Step by step  we struggle us up the dune. Below, it looked so easy but in fact, it’s a dolorous ordeal. The wind soughs around our ears. He lashes the sand against our legs in knee-length. Annette has closed her cardigan completely, but that doesn’t help. Her head starts aching and she likes to turn back. I hardly feel better. And we’ve just managed a third of the climb.

Well, most of the visitors in Sossusvlei, who dare to climb up dune 45, feel exactly like we do. Of course, we know from the beach-walk that walking in the sand is hard. The mean thing about dune 45 is the partly enormous acclivity, so that we slide a bit backwards after every step. As recently as we recognize that the traces of the people walking in front of us tighten the sand for a little while, we get along better.

While most of us cancel their tour when we arrive, the first flat section of the dune, we succeed in reaching the 170 meters high summit. A climb, which has taken us about 40 minutes. Having arrived on top, there isn’t any space left in our shoes. Therefore, we have a overwhelming overview over the whole dune landscape of Sossusvlei. And on top, we can finally enjoy the look of the sand-banners who sweep over the dunes.

Though, we have to return soon, not to come late back to the bus. Fortunately, the descent is much easier. In fact, you can manage it to get from top to bottom of the dune in a few minutes, if you want to. Actually, we run the last meters and even Annette feels light, like “flying”. The wind can’t harm us any more. Just the masses of sand in our shoes pinch unpleasantly. But finally we make it and pour our shoes out well.

<<< back - next >>>