Namibia

Namibia…

It was the quickest border crossing yet, and that is a really good thing because it was getting dark. Cecilie and I were the only ones who made a mistake and didn’t change our money across the border. We did this because A.) we had no idea it would be so hard later on, and B.) They wanted to give us 6 Namibian dollars for every Angola Kwanza (it should be 8-100). Hindsight is 20/20 because now nowhere will change our money. One bank teller tried to tell me Angola uses dollars, I said “no it doesn’t” and she said yes it does, I said no it doesn’t… She said yes it does. This went on for about 3 minutes, until I said have you been to Angola? She then said why would I want to do that? I then left shaking my head, and hoping we can change our money in Windhoek. After the border crossing Suse informed us that she is going to treat us and we are going to go to an actual campground (First one since St. Louis Senegal) so we can watch the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics. We arrived around at an amazing campground that had hot showers and a bar. Cook group made a quick meal and by 21:20 we were all drinking Windhoek beers and freezing our asses off watching the ceremonies. I stayed up until the US marched.

The next morning we took off around 0800 and drove to Etosha National Park. We paid for an extra day, so we didn’t have to be rushed. We arrived at the park around noon and by sunset we saw white rhinos, leopards, elephants, giraffes, zebras, and about 3 different types of antelopes. We struck gold by seeing the leopard. That night we stayed at Hallali camp ground. It was a culture shock at first because we saw about 5 other overland vehicles. All the campgrounds have waterholes, so that night before and after dinner myself and a few others went to the hole and we saw 4 rhinos before dinner, and after dinner we saw 4 hyenas, and two elephants. The coolest part was the elephants trumpeting before they arrived.

The next morning we took off for a morning game drive, but had to end short because of a flat tire. We had to drive to our next campground (Okaukuejo) this tire ended up taking from 1000- 1630 hours. It was the front right side, and the wheel lugs would not get off. I didn’t help everyone because my back was finally feeling better and I need to rest it for couple of weeks. They ended up breaking two bars, and a one socket trying to fix it. I felt guilty but I went ended up going for a freezing cold swim in the pool with Cecilie (we jumped in and got out), and then Jareb and I went to the watering hole and ended up watching an elephant and a giraffe bath and drink. It was pretty amazing actually. It felt like a zoo, but the realization was this was real life.  Denise ended up getting Jareb and I, telling us that the tire is fixed and we were going to head off to hopefully where lion sighting were. We all jumped into Rosie, and the excitement was in the air. We only had an hour total, but luck was on our sides when, 30 minutes into the drive, another vehicle flagged us down and told us a huge pride of lions was 2km up the road. 5 minutes later we watched 25 lions. Two males (one far behind the pride), 15 cubs, and the rest female lions. It was the biggest pride I have ever heard of. About 10 minutes into watching them a heard of zebras were approaching. The female lions started stalking the zebras and within minutes they were after the zebras. At one time one female lion got 3 meters away from them but they ended up out running them. We were so close to watching a real African lion kill. We left shortly after that to the sunset at our backs and we were all so jacked up with excitement. That night the waterhole was almost as exciting as watching the lions. All night we watched elephants (two of them looking like they were going to mate, but ended up being two males), black and white rhinos (probably watched 8  of them including a baby), giraffes, jackals, and even a lion. It was such an incredible day and night.

The next morning we left at 0630 for a morning game drive. We went out for 3 hours then came back to have breakfast and pack up our tents. We once again came across the same pride of lions from the previous night. This time we spent a good hour and a half watching them. It was truly spectacular! I loved Etosha, it was very very memorable for my first national animal park. That night we drove to Otjitotongwe (Cheetah sanctuary).We got there a little before 1700hrs, and within 10 minutes we all got on the back of a pickup truck that had a trailer on it. There were 30 total guests including us, and two pickups with trailers. We drove about 10 minutes into a fenced off land where there are 12 Cheetahs in the wild. Within minutes we were 5 feet away from watching cheetahs eat and fight over zebra meat. It was so very surreal. That night it was our cook groups turn to cook. We whipped up a yummy curry over rice, and called it an early night. The nights are getting much colder. Actually I really love the temperature in Namibia, warm in the day freezing at night time. 

The next morning we had a private showing of 3 cheetahs that are domesticated. We got to pet, and pick the brains of the guys who run the sanctuary. It’s run by one family, and it started 19 years ago when they captured one cheetah that was destroying and killing their farm animals. That cheetah had two babies, and before they knew it other farmers who normally kill the cheetahs were trapping them and dropping them off at their house. They are a certified sanctuary, and honestly a really great thing. No time ever did I think that I would pet a cheetah in my life. I can’t even cross it off the bucket list because I had no idea it was even a possibility.  After leaving, I couldn’t even think that today could get any better but it did. We ended up driving to the Himba and spending two hours hanging out with a tribal group who still acts like they are in the stone ages. Quite unbelievable! I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. My only regret was not having my nifty fifty camera lens (Sarah's friend Keith is going to bring mine and hers in SA). I also wish I would have paid more attention to Ben and Steph about lighting. The sun was directly overhead and between over exposure, and shadows I feel like I botched all my pictures. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely loved West Africa, but I feel like I have done more in these last 4 days then I have all last month. This is the part of Africa that excites me the most (tribes and animals)!

The next day we had a relatively short drive day. Making two pit stops, one at a very stinky seal beach where there were thousands and thousands of seals. With thousands of seals comes a stink like you can never imagine. I learned a few interesting facts. The mortality rate of a pup on the first day is 30%. The pup needs to stay in the water and by doing that the sharks and whales have a buffet meal. The other is how they need to bask in the sun but too much they get overheated so they constantly go in and out of the water. Next stop was a sunken fishing boat right off the coast. I imagine that is why they call it the skeleton coast.  After leaving the skeleton coast we drove by a really fancy movie set with crazy vehicles (We found out later it is the new Mad Max film) By 3’oclock we drove into what would be one of the most relaxing 3 nights ever. We got to Swakopmund, parked the truck and stayed at an awesome hostel right in the middle of the town. We were told to meet next door at 5:30 for an introduction to Swak and the activities we could do while we were here. I threw my clothes on the dorm bed, and took off to walk the town. I found a Mr Price and 300 rand later ($30) I bought new jeans, t-shirt, sweater, and hoodie. Stopped by the introduction hall and decided to book a sand boarding excursion for the next day. There are 9 of us in total (The boys, Maria, Sarah, Brittany, Jareb, Talbot, and Cecilie) who booked that. Nico and Denise booked the sky diving. That night a few of us ate at Napolitano restaurant and had great pizza. I passed out pretty early; because of the weather changes I was feeling pretty crappy and knew I had a physical day climbing the sand dunes.

Next morning a minivan picked us up and 30 minutes later I had snowboard boots, helmet and was climbing the big sand dune that the standup boarders use. Sarah and Maria did the sit down riding (basically a 3X2 piece of particle board with one side smooth). It was so much fun, Rhys and I were the only ones who had previous snowboarding experience so we went on our own while everyone else learned how to board. I think if you have never boarded before you should do the sit down. A sand dune is not the best place to learn how to board. I haven’t been riding in years but it came back to me in no time. On the second run Rhys and  I were jumping on the jump and posing for pictures. That night Cecilie and I had our first proper date and ate at a Mexican restaurant. I had a vegetarian enchilada that was absolutely amazing. The next day I spent the day on my own walking around town. I ended up getting a haircut and at 1500hrs Maria and I went to go see “What to Expect When You are Expecting”… Terrible movie, we knew it was going to be, but we were hoping it would have some funny bits… Nope! The next day we took off at ten and drove all day to Namibia dunes Sossusvlei. These dunes are the highest, and arguable the most beautiful in the world. We camped that night inside the park, and the next morning we were going to be up early to climb the famous “Dune 45”…

Next morning came and we left the campground at 0540hrs only to be bogged in sun, and because of that we only got to dune 40. So Suse parked and Rhys, Jareb, Cecilie, Talbot and I ran about 400meters to the dune and started climbing it. We got about halfway when the sun actually rose. The dune was the highest dune I have ever climbed. It was not easy, but well worth the strenuous climb up there. We ditched Talbot behind, Rhys and I stuck together while Cecilie and Jareb made it to the  top with no problems. Once on the top we took pictures of us posing, jumping, diving and wrestling on the top. The next part we ran straight down the dune jumping and what seemed like flying. Once we got back to Rosie, Suse had coffee for us. We then left for actual Sossusvlei which supposed to be the number one tourist attraction in Namibia… Ha! What a waste of 180 Rand. So anyone planning on going don’t listen to the hype around it. If anything spend 100 Rand on a transfer and take the park shuttle service to Dead Vlei, hike 10 minutes to a dead river beds with trees in it, then take a transfer shuttle to Sossusvlei which is a small lake. Don’t bother with the guided tour. It’s a waste of 10 bucks. The guide was completely useless. He told us that Sossusvlei used to be a river (go figure) and millions of years ago winds blew and created dunes. Sorry I am a little bitter about it, I can’t tell you one guided tour that actually meant a damn! After warm showers we took off towards Fish River Canyon. We knew we had one free camp before we would get there. We dove until it was getting dark when Suse pulled into a farmers land to ask them if we could camp there. Low and behold this farmer had just opened up the day before a campground J… Suse couldn’t tell them no, because it’s against the law to free camp in Namibia and if we left there would be a good chance they would call the police. The campground was nice enough, the bathrooms were brand new. There was hot water (the farmer set up a fire burning water system). I called it a early night and passed out before breakfast.

Next day we drove to the very impressive fish river canyon. It reminded me much like the Grand Canyon. They have 5 day hiking tours that I would like to do one day. Its 5 days 80/90km hike. That night we stayed at the Ai-Ais hot springs. We had to cook dinner but the next morning at 8, we were soaking in natural hot springs. They made it look like Jacuzzis, and a spa, but the water was pumped from the actual ground. It was impressive and very relaxing. We took off at 10, and now heading to the border. We are going to leave Rosie for a week while we are in South Africa. Rosie doesn’t have a permit to get her in. So for the next two days we are going toget the truck clean, and organize for the next section of the journey.