After a sleepless night under canvas we were treated to a very early morning start, joining the queue at the gates of the Namib-Naukluft National Park to bump along the dusty track to Sousselvie and Dune 45. That would be 45 km of dusty track in which vehicles, more well equipped for the job than the one we occupied, could overtake us, spewing their generous clouds of dirt into our vehicle as they passed by.
It seems that half the population of Namibia at any one time, takes to the roads and the race to climb Dune 45 at sunrise. But nothing can take away the magic of the scene that awaits. We were just one third of the way up the dune when the sun started to rise, and so that is where I was bound to pause in the clamber to the top and record this scene.
what she said.