37 FramesTime Bends in the Desert – and Sometimes, Loops Back Around
📍Sossusvlei & Sesriem Canyon – 🛏️ Sossus Dune Lodge
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A Cancelled Flight & An Unexpected Gift
The day was meant to start in the sky. Our long-awaited balloon flight cancelled. A disappointment, yes… until we looked outside. The wild East Wind still roaring through the dunes, hurling dust across the sky in a defiant tantrum. No balloons could rise in this. Safety first, of course.
But disappointment quickly gave way to a strange sort of wonder.
Because that cancellation? It gave us something we never expected: a second chance at Deadvlei.
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Waking to the East Wind, Again
The Namib greeted us with her wailing East Wind once more. Locals call it the Bergwind… a dry, downslope gust that sweeps in from the interior, warming as it descends. It’s known for flipping days on their heads, rattling windows, stirring tempers, and stripping every trace of moisture from the air. They say it can drive you a little mad if you let it. But today, it only whispered.
Less sand made it inside. Just a light dusting. Enough to remind us where we were. The sky, though, was still milky and strange, the kind of soft haze that feels both apocalyptic and cinematic.
And then came the thought neither of us dared to say aloud right away:
What if… we went back?
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A Return to Deadvlei
Deadvlei. Again.
We had braced ourselves for the “once-in-a-lifetime” ache after our first visit. But this desert, like time itself, doesn’t move in straight lines. Sometimes, it folds. Offers do-overs. And today, it gave us the wild gift of a second chance.
No flat tire this time. No guide. Just us, and the now-familiar drive in.
An hour to the dunes, the hike in… 1.5km, this time with no meltdowns, no existential dread. Just wonder.
We stayed for hours.
Photographing. Breathing. Laughing.
The dunes painted shadows with such grace we forgot to speak. Again, we couldn’t believe we were there. Again, it was everything.
And this time, we knew just how lucky we were.
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The Art of Doing Nothing (and a Little Netflix)
Back at the lodge by early afternoon. And instead of cramming in more, we slowed. Slept. Napped. Read. Maybe even indulged in a little downloaded Netflix from a plane ride long past… our only digital tether in a Wi-Fi-free world.
Because in the desert, the days can stretch wide or fold in on themselves. And rest is a kind of sacred act here.
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Sesriem Canyon at Sunset
As the light softened, we ventured back out—this time into the heart of Sesriem Canyon, not just a drive-by glance but a full descent into its winding, ancient curves.
The wind had calmed. The dust settled.
That golden hour glow returned, casting long, stretched shadows that bent and curled through the stone. The canyon walls whispered of water long gone. And we stood inside, wrapped in silence, knowing we wouldn’t forget this feeling.
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Dinner & Dreams of the Sky
Now it’s dinner time. We’re packing by lantern light.
The wind outside is still playing… gentler tonight, but unmistakably present. And tomorrow, if the skies agree, we’ll greet the day from above.
4:30am alarm.
The balloon is calling.
And what better way to say goodbye to Sossusvlei than to rise above it?
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Final Thoughts: The Desert & Her Lessons
This place is older than memory.
More ancient than story.
It doesn’t just shift with the wind… it is the wind.
And in its movement, we’ve felt time stretch and breathe.
We’ve learned to listen again. To let things go.
To laugh when the sand gets in everything. To marvel when it doesn’t.
The desert has its own rhythm. It’s not always kind. But it’s true.
And in that truth, we’ve found something close to healing.
This land holds strong energy. Not loud. Not pushy. But deep.
Like something remembering itself.
And maybe that’s what we’re doing, too.
37 Frames
