words from the world

What a most impressive view of a desert than the one taken from the sky?
We have trusted the Scenic Air company which shares its activities between the scenic flights over the Namib desert and private flights from a lodge to another one. This last option is definitely not our budget, nor the way we see the trip. For us, it's rather backpacking and sleeping in a tent or a dormitory. And all the money we save, we devote it to the activities. I would have prefered the hot-air balloon but the 350-euro price is really prohibitive.. Thus, we go aboard a Cessna, a small plane which can embark up to 6 people including the pilot.



We gain altitude and leave the city of Swakopmund to fly alongside the Kuiseb river. A bit of recalcitrant life among an arid and barren area. This green strip draws an absolute demarcation between the Namib desert on our right and the Karoo on our left. The stunning perspective between two expanses with this heap of shrubs as only transition.







We head southwest towards the dunes of Sosssusvlei. The orange- and red-hued draped ground act as a magnet. We have the nose pressed against the window. The shadows and ridges of the wind-made dunes throw us into a scenery as irrational as exquisite. And even if the view from above flattens the heights, the pleasure of admiring these dunes remains intact.











The dunes fades into the ocean ; the marker on the way back will be this sand- and navy-coloured component. The irony of fate shows this desert, so arid, is desperately short of this water the ocean has in abundance.
The Skeleton Coast contains its secrets and dangers. The Eduard Bohlen's wreck is there as an evidence. A tangle of wooden beams the time gnawed and the sand attracted far from its ocean. The desert kept its trophy and moved it 200m away from the shore.






Salterns and flying over the town finish this escapade into the air. The images keep on fluttering and fidgeting in our mind.