After a night of sleeping under the stars, I wake up to my alarm just before sunrise. I quietly extract myself from my sleeping bag, grab my camera, and head off in search of a good vantage point for sunrise. Two of my fellow tour mates have already climbed atop the giant granite boulder overlooking our campsite for a better view.

Here’s a look back at our overland truck. I still can’t get over how quiet it is — campsites are spread out so our group has this whole area to ourselves.

Minute by minute, the sky grows lighter.

A Spitzkoppe selfie:

The rocks begin to glow…

At this point I head back to our campsite for breakfast to find that our guides Juliana and Riaan have whipped up french toast. I’ll echo something I’ve said in previous posts: we are SO spoiled by the food on this trip.

With a full belly I walk around camp one final time before our departure.

I’ll wrap up our time in Spitzkoppe with a super short video:

In short: if you plan to visit Namibia, you must stop over in Spitzkoppe! A friend alerted me that The Amazing Race just aired an episode that takes place in Namibia and the contestants visit Spitzkoppe. I can understand why the show’s producers would add a leg here — natural wonders abound in Namibia.

I visited Namibia on a 12-day tour from Windhoek to Cape Town with Acacia Africa. They discounted my tour in exchange for blogging and photography; opinions are my own.