Day ten and eleven: the long drive and the real Namibia

After a rather cold nights sleep in the desert ( we swapped sleeping bags so I could use Stevie's very expensive warm one) we set of for a long day of driving. 500km was the aim of the day. The journey was spent watching a film on Netflix and playing games. We stopped at a town called bathanie for biltong ( a sort of dried meat ) and coffee. 

The journey continued through the most breathtaking landscape. We saw springbok and oryx and did spot some zebra. Lunch was at the road side, as a group we're got this down to military precision. A few of the guys get the table and chairs out. Another group preprare salad, tomatoes and cumcumber. We use last nights leftovers and make sandwiches.

We continued the long drive and eventually arrived at our beautiful campsite where we'd be for two nightsz yay! It was much warmer but still a little chilly overnight. 

Rather picturesque don't you think?

We had a dinner of pasta then settled in for a slightly warmer nights sleep.

The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn to head into Namib Naukluft national park and climb dune 45 at sunrise. Driving through the park was just breathtaking.

We climbed up the ridge of this beautiful dune, with Stevie having only one moment where the height was a little too much.

We came down to breakfast being cooked at the truck. eggy bread was on the cards (dad you know how much I like that!).

We then headed further into the park and jumped into 4x4s and headed down to Sossusvlei, a dried up lake in the desert. About half way on the walk to the lake, in the heat of the midday sun, we began to question if taking a freckly red head on a walk in the middle on the Namibian desert was a good idea. 

We made it to the lake, which was stunning but the heat was really getting to me. 

We turned and heated back in desperate need of shade. Stevie forcing me to drink water at every pace. 

We got back to the campsite around 2. Really ready for lunch. By this point I was feeling pretty rough. Despite the factor 50 and rehydration salts. 

A quick dip in the freezing pool certainly helped cool me down. However I decide to skip the afternoon trip to Sesriem canyon, a long with a few other people, and just chill and read my book. 

Que Stevie blog takeover about said canyon.

After leaving my lovely but very over cooked redhead in our tent to recover, I went with some of the group to a small canyon. 

The canyon was formed from water floods. The best way to describe it is like being inside a climbing wall all around you. 

It was cool down there... probably ideal for those suffering in the heat. It felt like somewhere people would hide from the heat if lost in the desert. I did enjoy seeing some baboons on the way back though as they scarpered off into the hills. Back to Samira to bring this day to a close.

The evening was spent having a lovely campsite dinner of steak at potatoes then off to bed for a very early night.