Sossusvlei and Naukluft National Park 

We had entered the Naukluft National Park. It is a huge area, larger than Switzerland or for our north American cousins the size of New Hampshire and Vermont. The thing to do is to climb to the top of Dune 45 to watch the sunrise. This is a dune 80m high next to the road going to Sossusvlei. Some people already climbing up the dune.

A view across the top.

East from where the sun would rise.

A huddle of people at the best spot.

People waiting for the sunrise.

People facing the sun and watching some of the amazing colours.

Another view of changing colours and the car park in the distance.

One of the few trees and more changing colours in the background.

 A dead tree.

 My attempt at an arty tree photo.

 We were on our way to Sossusblei, meaning dead end marsh. The dunes blow in from the coast and cut off the rivers, here the Tsauchub river from reaching the sea. The river ends in a pan. We couldn't drive to the end but 4x4 would take us for a price. I wanted the exercise so chose to walk the 4kms through soft sand to reach the pan. Even some 4x4s didn't make it to the end such as this abandoned vehicle sunk up to its axles in soft sand.

 A view of the dried out cracked pan floor.

 One of the many dunes, including Big Mama and Big Daddy which is 325m high (not the biggest in the world which id Dune 7 in the Namib desert at 388m).

 Some wildlife that I nearly walked into.

 And it completely ignored me.

 This is Hiddevlei, the white flat bottom of the pan and the valley nearly completely cut by the dune.

 The dead trees in the bottom of the pan.

 And another dead tree.

So we were back on the road heading towards the beautiful town of Swakopmond, which is Namibia's out visited location.

Return to Namibia and on to Fish River Canyon 

After some relaxation in Cape Town, it was time to get back on the road and I headed north back via Highlanders and across the border into Namibia. Sunrise at Highlanders Backpackers.

 But it was not clear everywhere and fog lingered in the valley bottoms.

 We stopped at Aussenkehr which was a native village made mostly from reeds cut from the edge of the local river, Orange River which forms the border between South Africa and Namibia.

 Some of the more prosperous villagers have used a mixture of both reed and corrugated iron.

 The only substantial building was the local shopping mall which had the local supermarket.

Water from the river is used for irrigation. A lot of grapes are grown here and the fields come right up to the town. This is one of the fields with a substantial fence between it and the town. It is also electrified, oddly on the inside as if to keep the workers in rather than to keep people out.

 One of the more substantial buildings in the town, a local sheen with no windows for additional security.

 Then it was a long drive across the desert to our next stop.

Our next stop was Fish River Canyon. It is the largest canyon in Africa. It is 160kms long, up to 27kms wide and 550m deep.

 A bend in the canyon.

 One of the side arms of the canyon.

 The main viewing point and the truck to show some kind of perspective of size.

 The river in the bottom of the canyon.

After Fish River Canyon we had an afternoon stop at The Canyon Roadhouse. It was an odd mixture of museum and cafe. It had a large collection of cars and related memorabilia.

 Some of the exhibits had been there for a while with trees growing out of boots and bonnets.

 Another car - tree combo.

 An old truck in better condition.

 Inside were more vehicles.

 A Morris Minor classic car.

 Tables and cars in  close proximity.

 I don't often take photos of toilets but this seemed to be irresistible to show that the car theme continued throughout.

South Africa

After more than twenty different countries, I finally crossed the border into South Africa. The northern part is dry savannah and not very different to most of Namibia.

 But where there is water for irrigation, the smooth bottoms of the valleys are ideal for agriculture. There were fields of vines, and orchards of apples, limes and apricots.

 Further south there are wheat fields.

 A railway snaking its way along the valley side.

 We passed Cape Town to get to the very bottom of the continent at Cape Agulhas, Portuguese for Needles as their compass needles still pointed north even this far south in the southern hemisphere.

 A view of the seaward face of the lighthouse with the sun behind.

 Some of the history of the light house.

 And then the monument at the very southern tip of the continent.

 And the southernly most iconic monument, a relief map of the continent.

 And some of the unusual flowers that grow in the park.