Copper coloured sea of sand

First view of fossilized sand dunes

The second night of our trip was planned at the Dune Star Camp which was a collection of nine huts set atop fossilized sand dunes. We were to be transported up to the camp from the Namib Desert Lodge by a shuttle at 4 o’clock. We had reached the lodge about half an hour early and had time for a coffee. Lunch had been taken on the go – some dried snacks and fruits that we had brought with us from Singapore. But we had not found a place to stop where we could have a coffee, so now we made a beeline for it.

Outdoor tables set beside the swimming pool offered stunning views to the rust coloured fossilized sand dunes. We sat there drinking our cappuccino with a slice of cake, looking out at the sandstone mounds that archaeologists say was formed some 20 million years ago. Oryx families and flocks of guinea fowls dotted the scrubland just outside the boundaries of the resort property.

In for a surprise

Our ride to the Dune Star Camp had two families travelling together. The two of us and another family of four and a half members consisting of elderly parents, younger couple and a kid of about two. There was another similar car going up, carrying another group of six people. To our astounding surprise the family travelling with us were speaking Bangla amongst themselves! Bangla or Bengali is the native language of a very small part of the world – Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India. Meeting another Bengali family in the remote Namib desert was one of the biggest surprises I have ever had in my life!

The undulating ride

The six of us hoisted ourselves into the pick-up and perched ourselves behind the driver. We were asked to belt ourselves up and hold on to the grab bars behind the seats in front. The instructions sounded scary but there was no way out for us. The 4×4 vehicle had already started on the journey.

There were no roads or even gravel paths, only wheel markings in the sand forming a track. We would have been thrown out of the truck if we hadn’t secured ourselves to it. A oryx family kept us company as we swayed and bumped in our seats while our ride barrelled its way right through the sandy mounds. After about 20 minutes of such adventure, we got our first view of the Dune Star Camp. The yellowish brown walls of the huts stood out against the backdrop of a brilliant blue sky in total harmony with the russet colour of the sand on which they stood.

Evening amidst the sands

We got off at the near the main deck and plodded through the sands to our cabins to check out the facilities. tThen, we went for a short walk on the dunes where our host and guide introduced us to ‘fairy circles’ – bald patches in the sand where nothing grows. It seems nobody knows how these have happened, but they can be seen all across the continent of Africa.

We met the other guests at the open deck at the central area for our sun downer drink and cold snacks. The sky was a spotless blue and the sun was a globe of molten gold at the horizon. As we munched and drank, we got to know the other Bengali family while the sun’s fading lights bathed the dunes in golden hues. The younger gentleman was a practicing doctor in Windhoek while the young lady was his wife and the two-year-old their daughter. The elderly couple were the lady’s parents visiting them from Bangladesh. It seemed almost surreal that we were having a conversation in Bangla while sitting down to dinner in a remote desert camp in Namibia! At a deeper level it was strangely comforting as well.

Sleeping under the stars

We could wheel the beds in our rooms to sleep on the deck outside but we realised that it was too cold for us to do so. Instead, we wrapped ourselves up snugly and sat huddled on the sofas, looking up at the night sky while listening to the sound of silence around us. It was a full moon night, so the glitter of the stars was overshadowed by the lustre of the moon. The dunes looked enchanting and mystical in the silver moonlight.

The night became even colder, so we went in and snuggled into our beds. I woke up sometime later while it was still in the dark. The moonlight streaming into the room had an unusual hue. I wrapped a blanket around me and stepped out into the deck. And stood there in absolute awe whike gazing at the vision in front of me. Pale silvery ethereal moonlight bathed the whole landscape around as the moon slowly set in the western sky. It was one of the most beautiful and mesmerising acts of nature I had ever seen in my life. I just stood there, don’t know how long immersing myself in the magic around. Slowly the moon disappeared below the horizon. As the darkness around me deepened I took myself off to bed again. The bedside clock said it was almost 5 am.

Day break at the dunes

Our host delivered early morning tea in thermoses while it was still dark. I sat on the sofa on the deck, drinking my tea as the sky lightened up slowly. The sun rose above the horrizon after 6:30am and the wise old dunes revealed themselves in a totally different avatar in the orange light of the early morning sun.

We left the Dune Star Camp after 7 o’clock for breakfast at the Namib Desert Lodge. I found that my phone was totally out of charge when I wanted to take a photo. We had not charged our phones after we left our Windhoek hotel. The Dune Star Camp got its electricity only from the installed solar panels and did not have any plug points for charging devices. It also did not have any wifi connection. We had spent about fifteen hours without access to WhatsApp and internet. Usually, IB stays glued to his phone for a greater part of the day, but now he seemed to be blissfully free of the affliction. It was indeed a different world and we also seemed to have become different people.