The red red dunes

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Trip Start Apr 09, 2008 Previous
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  Windhoek, Namibia
Monday, April 14, 2008

The alarm woke us up at 4:15. It was still pitch black out, stars shining brightly. But up we got, folded the tent and got Foxy fired up. We waited in line with the other dozen or so cars for the gate to open and then raced off into the dunes again for sunrise.

We were bracing ourselves for an even bigger dune-climb than yesterday's, but in fact there was none of that at all! We drove on to Dune 45 and when the paved road ended, continued on the sandy tracks. Foxy LOVED that and performed elegantly. We parked her just at Deadvlei lot and walked around, snapping pics of the beautiful dunes and their morning colours.

We left the desert and entered hills and mountain passes. There was still very little traffic. When there was any sign of life, it was often a donkey-cart and families loaded with gear and children.

Entering Windhoek was like being back in civilization. We arrived at the Arebbusch Campsite and Lodge around 14:00, cooked up a late lunch in their sparkling-clean kitchen, hung out our third load of laundry since beginning our trip just 5 days ago and caught up on a bit of email and news with their wireless internet

driving to Dune 45 and Deadvlei at 5 am

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Tonight we met up with friend Angela. We first met when we went to see her open house in Cape Town. That was back in the day when we thought purchasing a house in South Africa was a good investment. Lucky we didn't go through with that! She and her husband run a Leadership/Coaching company and from time to time she works in Windhoek. It was lovely to meet again.

Angela took us to Joe's Beer House, a must-do for any tourist here, or local for that matter. It has this old rustic feel to it, with toilet-bar seats, old bicycles and baskets hung everywhere, old wooden picnic tables and camping chairs, and some very tasty game meat on the menu. Matt had the "Fire in the Bush" meal. And when it came, the waitress lit the little shot glass of paraffin which was then poured all over the "bush" (or sliced potatoes). Oh, and there was also a piece of barbed wire with a hot pepper attached to it as décor on the plate. Strange. Very Namibian??!!

Start: Sossusvlei, NAM. 5:00
End: Windhoek, NAM. 14:00
Distance Travelled: 472 km
Road Conditions: gravel sometimes corrugated, then smooth paved highway
Temperature: still a nice dry heat. Evening chilly and breezy. No complaints. But needed extra fleece blankets and sleeping bag to keep warm.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

rising sun	our WII shadows	climbing a little	beauty
at the top	windy with blowing sand	downhill	us
this is how far we've come	Foxy in her element	gorgeous	wow
YAY	Bon and Foxy	Matt	YAY again
smooth	on the road back	amazing	our pride and joy, Foxy
Matt driving on dunes	Dune 45 and Foxy	stunning	Bon driving us back
Dinner at Joe's Beer House with Angela.	Matt pours flaming alcohol on his plate.	Arebbusch campsite

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