Immense, magnificent sand dunes stretch as far as the eye can see in colours from deep red to bright white. They hide surreal landscapes of dead trees and parched, cracked earth - a photographer's paradise. We arrived in Windhoek early afternoon and picked up our 4x4 - not without a little difficulty as we refused to take Budget's first offering which had broken canopy locks and so no security!
The drive into Windhoek was easy and we found the Olive Grove, where we were staying for one night, without any problem. After a good meal at the Olive Grove Exclusive next door we had a very good night's sleep. The following day we were given a message that Budget had forgotten to give us a folder of documents so we were delayed half an hour while we waited for them to be delivered, time we used to go and get very large plastic containers of water. I was very apprehensive about driving on the gravel roads.
Out of WIndhoek there is a good stretch of tarmac road leading south, enlivened by packs of baboons on the roadside. Soon enough, however, we turned off to head towards Sossusvlei and almost immediately the tarmac gave way to gravel. As it happens this was one of the worst stretches we drove on. As complete novices we were rapidly revising the amount of time it was going to take us to get to Hoodia Desert Lodge, our next stop in Sossusvlei.
The D was very ridged and stoney - they're all stoney but the degree of ridging depends on how recently they have been graded.
One driving method, which makes for a more comfortable ride, is to go quite fast, within the speed limit, but the chances of losing control or bursting a tyre rise.
