Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

After driving with our two kids under three through gravel mountain passes we figured it would be irresponsible to take them all the way into the desert in the middle of the summer (think daytime temperatures of 40C) so we decided to go in separately. Since there was no way I was going to drive myself I hopped on a tour our first morning there. Jacob got the afternoon shift.

The tour included climbing Dune 45, breakfast in the desert and of course seeing Dead Vlei, the reason we spent 6 harrowing hours in the car the previous day. Honestly, I can say it was worth the trip; which is really saying a lot.

Dead Vlei is a group of trees that is believed to be about 900 years old. The best scientists figure is the trees were alive for 300 years and have been dead for the last 600. They essentially got trapped in a valley of sand dunes and so their water supply was cut off. Since there is so little moisture the trees can’t rot. The contrast between the white dry floor, the red sand dunes, the black trees and the blue sky is incredible.

Also, for the record, we saw 2 other babies. One of them inside the park at the Dead Vlei so we aren’t the only crazy parents around.

[We have pictures, but our internet is crappy, we’ll post them later]