The trip that was planned for 2020 had to be postponed, as did a lot of life! Luckily enough we could keep our payments over for the following year. The route that was planned for us is a very restricted route – I believe only 3 or 4 permits per year are issued to drive this route. It goes to the south of Big Daddy Dune and Deadvlei, with lots of hectic dune driving.
I had zero experience of driving in the dunes, and let me tell you, it is a fine art of knowing when to take your foot off the accelerator, resist the urge to hit the brakes, and stop on the crest of the dune. I had a couple of interesting experiences, and I think our guide Simon feared for my survival.
However, when you get it right, the feeling is elation! And going down the slip-face of the dune is another whole experience – the dune literally sings at you. The sand rumbles as you drive down it, and it is quite fantastic to hear.
We entered the desert through a non-descript gate and drove for what seemed like hours on a terribly corrugated twee-spoor track until we finally came upon the dunes – how magnificent!
The scrubby veld on the drive to the dunes
The sun sets on our first day
The view from the loo on our first night
A very relaxing evening
The sunsets are fantastic!
The heat was intense on the whole trip – here it is still 43 degrees C at 4:20pm!
Drivers, start your engines
This is where the serious driving starts. I had heard stories about dune driving, but I’d never done it before so this was going to be an experience and a half! It took a while for me to master the fine art of stopping on the crest of a dune, without either careening over the other side, or stopping to soon and getting stuck and having to be towed off backwards to try all over again.
The view out of my left window when I was stuck at the top of my first ever dune! I was somewhat freaked out, and waaay too scared to get out of the vehicle. I thought any slight movement would cause the car to roll down the dune. I was, however, stuck up to the axle in sand – the vehicle wouldn’t have moved an inch!
You want me to go down there?! The view down into the valley of the dune – if you look hard enough you can see Simon’s car just above my bonnet on the left hand side.
Slip-face driving – when you drive down the other side of the dune, the sand gathers some speed and the dune roars with the sound of the slipping sand
Just some running repairs
Sculpted sand
We were lucky to happen upon a fulgurite – which is a natural tube of fused sand which forms when lightning discharges into the ground. I was fascinated by this clump of hollow rock.
