The Sand Mountain by Hougaard Malan

The Sand Mountain by Hougaard Malan

I’m a landscape photographer based in South Africa. To view more of Southern Africa’s amazing scenery, click on through to my personal website. If you’re interested in photographing our landscapes, you can see what’s on offer on my tour company’s website. Hiking is an integral part of being a landscape photographer and it’s something I love, even though I’m not exactly built for it. I’m 1.9m tall and very stocky; my lean weight is about 115kg if that is an indication. So when I go hiking with my skinny 80/90kg friends I already have a 25-35kg disadvantage when it comes to climbing mountains. When they cruise up a steep pass, I’m always huffing and puffing at the back. In 2011 I was visiting Namibia with a good friend, Isak Pretorius. We had climbed Dune 45 the previous night and decided that we’d take on one of the Northern dunes the next evening. From the road both sides looked equally high, which we quickly learned to be a mistake. It took us about an hour just to reach the base of the dune. It was well in the 40 degrees centigrade and the sun was out in full force. In this image, we reached the base roughly where the river meets the dune on the farthest left. Isak decided to go up straight and I decided to do one massive zig-zag. About four hours later and at least 30 minutes after Isak had reached the top, I finally got there. The view was epic and 100% worth the insanely exhausting climb. Going down was a lot more fun. I walked along the spine to the steepest section and started run-jumping down into darkness. I probably thought I was near the ground about 10 times before I actually got there. Even though I knew before hand that these dunes are about 300 meters high, nothing can prepare you for the climb. The human mind just refuses to believe that a heap of sand can be so frikkin high! Looking back now, I don’t know how the hell I got to the top, but I did. In eight weeks, Alex Nail is heading over to S.A for 9 days of suffering in the Drakensberg. All I can say is that I’m looking forward to it immensely, despite the huffing and puffing that lies ahead! If you’re interested in photographing Namibia with me, you can see what’s on offer on my tour company’s website. Fortunately, we won’t be climbing this dune 🙂 This image is the intellectual property of Hougaard Malan. It may not be used or reproduced in any way whatsoever without the owner’s written consent.

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