11 Dec 2017 | Sesriem, Namibia> Drove north from Fish River Canyon... 6-7 hrs of driving entirely on dirt roads, tho on the map they're bolded like hi-ways, saw only a few cars the whole day. Lots of Oryx + Kudus, many seemingly semi-farmed. Gassed up at the only podunk gas stn we passed. Got to hotel + an hour later discovered we had a flat... fortunate it happened there + not the desolate scorching expanse we passed thru. Swapped on the spare in a shady spot + fortunately there was a gas station 20 km away that fixed the puncture in 10 min + put the spare back in the boot. From there went into the Sossusvlei dunes, 4 o'clock by this point so most everyone else had left. The last stretch of road to the Sossusvlei pan was unpaved + super sandy, they advised us against it... we gots a 4wd + halve driven in sand plenty, but a gutless automatic + not much clearance if we bottomed out, wich is how peephole git stuck, even if we let more air out of our tires (at the gas stn already lowered her to 2.0). So we started to go in then retreated. Specially since no other vehicles were going in. Instead walked around sum for the time we had left, to the edge of the largest dune we could find. Saw ostriches, oryx, warthogs, etc. Dined outside + saw jackals + zebra coming out of the dark desert to drink @ the waterhole + lick the saltlick the hotel put out. We are the only 1s staying in our hotel so we get a personal chef + waiter. If you are seeking to get away from people, Namibia is the place...

typical Nambian highway

zebras on the pan

Oryx

Sossusvlei dunes

beetles that climb dunes for moisture

Ostrich landscape

warthog

ostrich landscape #2

Wildebeest escapin' mid-day heat

12 Dec> Woke up at 5 am + went back to the dunes... dozens of tourists already streaming single file up the infamous Dune 45... infamous for what, not sure, except that its the closest 1 to the road. Kept going to the end, paid for the jeep ride rather then risk getting stuck... but we had to stop to help dipshits in dinky cars that didn't heed the warning, our driver got out (no way we was volunteering) to help get them unstuck + continue on (despite warnings to turn back) only to get stuck again so we were delayed by these idiots. Walked out to the Deadvlei pan, a calcified white flat dry lakebed w/ petrified dead acacias, surrounded by red dunes... essentially a river's dead end into sand dunes... 1 of the more spectacular places on dis 'ere planet. Strolled round the pan then went strait up the dune to git to the ridge... quite the workout, like walking uphill in place. Discovered that getting on all 4s + scrambling was the best way. Followed the ridge up to «Big Daddy»—the highest dune at 325 meters. Amazing views. Took 1+ hours up + 1 minute to get down a few minutes, sort of skiing down, each step making a booming sound like a drum. Oryx for dinner, watching the jackals + also an owl in a nearby tree + an oryx that just sauntered right into the hotel to eat the grass.

Sossusvlei

Deadvlei pan

climbing the dune

following the ridge [higher rez]

[high rez]

on top of «big daddy»

back down on the pan [high rez]

blinking spotted eagle owl

[...halve been off the grid for this past week so uploading this after the fact somewhere back in rural South Africa, relying on some fat buzzed-cut redneck bragging bout he could boost our Inurnet speeds 25x fold w/ his tech saviness... until he learned (by prodding) about our hatred of Trump (whom he touted as the greatest, only truly «christian» ∀merikin president ever + then blamed ∀merika for all that is wrong w/ South ∀frika, biggest opponents of Apartheid, etc.) + then he disappeared into a backroom + our speed tests went from 1 to 0, not 25, so hoo knows when this will ever get uploaded, unless we git friendly w/ xtian racists...]