Solitaire

Solitaire is a fuel stop, a general store, a bakery and a lodge at a crossroads in the desert, and it has become a fixture on the Sossusvlei route almost entirely because of apple pie. A Scottish baker, Moose McGregor, made it here for years and the pie survived him; the bakery still sells it and most vehicles on this road stop. The other thing people photograph is the collection of rusted cars left in the yard among the quiver trees.

What you actually see

• The bakery - apple pie, the reason most vehicles stop here.
• The car wrecks - rusted vehicles arranged in the yard among quiver trees.
• The fuel pump - the only fuel for a long distance in several directions.
• The crossroads - the meeting of the desert routes north and south.

When to go

March to October is the cooler travel season. Midday brings the most traffic and the longest queue at the bakery. Fuel should not be assumed available; it does run out.

Honest expectations

It is a fuel stop, not a destination, and takes half an hour. It gets crowded in the middle of the day when the Sossusvlei traffic passes through. Fuel supply is occasionally interrupted, which matters on these distances.

Nearby

Sesriem and Sossusvlei are south, and the Naukluft is east.