Stargazing

With it being almost a full moon when we first arrived in Namibia I was so disappointed that I might not get to see the stars. It was probably the biggest reason I'd chosen this destination. I'd searched for best and most accessible places in the world to see the Milky Way. There are others in Europe but this did top the charts, along with Chilli's Atacama desert. So when stargazing went up on the board nothing was going to stop me. And it doesn't take much guesswork to figure out what I did for the hour. With my camera.

Once the darkness had properly fallen we drove out to the runway, where a few days ago we'd ridden the Blokarts. Now, in the black of night the sky came alive in ways I had never experienced. If daytime was something to behold, this night sky was (literally) a dream come true. It was top of my bucket list to see the Milky Way trail across the sky from horizon to horizon. In fact, it was pretty much the only thing on my bucket list.

The sky wasn't quite as bright as these 30 second exposures would suggest but it was still all there. The galaxy, the bright nebulae, the black streaks of dark nebulae and, of course, the stars. I was satisfied. After an hour of propping my camera against my bag, a cushion and the car bonnet, it was time to leave and perhaps escape the exposure - it was just us and the dark open countryside alive with all sorts of predators.

Back at camp, I went to sleep a very happy man.