pool. It was heaven lazing around for the afternoon in the sun, knowing in a few days I'd be back to full winter in Ireland.

By Wednesday afternoon we had made it back to Swakopmund and I started to pack up my stuff. I can't believe the 3 months has gone by already. It was over a year ago that I dreamed up this idea of helping EHRA with their website and spending a few months out here and now its over. It was really tough saying bye to Dave and Rachel, and all the dogs.
Tsaurab, the big ridgeback likes to rest his head on laps for a snooze, and as I was waiting for my taxi to the airport, he was practically pinning me down with his head, lying right across my stomach. I didn't want to leave him either. I had high expectations for this experience and they were all exceeded. My heart felt so heavy saying goodbye and I definitely shed a few tears stepping off the tarmac onto the plane. I've no idea what 2010 holds for me yet which is scary and liberating at the same time. I can only hope whatever it is, that it'll be even half the adventure this has been. I'll definitely be back to Africa.

Thanks for reading!

You can check out all the photos here.


Happy Christmas/Holidays/New Year!
Jen
xx