Sesriem gate · before dawn

Leave in the dark.

Some of what you find along the way can be kept for your plan.

The best of the light lasts about twenty minutes, and Dune 45 is forty-five kilometres from the gate. Sleep close, and leave early.

Dune 45 · first light

Watch the shadow let go.

Draw the sun up yourself, and watch the highest crest take the light first.

Big Daddy · the climb

Climb before the sand does.

Go up along the crest, and let the wind rise if you want to see how a dune moves.

Deadvlei · high sun

A forest that stopped.

Stand among the trees, walk out onto the pan, then see it from the air.

The Namib · after dark

The dark comes back.

Let the evening go, and wait for the first stars.

Scroll to let the day pass

The dune sea near Sossusvlei from the air, a sharp crest dividing light from shade, dunes to the horizon

Be there when it happens.