Before my first Namibia adventure I had prepared well and knew that the Namib Desert is not only the oldest desert on earth but also the one with the highest dunes. And I found out that you could rent a single-engine Cessna without a door at Arandis, a small airfield near Swakopmund. That was something unusual in that normally no plane is allowed to fly without a door. And certainly not with tourists on board.

Unfortunately I had a bit of bad luck the day before and stayed in the desert with my rented Toyota for a whole day without a satellite phone, which had confused me a bit emotionally. Above all, my schedule had gotten really mixed up and the flight, which was scheduled for June 15th, 2007, could therefore only take place on June 16th. Luckily, the young pilot had nothing better to do on the 16th either, so I was able to start the sightseeing flight despite the breakdown and stress.

Then, on June 16, I had to learn that single-engine airplanes without a door generate a noise level during flight that causes pain in the ears after just a few minutes. I don't know how many decibels it is, but it was certainly enough. For my hangover from the day before, that was exactly the mix you don't want when trying to take nice photos with a Kenyon Labs gyro stabilizer under the camera with the door open and wind speeds of 200-300 km/h.

If you are asking yourself now what the fuck is a Kenyon Gyro….

Flight of the Phoenix was filmed here. You still can see the traces of the plane from the takeoff at the end of the movie.

In this picture you can clearly see that there are river valleys, even next to the red dunes of the Namib Desert, where the vegetation manages to survive despite the drought. Also nice how the red sand of the dune is blown over the black stone by the wind.

After a while you arrive at the gate and see Sossusvlei Lodge from above.

Then it goes towards Dune 45 and finally to the famous Deadvlei.

A somewhat unusual self-portrait

In this latest aerial view of Deadvlei you can see all the important trees that have already been photographed millions of times. My personal favorite tree is at the bottom left and the tree lying at the top right.

Next stop - where the Dunes of the Namib meet the Atlantic Ocean…

Dune Planet

Strong wind on the Dune ridges