Tuesday, May 16: We were among the first campers to get up at 4:15 a.m., take the short, cold walk (between 35 and 40 Farenheit; winter has begun here in the southern hemisphere) to the ablution block for the morning routine, make coffee courtesy of our gas bottle, aluminum kettle, and jar of instant Nescafe, and strike camp. The gated entrance to Sossusvlei, which is a national park with controlled access, is visible from the campground, and within half an hour of rising we saw the red tailights of vehicles lining up to have credentials checked for entrance. The gate opened at 5:15 and a caravan of cars, 4x4 vehicles, and overlanders (a special type of multi-passenger double-level vehicle designed for sightseeing) embarked on the hour-long drive to the dunes.

On arrival groups of people, mostly youngsters in their late teens and early twenties, pile out of vehicles and begin to run up the slope of Dune 45--and then they realize that running uphill in deep sand is very hard work. Some had worn only flip-flops as footgear, and had to discard them on the spot in order to make any progress on the climb. I (Gina) knew one-third of the way up that I couldn't make the climb, so I retreated to the bottom and walked around the dune on the ground, where I could watch the climbers as I walked. Jeff kept up with the youngsters and made it to the top. He was too far away for us to talk, or even shout, but we could see and wave to one another.

Many people traveled no farther than Dune 45, where there is space to set up portable equipment for meals, coffee/tea, etc. but after the climb we and a few others continued on the road to see the rest of the dunes. Only 4x4 vehicles are allowed to drive the final 5 km into the park because of the deep sand, and even with a 4x4 we were briefly stuck about 3 km in. We stayed in Sossusvlei until about noon, when the weather became hot and the park was crowded with sightseers. (Visitors are not allowed to say in the park past sundown each day.) We repacked our bakkie from an impromptu breakfast and drove back to the gravel road at Seerheim to head for Walvis Bay, a small city in western Namibia on the Atlantic Ocean.