The next day we got up and headed to the grocery store to grab some snack items and food for meals for the next few days in the desert. Grant was hopeful that our lodge nearby would let us eat dinner there, but thankfully we were prepped with dinner/lunch options for camping to be safe (as well as road trip snacks). When we got to the shopping center, it turned out that we parked on the wrong side of the building in attempt to not take the tall truck through a parking garage, and had to walk about 1/4 mile to get to the store, which had us going through a crowd of homeless people begging for food. While in the grocery store, Tim grabbed some Fanta and bread to hand them on the way out for his good deed of the day. Once we’d paid for all our food for the coming days and started our walk back we took a stop to go to the restroom. While I was in the restroom Grant and Tim saw a local walk by with a bag of the same bread and some Fantas – this gave Grant and Tim a good chuckle as they high-fived noting we’d picked the perfect items to give to the beggars on our way out. However, we did not see the same guys on our return trip to the truck so did not get to hand the items out. I did end up giving a bottle of water and Fanta to a worker sitting on the corner before he got picked up for a painting job in the city, and he seemed so thankful for a cold beverage on a warm day – he gave me the largest smile!

We had about a 5-hour trip to our campsite in Sesriem through different microclimates of Namibia. We decided to go old school with the directions and use the map provided by the tour company to head to Sesriem. It started rough as I mixed up the directions leaving the grocery store. Driving on the left side of the road also didn’t help as we accidentally all three decided a certain on-ramp was correct, but it took us the opposite way we wanted – a lesson in making sure to reverse your intuition! Once on the main road, I had us going in the right direction and it was smooth sailing. The tour company gave us two suggested routes to take: 1) the fastest option or 2) the scenic option. We opted for the scenic option, which allowed us the opportunity to stop and grab some pictures of the Tropic of Capricorn sign and various sites along the route. A few folks had noted that they just got a lot of really rare rain so the start of our drive was very green and even got to see a giraffe grazing. As we drove further southwest the scenery became much dryer and we approached a huge valley into the desert via Spreetshoogte Pass. Grant used this opportunity to take out the drone and get some scenic shots. After the pass dropped us in elevation, the rest of the drive was very flat and sandy, starting to set the stage for the big dunes of Sossusvlei.

Along the route, we ended up passing a couple who looked to be struggling on the side of the road. Given how hot it was and how infrequently we saw any cars go by, we stopped to ask if the couple needed help, and the guy said back, “No worries unless one of you guys knows how to work on cars.” And it turns out Tim does very well! Grant and Tim helped them change their flat and get them back on the road. While changing the tire we learned they were German and he asked if he could take a video of the Americans that stopped to help them (of course we obliged). They had helped a few people out earlier in the day, giving water to a dehydrated older lady and helping a gentleman lower his tire pressure before driving on the sand in the national park so they said that must have been their good karma for the day that brought them help later on. We parted ways and before we knew it, we were at the campsite entrance and headed to check-in. We grabbed a drink at the bar in the lodge to relax before setting up our tent and prepping for dinner. I tested out the temperature of the sand, and let me tell you, it was hot (especially if you stood on it for more than a few seconds)! The air temperature was about 40C (104F) that afternoon so the sand was quite hot too.

We headed down to the campsite and started prepping for dinner. When we pulled everything out to cook the meal, we noticed we didn’t have a lighter provided. So Tim went over to the campers next door to us and grabbed a couple of matches to light the gas stove. We had pasta and some bread, along with sliced veggies. Thanks to our chef Tim, we probably have some of the best food we’ve had camping! (Well, besides the meals we had through Patagonia, but we won’t count those since we didn’t cook them).

We enjoyed our meal and Fairview white wine from our South Africa leg as we watched the sunset. Grant got his drone out again and quickly grabbed a couple of shots of the sunset from the air. (He technically wasn’t allowed to fly it since we were camping in the national park…)

We set up our tents and prepared for what we thought would be a 5 am wake-up to watch the sunrise in the park. However, before Tim and Grant headed to bed, somebody stopped by and told them that the company had pushed our hot air balloon ride a day earlier, so we needed to depart by 4:50 am. I had tried sleeping earlier; however, sleeping in a tent on top of a truck in 80-degree weather is challenging. Needless to say, it was a rough night of sleep.