Road to heaven – Sossusvlei, Namibija

Sama pot od rančev na jugu Namibije pa do prve glavne atrakcije Namibije- peščenih sipin Sossusvlei naj bi bila rutinska – nekaj 100 kilometrov peščenih poti, brez posebnih atrakcij, naravnih znamenitosti … No, nam je bila pot vse prej kot dolgočasna. Neverjetni prizori so se odvijali pred našimi očmi dobesedno celotno pot in upam, da bomo na naslednjih potovanjih doživeli še kdaj tako “dolgočasno” pot.
Sossusvlei je drugače verjetno največkrat fotografiran del Namibije, verjetno pa velja tudi za največkrat fotografirano puščavo na svetu. Gre za pokrajino, ki je na spisku želja praktično vsakega amaterskega in profesionalnega pokrajinskega fotografa na tem planetu. Pokrajina je res nekaj posebenega, pravi magnet in sedaj vem, zakaj se fotografi vračajo iz leta v leto z željo po še boljšem, še bolj nenavadnem posnetku.
Kljub vsej naravni lepoti in super preživetemu času z družino, pa si bom ta del naše poti zapomnil predvsem po jutranjem doživetju, ko sem prvo jutro z stojalom v roki in fotoaparatom v drugi zakorakal med ogromne peščene sipine, obsijane s prvimi sončnimi žarki. Sipine so bile super, žarki tudi, še boljša pa je bila dolgodlaka hijena, ki se je pojavila le nekaj 10 metrov pred menoj in me mogoče 10 sekund, ki pa so bile dolge kot ure, opazovala, kako nebogljen in prestrašen stojim pred njo. Tako kot je prišla je tudi odšla – umirjeno, rahlo vzvišeno in očitno že sita od prej. 🙂

The journey from the ranches in teh south to the main attraction of Namibia should be boring and dusty. Its about 400 kilometers of dusty road with no major attractions. But if you ask us, the road trip was well worth it. The incredible scenes were everywhere and we had to stop so many times just to admire the landscape and take photos.
Sossusvlei is probably the most photographed place in Namibia and probably also the most photographed desert in the world. It’s on the wish list of so many landscape photograherst and I know now why are they coming back to take one more amazing, unique photo.
But despite the natural beauty and great time spent with family, I will remember this place after the encounter early in the morning, when I was walking with my camera and tripod in my hands between the sand dunes. Dunes were great, the light was amazing, but even better was a brown hyena, that occurred appeared just couple of 10 meters in front of me. It all lasted just maybe 10 seconds but I will never forget that. Me, totally affraid in front of that big, lets say “beautifull” animal. As silently as she arrived she also left – luckily with full stomack from before. 🙂