The next morning the alarm went off at 5am so that we could reach the gates of the Namib Desert by sunrise (when they open). The drive to the gates gave us a great view of some of the dunes and as the light changed so did the view. Once inside the park we drove along 60km of tar road and for many visitors this is as far as they go. We had been advised to drive over the sand and to climb a dune called ‘Big Mama’. Driving on sand is fine so long as you don’t stop. The track was quite busy and when the car in front of us stopped we had to stop too and we couldn’t get going again. The doc and I got out and had a look. One wheel was well and truly stuck. Our friends (driving just in front) hadn’t noticed that we were stuck and drove on. We tried digging the sand away from the wheel, without much success. A kind driver of a tour vehicle stopped to see if we needed some help. He offered to tow us out. We eventually located the tow rope and clips and he quickly got us out and we were off, we didn’t stop again!
Climbing Big Mama was great fun, our eldest managed the climb easily, the youngest had a helping hand. At the top we stopped for photographs and water and then took our shoes off and raced down the dune. The sand felt lovely between my toes and we all enjoyed the journey down.
Next stop Swakopmond at the coast.
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