Into the Dunes!

We spent a couple gorgeous drive days moving through the desert outside Swapokmund, then moving in toward Windhoek(which we didn't visit).  We stopped at some of the largest sand dunes in the world and met Bushman -- as he told us to call him -- for a tour of Dead Vlei, a dry valley closed off from the mountain rivers in an area called Sossusvlei.  We learned the basics of desert survival from this odd, nimble man (a white Africaans, in spite of the moniker) who would point out spoor and various small animals as we slogged through the sand, then skitter off on bare feet over the red sand.  The sand is red because the winds from the ocean pick up iron and deposit it.  We went to a flat white basin that was Dead Vlei, full of very old trees that are so dessicated that just touching them can draw splinters.  Amanda HAD to touch it, and came out unpricked, then we took pictures before hightailing it back to the 4WD Toyota pickup (with twenty or so of our new friends -- a very crowded 4km ride out to the vlei!) so we could catch our truck called Pumba back to Dune 45 for sunset.  We got some great picks from up on the Dune, and it was a wildly magical place.  Amanda sat on the knife edge of the dune pouring sand into the wind while Brad slogged up to the very top.  the views here were truly amazing