The night has brought little cooling and so it is already over 30 degrees in the shade in the morning. But at least we have shade, because the sun is rising behind the lodge's local mountain. The klipspringers and rock hyraxes are also waiting for this, and we can watch them right next to our hut. At breakfast we get to know the owner of the lodge, Roland, and can chat with him. With home-made roast beef, smoked meat and pickled springbok meat, it's a great start to the day.

Our route initially leads us back to the D707 heading north, which turns out to be a real "corrugated iron track", i.e. a gravel track in poor condition with regular undulations. But in terms of scenery it remains a highlight and we are compensated for the shaking with a few animal sightings along the route.

We take a small detour to visit Duwisib Castle. This castle was built by a German nobleman for his American wife (with her money) in the middle of nowhere and seems rather out of place. But it is a site worth seeing, which now functions as a museum and also displays the furnishings of its time.

After we have refueled in the small town of Betta, we continue on to the Namib Naukluft National Park. This includes the famous dunes of the Namib Desert, but also spoils us with many animals right next to the road: Oryx antelopes, springboks, jackals, ostriches and zebras make an appearance.

The lodge for the next two days welcomes us with light clouds, but with a wonderful facility within the Sossusvlei Dunes National Park. This unique location of the Sossus Dune Lodge will allow us to set off for the dunes before sunrise and return after sunset. Guests staying at surrounding accommodations will only be allowed to enter the park during these times.