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As a continuation to my last blog post…
Day 4: From Fish River Canyon it was a very long drive to Sesriem Canyon. Like deja vu, we went and checked out another canyon just before sunset. Other than that, an uneventful day. At night, Alexandra and I had a bit of fun. There were some jackals running around the campsite and our guide said they would enter tents that were left open. These two guys left their tent open and their shoes outside, so we moved the shoes around and hid in their tent. As each one came in, we growled and grabbed their ankle. To our amusement, both of them freaked out.
Day 5: We awoke before dawn and climbed dune 45 to watch the sunrise (which was kind of a bust). The area we were in, called Sossusvlei, has some of the highest sand dunes in the world. And it was no easy climb – but good practice for Kilimanjaro! Afterwards, we did a walk with a local guide to learn about the desert ecosystem. And then we all tumbled down a sand dune. It was faster than walking.
On top of sand dune 45
Day 6: We drove to Swakopmund, Southern Africa’s adventure capitol. I also think this is where Angelina Jolie was when she had her baby. We signed up for some adventure activities and then spent the rest of the day in civilization. We all used internet, headed to the beach and just wandered around. Swakopmund looks like a small German town, the only difference is that it’s surrounded by a desert.
Day 7: This was definitely the most fun day. I headed out with three others on the tour to go quad biking and sandboarding. Quad biking through the sand dunes for a few hours was just awesome! I don’t know what else to say. Sandboarding was fun! I can’t believe how high the dunes we went down were. The worst part is you have to hike back up each time. I don’t know why they don’t create some sort of sand-lift.
We were all pumped from our activities so we headed to a beach front bar for happy hour. I drank a liter beer for $2. It really is like Germany. Later that night, we went to one of the bars in town for some partying in Namibia. Let’s just say the next morning was a little rough.
Day 8: After lunch, it was time for me to head to Johannesburg. Boo : (
Roy flew home from Cape Town, and I was in no rush to get back to the Dar heat. So I decided to jump on an overlanding tour to Namibia with Nomad Tours (www.nomadtours.co.za). It basically entailed 24 random people joining together to head up through Namibia on a supped up truck. To give you an idea of what I mean by 24 random people, we were aged between 19 and 61 and came from Brazil, Argentina, Holland, Germany, England, Portugal, South Africa and other countries. I was the only one from the United States. To give you an idea of what I mean by a supped up truck, it had a cooler, a safe, tents, camping chairs, camping mattresses, a 200 liter water tank, a refrigerator, a cooking stove and utensils, a table to serve food, and room for all 24 of us and our luggage, among other things!
Our multi-purpose overlanding truck
Day 1: We drove up to the Cederberg Mountain Region in South Africa. Upon arrival, I was taught how to pitch my tent. My family’s idea of camping is the Holiday Inn so this was all new to me. After the lesson, a local guide named Skoki took us on a guided walk to see bushmen paintings and search for snakes and scorpions. We luckily didn’t see any, but he had some scorpions in his pocket to show us. I’m not joking. After the walk we had a quick swim in the lake before sitting around the campfire to eat dinner. Once we were done with dinner, it was to the bar for some beer! There isn’t much else to do at a campsite than drink Windhoek Lager (from Namibia) for $1.
Our passionate and excited guide, Skoki
Day 2: It was a long drive up to the border of Namibia. Tonight we camped overlooking the Orange river. Like yesterday, we went for a swim in the river, ate around a campfire and drank beer. It was becoming a routine. This night I strategically placed my tent away from the snorers and slept with earplugs. I planned to be much better rested tomorrow than I was today. This camping thing takes some getting used to.
Day 3: We started out the morning by canoeing down the Orange river. I went with our Zimbabwean driver. The “African Dream Team” (me and the driver) came in first! Not that it was a race or anything but you know that everyone is thinking it. We then jumped in the truck and drove past the border and into Namibia. From the border we drove a few hours north to the Fish River Canyon. It was a slower and bumpy ride because most roads in Namibia aren’t paved. But they were still better than most of the roads in Tanzania, not that it takes much. We watched the sunset over the canyon, which was very beautiful. It is similar to the Grand Canyon, just on a smaller scale.
The African Dream Team (Simba and I)
Fish River Canyon
Day 4 – 8 to come. I try to keep my blog posts on the shorter side.
