Rising Early...... or is it late?

Melissa always tells the story of some employees (who are now famous. can you guess who?) who were scheduled to work at 4:30am for an early morning breakfast. When the schedule was posted the 2 in question asked her (in all seriousness) if 4:30 am was the one where you wake up really early or when you go to bed really late? I love that they asked this question.

Anyhow, we woke up at 4:30am (the one where you wake up really early) so we could drive to the red sand dunes in Sousousvlei. Our campsite is the closest you can get to the dunes, but it was about 30 minutes from camp and we were trying to get there before sunrise. When we arrived at Dune 45 we watched as people climbing the dunes turned to tiny dots and decided to join in the fun. The climb was hard, but doable my main concern was rolling down the side of a sand mountain. I later discovered this is not at all possible, but in the moment it was a pretty frightening thought. It looks so steep and your feet sink in some places; all adding to the illusion of falling to my death. As the sun rose it became even more beautiful with the contrast of blue skies and extra orange dunes. I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it.

After we climbed Dune 45 we hired a driver to take a 4x4 further into the park. We were dropped off and told to walk 1km (about 1/2 a mile) toward the petrified forest. As you cross over a sand dune you come across a field of white - the petrified forest. It is actually more of a field made of stone. Carisa and I decided to do an impromptu photo shoot. While the boys attempted to cross a much larger sand dune in the distance Shelley and I started taking pics of Carisa. She wore a large scarf as a makeshift dress and posed for about 30 min. It was so much fun and definitely a defining moment in the trip. Then we drove back to the campsite to pack up, shower and eat before our 6 hour drive to Swakopmund (birthplace to Shiloh Jolie-Pitt).

We have been driving for about 4 hours and passed about 6 cars. We have passed Ostrich, Springbok, and Kudu. We passed through what looked like the Grand Canyon (pretty scary) and saw a bus that had rolled down the side of a rocky valley (seemed like it happened only days before). The terrain has changed so much and everything is so breathtaking, but most fascinating is how remote we are. It is easy to forget about modern luxuries and technology (although we are using a garmin) because the reality is if our rental car breaks down even our cell phone won't help us. In any given direction there is nothing... however we are quickly snapped back to 2010 when the radio starts working and plays about 30 seconds of Madonna's Live to tell.