I've always been intrigued by the desert. Linda and I were fascinated by the Sahara and I've been drawn to the images I'd seen of the Namib desert.
Well, finally we decided to do a tour of Namibia and take it all in. The Namib desert is known for its deep rust-colored sand dunes which cover much of southwest Africa, and is also home to several salt pans covering large areas. Of particular note is the so-called Deadvlei, which is a salt pan populated by numerous tree "skeletons" that are hundreds of years old - an eerie place indeed. But it certainly drew my camera and it was challenging photographically. My favorite photo is the first one shown, when I (climbing up) caught someone literally running full speed down the slope of one the most famous dunes ("Dune 45"). We also took a small plane over the desert, and I've included some of my images from that event. Haunting.

After our sojourn in the desert, we journeyed to Etosha National Park, where I had the privilege of seeing some of the wildlife for which Africa is renowned - elephants, giraffes, zebras, lions and rhinos, among others. The main events typically took place at the watering holes, and it was fascinating to see the various animals come and go at these sites. This was the first time I had seen these species outside of a zoo, so it was an unbelievable experience.