We drove a good ten hours to one of the most remote and most famous parts of Namibia known as Sossslvei on the Eastern border of the Namib desert which consists of hundreds of miles of gigantic red sand dunes deposited over the millineum from eroded sandstone washed out to sea from the Orange River along the Namibia/South Africa border. It was so hot when we arrived that the wind felt like a hair drier on "HOT" setting blowing directly in our face. It didn't help cool us down much. Driven by discomfort, the group fell into it's strange balance of high school politics, alliances and foes. It gave everyone something to focus on for discussion and something tangible to be unhappy about. We drove into the park as the afternoon heat broke and began the mercury began to subside. We drove an hour into the park to Hiddenvlei where we hiked up into the dunes to appreciate the magnificent red scenery of the massive sand dunes. The sand was too hot to walk on with Teva's or flip-flops as it would spill in the sides and burn one's feet. So we slogged through the sand in our hiking shoes which made our feet feel so heavy in the still sweltering afternoon heat.

We visited the Hiddenvlei above the valley floor with an incredible view of sand dunes as far as the eye could see in every direction. An afternoon wind storm whipped up the sand and everybody retreated to return to the mother ship for safety. It was so beautiful to watch the wind blown sand snake over the tops of the dunes and whisp along the leeward side like the ghosts from "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark". It was mesmerizing up until the howling wind sand blasted away at the backs of our legs and we dared not turn to face into the wind. At 7:00 P.M. we climbed a sand dune near the park entrance and watched as the day came to an end and the sun relinquished its scorching hold on the landscape. Loooking in the direction of the setting sun was not nearly as impressive as turning your back to the sun to watch the shadows and a million shades of subtle red playing on the mountains in the distance, the cummulous clouds high in the desert sky and the red sand dunes. It was a sunset that I never wanted to end. It brought tears to my eyes...or maybe that was a grain of sand. It was that beautiful.

Early the next morning we rose at 4:30 to drive into the park and march up Dune 45 to welcome the sun back into our unpopulated corner of the world. We arrived at the base of the dune as enough light had gathered on the horizon to indicate the precise point where the sun would explode in the next ten minutes. Without saying a word the troops marched up the spine of the dune heaving in heavy breathes not wanting to miss that first ray of blinding light. Perched along the spine of the summit of the dune like monkeys on a branch coughing from the exertion in the dry desert air we watched as the rising sun broke the surface tension of the horizon and bathed us in pure white sunlight.

Lisa and I repositioned along the dune's spine a hundred meters off the valley floor to be away from the other monkeys and sat with our backs to the wind in silence watching the light play on the other dunes as a gentle breeze whisped the light sand up and over the crest of the dune upon which we had perched. The perfect sunrise bookend to yesterdays sunset. A moment in time that will forever be burned into my memory holding my wife's hand while riding the giant blue marble as it hurdles through space. Life is beautiful.