Last night's sleep was interesting to say the least.
We had been warned at last night's briefing about the possibility for wind.
Once the sun went down a slight breeze picked up, but nothing concerning. It was a cold night but the wind was warm.
Sometime during the night before 1am we were woken to a strong wind flapping the sides of the tent. I think if we hadn't been in there with our 20kg bags the tent possibly would of blown away.
We had to turn ourselves around and lie the opposite way because the tent kept flapping into our heads & I was having dreams someone was slapping me.
It was a restless night with the flapping of the tents, whistling noises through the trees & the dust that somehow managed to penetrate into the tent. We could hear sand outside being picked up & thrown on the tents by the wind & other loose items being tossed about.
At 6am the alarm went off, the wind still blowing outside covering everything in sand, only now the pre dawn air was cold.
We ate peanut butter on toast & pretended we had selected the crunchy peanut butter & we weren't eating smooth peanut butter with sand. The only cool thing overnight, was that when Tom got up to relieve the pressure on his bladder behind the tent, he was witness to a herd of oryx running past the campsite. Tom's sleepy mind counted 8. It definitely sounded like that amount from inside the tent where I was lightly sleeping & waiting for Tom to return. Overnight Jill also spotted one munching on a bush near the toilet block, very close to the path & a girl called Rochelle saw a Jackel sniffing around the campsite.
After breakfast we pulled the tents off the poles in an attempt to stop them being picked up & blown away. After this it was in the truck & we were on our way to the Dune 45. Nearly everyone was tired from last nights restless sleep & slept the 45 minute journey to the dunes. When we arrived it was just after 8am, still very cold & very windy.
We removed our tracksuit pants, socks & shoes before leaving the truck.
I'm not sure what numbed my legs first, the cold, the wind or the sand that pelted my skin.
We started the climb with our eyes barely open & our faces screwed up.
I was cold & stiff, my legs weren't working very well & I slipped in the sand a few time's at awkward angles putting my knees under pressure. I had a few moments of panic thinking how disastrous it would be if my knee dislocated halfway up the sand dune.
We stopped & I did some stretches before Tom took the lead up the dune holding a hand out the back for me. He made big steps impacting the sand & making it solid for me so I wouldn't slip. On the steeper parts he put the go pro stick out behind him as well as his hands so I had more to grip onto. I was a little bit embarrassed to need so much help & for Tom to be guiding/nearly pulling me up the dune. But then I thought, in uncertain & scary times throughout life, if Tom is there to guide me through, what more could I want. We make a great team & achieve a lot together.
The dune was achieved! After 45 minutes of battling through the apricot coloured, soft, cold, shifting sand underfoot & the airborne, wind propelled sand that ravaged any exposed skin & our eyes, we finally made it to the highest point. Even with the cold & the wind, this dune was still easier than the one we climbed in Mongolia. Being able to walk & climb along the ridge of the dune instead of climbing up the side with hands, knees & ankles, made all the difference.
Once we had our moment of victory & taken enough digital footage as proof & memory, we started our way directly down the sunny side with Jill & Julian.
Tom has some footage of Jill, Julian & himself running & jumping down the dune, while I timidly & slowly followed behind. The journey down was incredibly easier & quicker. Once we reached the bottom there was no cold wind or projectile sand, which made our spirits soar. We still had a 20 minute walk back along the dunes base which gave us time to admire & photograph 2 types of flowers. We saw the occasional insect, reptile hole & some faecal droppings from a small mammal.
It was nice to finally reach the warmth of the truck.
Next we were on our way to the dead Vlei. To be honest Tom & I didn't do much research on what this was or its significance. We had no idea what it was. The truck could only take us to the carpark & then jeeps would take us through the soft sand & drop us off.
It turned out the Dead Vlei was a dry lake, that had its water cut off by the dunes. The mud created some cool patterns when it dried up & there was a lot of dead trees. It wasn't all dead however & there were green clumps of some sort of very hardy grass.
To be honest, it was very underwhelming. Tom & I definitely missed why this was an attraction worth paying for, or bringing thousands of tourists to every year. We were in a desert... there's plenty of dried up 'dead' lakes. We spent maybe 15 minutes here before heading back.
We weren't the only ones who were quickly finished with it & Jurumba seemed genuinely shocked... all but 3 people were back well before the allocated time was over, we were hoping to leave early & get back to camp for lunch. However it turned out the 3 people we were waiting on were lost.
Like us, not understanding the relevance of the dried lake, they had climbed a sand dune to see if there was something else. Unfortunately they didn't find anything else & it took them nearly an hour to make it back. During this time Tom & I napped, missing most of the drama & worry. I would later read that some of the dead trees are 500 years old & that it is considered an area of stark beauty in the desert. I will admit, some of the photos that show the creamy mud, grey & black dead trees with the back drop of apricot sand & deep blue sky do look very striking.
Once all on the truck we drove back to the campsite, had lunch & a free time break before meeting back at the truck for 4.30pm & the Sesriem Canyon.
The Canyon was only about 4 kilometers from our campsite & is a narrow fissure in the sandstone reaching a maximum depth of 30metres. There is some cave structures that have been chiseled out of the rock by the flow of water. At some times during the year, the river bed is full of pools of water & tourists have been known to swim in it when it's not stagnant. It was all dry when we visited & won't fill again until there's rain in the Naukleft Mountains.
After exploring the canyon, it was back to the truck & we returned to the camp for dinner & hopefully a wind free sleep.
-Alli
We had been warned at last night's briefing about the possibility for wind.
Once the sun went down a slight breeze picked up, but nothing concerning. It was a cold night but the wind was warm.
Sometime during the night before 1am we were woken to a strong wind flapping the sides of the tent. I think if we hadn't been in there with our 20kg bags the tent possibly would of blown away.
We had to turn ourselves around and lie the opposite way because the tent kept flapping into our heads & I was having dreams someone was slapping me.
It was a restless night with the flapping of the tents, whistling noises through the trees & the dust that somehow managed to penetrate into the tent. We could hear sand outside being picked up & thrown on the tents by the wind & other loose items being tossed about.
At 6am the alarm went off, the wind still blowing outside covering everything in sand, only now the pre dawn air was cold.
We ate peanut butter on toast & pretended we had selected the crunchy peanut butter & we weren't eating smooth peanut butter with sand. The only cool thing overnight, was that when Tom got up to relieve the pressure on his bladder behind the tent, he was witness to a herd of oryx running past the campsite. Tom's sleepy mind counted 8. It definitely sounded like that amount from inside the tent where I was lightly sleeping & waiting for Tom to return. Overnight Jill also spotted one munching on a bush near the toilet block, very close to the path & a girl called Rochelle saw a Jackel sniffing around the campsite.
After breakfast we pulled the tents off the poles in an attempt to stop them being picked up & blown away. After this it was in the truck & we were on our way to the Dune 45. Nearly everyone was tired from last nights restless sleep & slept the 45 minute journey to the dunes. When we arrived it was just after 8am, still very cold & very windy.
We removed our tracksuit pants, socks & shoes before leaving the truck.
I'm not sure what numbed my legs first, the cold, the wind or the sand that pelted my skin.
We started the climb with our eyes barely open & our faces screwed up.
I was cold & stiff, my legs weren't working very well & I slipped in the sand a few time's at awkward angles putting my knees under pressure. I had a few moments of panic thinking how disastrous it would be if my knee dislocated halfway up the sand dune.
We stopped & I did some stretches before Tom took the lead up the dune holding a hand out the back for me. He made big steps impacting the sand & making it solid for me so I wouldn't slip. On the steeper parts he put the go pro stick out behind him as well as his hands so I had more to grip onto. I was a little bit embarrassed to need so much help & for Tom to be guiding/nearly pulling me up the dune. But then I thought, in uncertain & scary times throughout life, if Tom is there to guide me through, what more could I want. We make a great team & achieve a lot together.
The dune was achieved! After 45 minutes of battling through the apricot coloured, soft, cold, shifting sand underfoot & the airborne, wind propelled sand that ravaged any exposed skin & our eyes, we finally made it to the highest point. Even with the cold & the wind, this dune was still easier than the one we climbed in Mongolia. Being able to walk & climb along the ridge of the dune instead of climbing up the side with hands, knees & ankles, made all the difference.
Once we had our moment of victory & taken enough digital footage as proof & memory, we started our way directly down the sunny side with Jill & Julian.
Tom has some footage of Jill, Julian & himself running & jumping down the dune, while I timidly & slowly followed behind. The journey down was incredibly easier & quicker. Once we reached the bottom there was no cold wind or projectile sand, which made our spirits soar. We still had a 20 minute walk back along the dunes base which gave us time to admire & photograph 2 types of flowers. We saw the occasional insect, reptile hole & some faecal droppings from a small mammal.
It was nice to finally reach the warmth of the truck.
Next we were on our way to the dead Vlei. To be honest Tom & I didn't do much research on what this was or its significance. We had no idea what it was. The truck could only take us to the carpark & then jeeps would take us through the soft sand & drop us off.
It turned out the Dead Vlei was a dry lake, that had its water cut off by the dunes. The mud created some cool patterns when it dried up & there was a lot of dead trees. It wasn't all dead however & there were green clumps of some sort of very hardy grass.
To be honest, it was very underwhelming. Tom & I definitely missed why this was an attraction worth paying for, or bringing thousands of tourists to every year. We were in a desert... there's plenty of dried up 'dead' lakes. We spent maybe 15 minutes here before heading back.
We weren't the only ones who were quickly finished with it & Jurumba seemed genuinely shocked... all but 3 people were back well before the allocated time was over, we were hoping to leave early & get back to camp for lunch. However it turned out the 3 people we were waiting on were lost.
Like us, not understanding the relevance of the dried lake, they had climbed a sand dune to see if there was something else. Unfortunately they didn't find anything else & it took them nearly an hour to make it back. During this time Tom & I napped, missing most of the drama & worry. I would later read that some of the dead trees are 500 years old & that it is considered an area of stark beauty in the desert. I will admit, some of the photos that show the creamy mud, grey & black dead trees with the back drop of apricot sand & deep blue sky do look very striking.
Once all on the truck we drove back to the campsite, had lunch & a free time break before meeting back at the truck for 4.30pm & the Sesriem Canyon.
The Canyon was only about 4 kilometers from our campsite & is a narrow fissure in the sandstone reaching a maximum depth of 30metres. There is some cave structures that have been chiseled out of the rock by the flow of water. At some times during the year, the river bed is full of pools of water & tourists have been known to swim in it when it's not stagnant. It was all dry when we visited & won't fill again until there's rain in the Naukleft Mountains.
After exploring the canyon, it was back to the truck & we returned to the camp for dinner & hopefully a wind free sleep.
-Alli
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