Namibia

Hi guys

Maybe this is not right place for this post but still. We are planning to go for round trip to Namibia in second half of August and first half of September. Route is planned, plane tickets are booked, 4x4 car with rooftop tents is paid, visas are still waiting to get through And now I have few questions, for which I couldn't find decent answer on web.
Basically it's about Namib Naukluft park and Sossusvlei/Deadvlei. Based on this what I understood, gates to park open around sunrise and close around sunset. Considering Sossusvlei is around 60km from entrance, and Deadvlei another few "minutes" walk further, this means there's basically no way to be there at sunset. Sunrise is not so much of an issue for me, but I would really like to be there for sunset. Officially you have to be out of park before gates close. Now my question... What would it happen, if I would "accidentally" be late, and gates would be closed already?
I was never in Namibia before, but I have been around National parks in USA enough to know, that in general you don't want to play with rangers and do what you are not suppose to do. On the other side in Europe people are way more flexible, and normally something like this would never be problem, at least I never had problems with things like this till now, even if they were "against the rules". How about Namibia? Anyone with experiences about this? Would I be charged for "being late" and/or I would have whole bunch of problems because of this, or nothing would happen except few nasty looks?
Any other tips and advices for those places would come handy too
Thanks for any help in advance already.

In Kruger National Park in South Africa if you are not in the camps or out of the park before closing time you get hit with a fat fine. Iv never been to Namibia so wont be able to assist you there. Why not contact the park with an email and see the reply ?

Enjoy the trip and be safe and say hi to the wildlife for me

Hi primoz,

yes, expect to get into trouble if you misbehave in Namibia's national parks. I'd say they have very good reasons to be that strict - even if in conflict with a photographer's interests. Generally, everybody wants to be at Sossusvlei at sunrise. In 2010 the gate was opened 1h before sunrise, so you are in a hurry. There is a speed limit in the park for good reasons - a lot of animals near or on the street in the dark - you have to drive very carefully. Probably the same thing after sunset when you are in a hurry to get out.

The last 5km to Sossusvlei are 4x4 only. When we were there last year, the guy who overtook us earlier (being much to fast) got stuck in the sand and we could not get by for a while.

Dead vlei is not quite next to Sossusvlei. The parking is in a different place and you have to walk about 1 mile.

I don't know how to be on top of a dune in Sossusvlei way before sunrise. But on the way to Sossusvlei there is a dune much nearer to the gate (called dune 45 - the one you see on the postcards) - perhaps that is an option for you.

A good idea is to spend more than one day in the area.

Sorry I cannot give you information on when they close the gate in the evening.