Welcome to the Namib

On Sunday morning we flew from Johannesburg to Windhoek, Namibia (map). We then boarded a Cessna Caravan to fly to the Namib Naukluft Park, where the Sossus Dune Lodge would be our base for the next two nights. The park is located at the edge of the Namib desert - a series of red sand dunes that stretch about 120 kilometers toward the Atlantic.

It was way too hot to do anything on our arrival, so we retired to our bungalows and waited for the cool of late afternoon. We then did our first drive through the desert, spotting such critters as the springbok, black-backed jackal, and some excellent birds. The highlight was seeing a pair of spotted eagle owls, in their rare rufous color. (Pardon the poor quality of the photo; it was getting quite dark). We then enjoyed sunset over the desert.

All in all, a great start to our Namib adventure.