Although you are in the desert and alone you still lock the car as per habit (people have been hi-jacked and have had their cars cleaned out in some bizarre and very remote places).  The car keys are slipped into the right hand pocket of your shorts.  You reassuringly pat the pocket containing the keys just to make sure, hoist the tripod and hastily make for the stormy horizon.

You then engage in a dance only performed by camera wielding nut cases.  Crouch, waddle, wriggle…side step…wriggle, wriggle a bit more, back step and one more wriggle.  Finally there is a violent shake of the head and the whole routine is repeated countless times, as you zigzag all over the place, taking pictures of the coming rain.

Hearing the approaching rain, you decide to play it safe.  You turn around and seek out the car.  You realise you are further away then first planned. Once again you hoist all your gear, have a quick scan around and head off to the car…the streaks of rain ominously close behind!

As you approach the car your hand automatically and in a very practiced manner slips into your right hand pocket.  There they are, all the familiar objects.  A memory card, a lens cap and the small bubble level, but no car keys!  ‘Not a problem’, they’ll be in the left hand pocket!  ‘OK – now we have a problem!’  NO CAR KEYS!  (“£$”£%£$%%””**&^&%$^….feel free to fill in the blanks and stomp around for effect).  Hastily you follow your tracks stopping at each churned up site where you performed the “Dance”.  Nothing.  Ok what now!  The cameras need to be under cover and besides the big heavy metal tripod on an open plain is begging to be tickled by lightning!  Probably turning you into an over-done steak for the hyenas!  Then you remember feeling a set of luggage keys in your pocket (the type that come with the small locks on suitcases etc…how they came to be in your pocket is just one of those unexplained mysteries). 

You head over to the drivers door, nervously glancing at the sky.  You fumble with the keys, almost dropping them and then shakily stick one in the lock.  At first you gently probe the lock and then (as the shadows press in) frantically you try every possible angle and pressure and all of a sudden the lock pops up!   You fling the door open bundle the cameras inside (one drop) then the tripod (second drop) follow this with your head and shoulders (a thousand drops).  You manage to slam the door shut (waterfall) as the world outside turns very wet indeed!-

…and to this day a set of keys still haunt the southern plains of the Namib, seeking some closure to their fate…