Desert and Dunes - Sossussvlei

Day 17          5^th October

Today we had the most spectacular flight ever.  On leaving Swakopmund we flew up the coast, delaying briefly to look at a couple of wrecks, including the famous ‘Eduard Bohlen’ which ran aground on 5^th September 1909 in thick fog.  Due to the sand dunes' movement it is now 500 metres back from the sea.

Then we turned inland towards Sossussvlei – the scenery was stunning as we flew over desert then between dunes and mountains, the light and shadows making for amazing shapes.  Surreal!

We landed and made the short journey to our lodge – The Mirage Resort and Spa.  Also faintly surreal!  Amazing view over the desert from our balcony, with the odd oryx and zebra wandering by.

 The Airstrip

The Lodge

In the late afternoon we did a 2-hour quad bike ride through the desert – hot and dusty but great fun.

We ended up with a short walk to the top of a dune to watch not only the beautiful sunset on one side, but the full moon rising on the other! 

 Then it was back to the hotel to wash the sand out of our hair before dinner!