The Sand Sea dunes phenomenon is caused by the endless erosion of the dominant hills here, and winds that blows constantly.

The size, color and sheer number of these spectacular piles of sand is otherworldly. This is what Mars looks like.We know because Rover took pictures and sent them back to NASA. Now, there are those who don’t believe Rover was on Mars at all and that those photos are a hoax. Maybe these non-believers have been to Sossusvlie; this would be a good place to come to that conclusion (if you are a nut). Sossusvlie is actually the dominant pan (low spot) in the area but has become to go-to name for the dunes.

And Sossusvlie is as close as Jim and I will ever come to Mars. It will do nicely as it is much easier to get to. We arrive in camp in the afternoon and rather than hang around, we head off on the paved road to the dunes. Namibia has few paved roads, but they took the time to pave this one. Gravel and dust would be disastrous with this much traffic. 60 kilometers later we hit the sand and four-wheel around to a couple of the popular walks, scoping out what to do the following morning. We linger until dark and while the Sand Sea may at first glance seem lifeless, we see jackal, wart hog, oryx and springbok on our way back to camp.

As camp guests, we are allowed to leave for the dunes at 6am, an hour ahead of anyone else, for the advantage of the morning light and coolness. Vehicles of all types line up at the gate. Think of that country song, where the cars are lined up to the moon and back, and “. . .wouldn’t you know, some fool’d pull out to pass” (Jerry Reed sang it, in 1973). And it’s true, someone is in a hurry and passes, but no one cares.

Big Mama is our goal. It’s a worthy climb and the morning light is luscious. Sand gets into every pore and orifice and then some. At the top the wind blows sand where it hadn’t gotten to yet. The view is picturesque but I am wishing I’d left my camera in the Beagle. If I’m this covered in sand, so is the camera.

It starts to become very hot; we slide down and hang around under one of the many old acacia trees for a drink and a snack. A flock of Cape Weavers comes by; they look thirsty (who doesn’t in this freaky dry place?) so I get out the water dish and more birds come. Pretty soon there’s a huge flock and a cacophony of twitters and tweets erupts. An adorable little brown mouse joins the party. People come by to photograph the birds. Lizards watch – they are plain colored. No need to call attention to one’s self here. It’s a festival of life with a backdrop of red sand.

It would take a lifetime to understand this unique place. Namibia Parks doesn’t waste a lot of money on interpretative signage – they must spend it all on road maintenance. We only have a couple of days but we are suitably impressed especially on our final morning in camp when the wind stops blowing and the light is nice and we are the only people around – everyone else is off to the dunes.