Tropic of Capricorn, Apple PIe, Magic Dunes

I awake to Swakopmund on a Sunday – very quiet, dreary day and the water is 60 degrees. We end up at a pub enjoying a few Windhoeks and watching rugby. A day of rest. Swakop is a nice town, with a German feel. The next day we are off to Sessriem and Sossusvlei to see the dunes and Deadvlei. The Namib landscape is incredible, and we enjoy a pretty uneventful ride. Along the way we made a stop at Moose MacGregor's famed bakery in Solitaire. Best apple pie for thousands of miles :) But that isn't all! In addition to the piece of apple pie as big as my face, we also enjoyed a brownie, blueberry strudel for good measure! The 'town' of Solitaire is a tiny cluster including the bakery, a guest lodge, petrol station, and a general dealer but it is an oasis in the middle of the desert and a great place to stop and refuel. With full bellies we get on the road to find our campsite – Sossusvle Lodge. It's lovely and we are lucky to have a nice big tree to shade us. There is also a pool – right here in the desert – and it feels like a sin to have so much water! I indulge frequently :) We even have a pair of resident owls watching over us. Incredible.

The crew is up early the next day to make sunrise at the dunes. What a climb! The dunes are beautiful, and as the sun comes up they are bathed in the most magical light. I could have sat up there all day, but we had Deadvlei to see before the scorching part of the day. We all jump down the dune and back into the Landie. Deadvlei is a bit of a hike, but totally worth it despite the oppressive heat. Deadvlei means 'dead marsh', and it is a graveyard of trees. Petrified in the salt pan, they stand like ancient sentinals in stark contrast to the surrounding dunes. They are believed to be more than 900 years old. I find one with a little bit of shade and curl up for a cat nap before trudging back across the pans. When I awake, I find my friends are doing the same :) It's a magic place, and one I highly recommend. Just be sure to carry some water and cover up from the sun – it's pretty intense!

---