Dead Vlei — Namib Desert Dawn
52,932.25 ¥
Dead Vlei in Namibia’s Namib Desert at first light — the 900-year-old blackened camelthorn trees standing against the pure white clay pan surrounded by the world’s highest sand dunes at dawn.
Description
Dead Vlei is a white clay pan in the Namib-Naukluft National Park surrounded by the highest sand dunes on Earth — some reaching 350 metres — and populated by approximately 900-year-old camelthorn trees killed when the water course shifted and left them stranded in the hyper-arid environment. The trees have never fallen and never decayed due to the extreme aridity, but have blackened over centuries in the intense desert sun. The visual result is extraordinary — black skeletal trees against a blinding white clay surface, surrounded by orange-red dunes, under a sky of pure deep blue. This photograph required a 4am departure from Sesriem camp gate and a 45-minute walk across the primary dune system to arrive before dawn. The shot was made at the moment when the eastern dune faces caught the first light while the clay pan and trees remained in blue shadow — a contrast that lasts less than 10 minutes.
