Trip Update # 4 - Namibia - Part 2

More Namibia!

Here we are in a canyon, just wandering around. It was good to get walking around after sitting in a bus for quite a long time. We stayed here for the sunset. The sunsets were pretty spectacular in the desert!

Here are the two people I hung out with the most on the tour, Tara and Thorsten.










Finally, we were close to the dunes. The next morning, we all woke up really early, like at 4 am so that we could climb one of the dunes to watch the sun rise.

Climbing a sand dune at 5 am is not an easy task. It sure is tiring!



Good thing it was well worth it when we got to the top. It was just crazy looking around. It sounds silly, but I kept thinking of that windows background image that is one of the defaults on the computer. It looked like that!!






We spent a lot of time just hanging out at the top of the dune. I think Tara, Thorsten and I were the first ones up to the top, and the last ones to come down. I took so many pictures! It was basically like a huge photo shoot, kinda silly, but I do like the jumping shot!




A little critter in on the photo shoot action??



This tree was at the base of the dune, where they set up breakfast for us. Pretty hungry after crawling around in the sand for so long. We were also COVERED in sand. My feet were so heavy from my shoes being full of sand, there was so much sand that it looked like my ankles were swollen. I suppose that happens when you slid down a sand dune. Thorsten thought it was pretty funny that Tara and I were willing to be silly and roll down the hill.....

The rest of the day was spent hanging out in the dunes. It was beautiful, it didn't even seem real when you were looking around.






We then head out towards the town of Swakopmund. We saw a little wildlife along the way, mostly springboks and ostriches, but no huge snakes unfortunately. I was hoping to see a huge snake, but only out of the window from the safety of the truck.


And here....the obligatory tourist photo. I almost didn't take it... but you know, I was here so I thought I might as well.


Same spot...but I like this one more. Me and my desert friends.


Arriving in Swakopmund was both good and bad. It marked the last days of my 7 day tour, but this part of the desert beside the ocean was really interesting to see.

It was also our chance for some desert activities!!
I knew right away that I wanted to try sand boarding. It was pretty good, very similar to snow boarding, but in really heavy snow. I little more hot and tiring though! You have to climb up to the top of the dune everytime... phew! not easy. I think I went down the most times of anyone in our group that day, and it was only 8 times. The views were pretty amazing though. Sand as far as the eye can see.


I had convinced my friend to go sand boarding with me, but in exchange I promised to do one hour of quad biking with him. I wasn't as keen on the quad biking, but I figured I was here so I could try it. We almost didn't even go, after being tired from the morning of sand boarding....





Am I ever glad I did. It was AMAZING! I can't even describe how incredible it was. Even with all the beautiful views we had already seen, we hadn't really gotten a sense of really being in the desert. Driving all over the dunes, up and down and seeing the ocean off in the distance you started to feel the expanses of it. It was absolutely crazy. The pictures just don't capture it.






And that, my friends was my trip. From Swakopmund, I started a ridiculous journey back to the village. I had to take a 4 hour shuttle to Windhoek, then a flight to Jo burg, then stay over night in Jo burg, a morning flight to Nairobi, then an overnight bus to Bungoma. A short Matatu and Motorbike ride and I was back to the village. I arrived on April 22!

Now I can finally fill you guys in on what is happening in the village. It has been quite an adjustment to get back here. I think there was more culture shock the second time around than the first!