And so I climed Dune 45 as well to get a photo from the top. Getting there was quite exhausting with all that equipment. :-)

Walking up a dune is quite exhausting, because you sink in considerably with each step. Fortunately, we had put on our reliable hiking boots for this day at the Sossusvlei, protecting our feet against the heat of the sand. They are completely closed and so we left the majority of the sand at the dunes (and not in our boots).

After almost having reached the top of Dune 45, Petra sits down in the red sand and enjoys the view while relaxing from the hike.

Later, we saw a TV team carrying their equipment down, first the guy with the tripod (obviously he was fast, because the tripod is so heavy), then the cameraman and the sound guy, and then finally their guide (carrying nothing). And I thought my equipment was heavy. :-)

A perfect photo of Dune 45 at Sossusvlei in the morning (the shot has the timestamp 7:45 am). Wow. Speechless once again.

Another photo of the stunning dune landscape, seen from the 2x4 parking at the end of the tarred road.

Here is a photo of the Big Daddy dune at Sossusvlei. It measures roughly 345 meters (1,100 ft) in height from the base. It is said that the highest dunes in the world can be found here in Namibia.

As mentioned above, you will get to the end of the tarred road after roughly 60 kilometers. If you are not driving a 4x4 vehicle you a required to park your car because there will be only thick sand roads after this point. We recommend to use a shuttle service to Dead Vlei, Sossusvlei, and the large dunes. Alternatively, you may also walk the distance, but we think this is not a good idea, because the desert heats up quickly. You will probably want to save your energy for climbing the dunes. If you decide to walk the distance, please allow 90 minutes for the distance, and remember to carry sufficient drinking water!

The shuttle service certainly is convenient, but it appeared to be quite costly. We paid N$90 per person, and honestly, we felt being ripped off.