Sunrise in the desert

It is 90F outside right now and there is too little wind, but last night it was so cool and nice I slept in my tent in the sleeping bag.  I guess by morning the temperature was about 55F when I was awoken by the sounds of the birds at 6am.  I quickly got dressed, organized my camera gear, downed a diet coke to wake me up, and ate two breakfast bars as I made my way down to the dry river bed to begin the climb up the large dune across the river to catch the sun before it rose on the horizon.  I had seen a group of German students make the trek up the hill last night and they left copious tracks in the sand for me to follow this morning.  It was easy to find the way but it was not easy to trudge up the deep red sand this morning.  I had to pause many times in the ascent and could feel how three weeks without exercise had weakened my condition. 

But once at the top, I sat on the edge of the dune and watched the sun rise quickly to the East. 

The first light creates deep shadows across the dunes and I then spent an hour just photographing the contrast between the shallow light, dark shadows, and red dunes.

As I looked behind me I could see the sun filling in the plateau, creating new textures and shapes.  Sometimes the light desaturated the colors and everything looked black and white. 

I quickly walked down the dunes to the plateau below.  The dunes themselves rest on rocky outcrops and move gradually every year with the shifting winds.  But on the plateau, the earth is rocky and tough.  Animal tracks and dung litter the landscape, creating new opportunities for photography. 

A springbok jumped across the plain too fast for me to capture.  But a gemsbok stood and watched me approach.  I'd heard that gemsboks can be aggressive when alone so I gave him a wide berth. 

Later, I walked back to the river bed and found some plants and flowers to shoot with my macro lens.  I was only out for 3 hours, but by 9am the sun was so hot I had to go back to my room and have some water.  The experience, however, was so special I decided to spend another night in Gobobad just for the opportunity to get up early and hike across the dunes as the sun rises.  This is something so wonderful I don't want to do it just once.