How to hike Big Daddy Dune? Big Daddy is a "star dune," a dune defined by multiple radiating ridges (3 to 5) that meet at a central peak. Don't do it like us. We started hiking the dune from the first ridge, near the parking lot. This ridge goes up, giving the illusion you are going toward the top, then goes down, up again, down, and finally you climb to the top. It took us 1.5 hours and a lot of sweat.  

Instead, start walking to the left of the first ridge. You will see a small lake, walk on the side of this lake (the lake will be on your left). The end of this small lake is the starting point to climb the dune. If you are in the dry season, the lake might be dry, but you will still see the trees are still there. 

When to climb Big Daddy? All the tours arrive at Deadvlei between 9 am and 11 am. During this time, Deadvlei is invaded by tourists. We started climbing Big Daddy at 10 am, arrived at 11:30 am at the top, and spent half an hour on the top. At noon, we were ready to go down to Deadvlei, and Deadvlei at this time was empty. We had the valley just for us. Either go before the tours arrive (sunrise) or wait until they are gone (noon). Depending on the month, noon might be extremely hot.