We were ushered into Sossusvlei with soaring temps and blowing sand. This is a national park and home to a vast expanse of soaring sand ridges, one of which ranks as the world’s tallest red sand dune.

Imagine our disappointment when, after 200 miles of desert riding, we were barred entry into the actual park because we were on motorcycles. “The motorbikes will scare the animals,” we were told, as a big rig 50 passenger overland tour bus roared past us through the gates. It was frustrating, as our BMW stock exhausts are pretty tame and as I peered out into the sea of sand, I wasn’t sure of what animals we would be scaring out there anyway.

In retrospect, I understand the rule. A lot of folks run customs pipes that really rip. I’d also ad that over time, we’ve learned that even in the bleakest African landscape, there’s almost always critters out there living large on what appears to be nothing and I’m not just talking about bugs. Although, we’ve seen some bugs uncomfortably close to animal size.

So there we were, hanging out at the park gate feeling sorry for ourselves, when the cavalry arrived in Fiat Pandas. We’d met these refreshingly eclectic folks on Spreetshoogte Pass the day prior, each of us drawn to each other’s adventure machines and stories as fellow overlanders. These guys really captured the imagination and put an audacious spin on adventure overland travel. They’d been on the road for about a year, having bought two Fiat Panda’s in Zurich and driven down the entire western coast of Africa.

They were pulling equipment out of the cars to lighten them up for offroad sand driving, so I didn’t think they’d be willing to take additional passengers. However, we let them know our plight and they immediately made room for us. Not only did they get us into the park, but it was an incredible opportunity to make new friends and briefly be a part of their unique adventure.

Chris from Zurich at the wheel of his Panda.  Along with driving this car down to Nambia, he’s also taken it across Eastern Europe, Russia, Mongolia and the US.

Who would have guessed how capable these machines were. Light, 4wheel drive capable and simple, they blew over the sand as well as any Hilux, albeit dragging a bash plate here and there with their low clearance. It was a blast…possibly the next best thing to biking and we pushed it deep into the dunes.

Its just as hard to describe the Sossusvlei landscape as it is to capture the real beauty of it all in digital picture. You pretty much just have to go there, just remember to take A LOT of water.

Perfect example of where you don’t expect to see the environment supporting large animals. These Oryx are about 35 miles from the nearest water source.

In the evening we parted ways with Team Panda and settled into camp on the outskirts of the park. During the night, the wind died down encouraging a predawn hike into the nearest sand dune. I was determined to get a dawn flight in and I also was wanted to feel the desert at night. At 4 AM I started off, aiming for the black apex of a dune on the night skyline 4 miles away. The silence over the starlit sand was profound.
Any sunrise in the desert is rewarding enough, but launching off the top of a huge dune into the morning light is for me a step further into a deeper experience.

As my feet left the security of the ground, I breathed with exhilaration and basked in that rare connectivity to the incredible world around me.  I skimmed the wind carved sand ridges in my gradual descent, then flew out over the desert valley floor for my final landing approach in an ancient river bed.

After packing up my “aircraft in a bag”, I took a bearing off the mountain to the south and stepped out towards camp.

With a lone jackal for company, I raced over the desert, trying to make it to the shade before things really heated up or worse, I missed breakfast. I do not miss breakfast!