February 15th, 2009

Sorry everyone I miss typed my last name and didnt realize this didnt go through. This is all about my second day in Namibia....

 

This morning we woke up at 7:30 to be ready for a full day of off-roading by 8:30. Last night it was so hot I didn’t even need a blanket and new today would be hot and sunny, so after putting on my sunscreen and packing a small bag with my camera, hat, sunglasses, and more sunscreen Kelly, Erica, and I went to the lobby for breakfast. It was really nice and they even had a chef taking orders for eggs and bacon. At 8:30 we walked out the hotel gate to find Fani, our tour guide, and two other drivers. I looked to my right and saw a man wearing a bright orange shirt and no shoes standing next to tan off road vehicle. I knew this was the man I wanted be my driver, his name was embroidered on his shirt and was Herman. Kelly, Erica and I hoped in his car. He was a very funny man and the first thing he said to us was that we needed to take our shoes off to be closer to with nature and the earth. We laughed and thought he was joking but only later we would find out he wasn’t. Kelly jumped in the front seat with Erica and I in the back not really knowing what the day was going to bring. 

 

We started off taking a slow drive through town with Herman showing us flamingo’s and all other kinds of birds on our right. At first I felt as though I was on bird watching tour. He also showed us Walvis Bay’s “Millionaire Mile”this is where all the wealthy people of the city live and was on the left of us with beach front property. The homes were very nice and like I said yesterday reminded me of Newport Beach. Although when I say Millionaire you also must take into consideration the exchange rate I wrote about yesterday. Herman told us who lived in each house showing us that the town is so small around 65,000 people that most people know each other or if you don’t you know someone who knows them. Herman was also very excited to tell us he recently purchased a home the street behind Millionaire Mile with his wife and three kids. He also like Fani grew up in the north of Namibia. 

 

So we kept driving along the cost and finally arrived to some sand dunes. We stopped at the top of our first small dune and we jumped out to take pictures. They had to stop us and tell all of us girls that we would be making so many stops and not to waste our pictures here because this was only the beginning. Soon after that first stop Herman tricked us with a little joke and distracted us by pointing to something on the left and then went straight down a fairly steep dune to our left. Our car was the first one to go and we all screamed and then cracked up laughing at ourselves. We sat at the bottom waiting for the next two cars to come down and hear them scream too!

 

We then kept driving and went through some grasslands and next made a stop to take a picture of rabbit Herman found along side the dirt road we were on. We continued on to the next sand dune where we took more pictures and Herman went off to come back with a little surprise. He came over to us and told Erica to open her hand and in her hand he placed a gecko he found in the sand. She screamed but held on to it so we could all take a few pictures. Here was also took a classic picture of us girls jumping in the dunes. 

 

We continued on our way and entered a national park which I believe Herman said is one of the largest national parks in the world and he had to have a permit to enter. We entered the park along the beach and drove alongside the water. Every time I looked out to the water I couldn’t believe I was driving along the coast of Africa until I looked to my left and saw nothing but desert. We made another stop atop a sand dune where Herman found another gecko to show us. The gecko was clear with a little bit of color here and there it almost looked like a gummy candy you could eat. We took a few more pictures of us in the dunes and then made it to our next stop where Herman on the car ride there had convinced us to take our shoes off, very slyly I might add. At this stop Herman told us sometimes he came to this place to see if he needed to go on a diet. We were kind of confused but quickly followed him. He walked a little ahead of us and all of a sudden ran and jumped into the sand sinking in the sand up to his knees. We all were surprised and laughed this is how he said he knew he needed to go on a diet. The rest of us all tried to get in as far as he did but he said we didn’t way enough which made us feel good. After some effort jumping up and down in one spot we pushed through sand to about our knees and felt water down on our feet. We again took many pictures and were back in the cars once again. 

 

Our next stop was along the oceanside and Herman picked up muscles and shells and had us stand on a mound of mud in the water. Also on our drive alongside the beach Herman kept stopping to pick up these really pretty orange fossils that he told us were 4 to 5 million years old. Kelly, Erica and I decided we all wanted one and told Herman to keep his eye out for more. In the end we ended up finding one for each of us thanks to Herman’s quick eye. We stopped one last time on our drive on the ocean where Herman found a muscle and had me try a piece. Don’t worry I didn’t eat the whole thing just took a quick bite. 

 

After a little ways of driving we finally started to notice something very large on our left hand side growing and growing in size. They were the largest sand dunes in the world and I think should be one of the 7 wonders of the world. We had finally arrived at our destination after all these fun educational stops. We headed straight up the dunes and made a stop at the top looking over the ocean. We attempted to take pictures but we couldn’t get the size of it any pictures. It is one of those things you will not be able to understand until you see it in person. So we spent the rest of our afternoon going up and down the dunes which was amazing and a blast! We finally stopped for lunch at the top of a dune overlooking the ocean. While our guides were setting up tables, umbrellas and chairs for us for lunch we noticed some dolphins swimming down in the ocean which was exciting. We then had a nice lunch and talked with our guides learning more about them and Namibia. They had stories about famous people they wanted to share with us. Fani has apparently taken Angelina Joli and Brad Pitt on the same offroading tour we were on that day. They also shared a story about someone from Walvis Bay marrying Jessica Simpson’s personal assistant. One of the girls also asked the tour guides if we were the loudest group they had ever had of screamers. And Herman replied that he had two very loud girls (Erica and Kelly) and one quiet (Me). All day he had been telling me I was quiet and kept looking behind him to make sure I wasn’t sleeping. I am not sure why but all the tour guides found this to be very funny and I didn’t even know I was being quiet. 

 

While us girls sat and relaxed talking I noticed the guides had gone around the corner. Being the nosey person I am I looked around the side of the car and found Herman putting floor polish on a wooden board. I realized we would be getting to do a little sand sledding. He told me not to tell anyone and that I would be the first to go. So after a few minutes Herman asked me if I was ready to go I said sure and the girls all looked at me with curiousity. We went around side the car at the top of a dune not facing the ocean and I laid down on the board. Herman taught me how to stop and turn and then pushed me down. I flew down and felt like I was sledding on sand. When I finally stopped I looked back up the hill and was slightly bummed for the walk ahead of me. So we all took our turns doing that which was super exciting! After cleaning up lunch we were done for our day and ready to head back. We were heading out of the dunes and Herman made a comment that Erica and I had not been in the front seat all day. Next thing we knew we were going down the sand dune backwards and he told us this was our chance to be in the front seat. 

 

By about 3:30 our drivers brought us back to our hotel after an amazing and beautiful day of seeing Namibia. We had originally planned to go to a BBQ at our friend Ryan’s beach house in Swakumpond that night at around 5. Although everyone else planned to have the shuttle pick us up at 6. So our plans changed slightly and we ended up heading to Swakumpond around 6:30 and went to a restaurant called Ocean Basket that Fani had recommended. 

 

We got to dinner and everything was amazing and cheap. I think here we also spent a few hours just enjoying the food and talking. We also took a quick break from dinner to watch the amazing sunset.  My dinner was amazing and so cheap for the food I was getting. For fish and chips and a beer with dessert I spent 7 dollars. At the restaurant there was small bounce house which some of the girls we were with thought it might be a good idea to jump in. About four of them got in and unplugged the machine. It was really funny to watch them all run out. For a long time we thought they all popped it but the workers at the restaurant just sat laughing knowing they only had to plug it back in.    After an amazing dinner we headed to find a bar and a place to drink. Although keep in mind it is a Sunday night. So we wondered around the town finding other SAS kids trying to find a bar that was open. Not too much was but after wandering the town for oh about an hour or so we ended up at a bar called the Tiger Reef. For something to compare it to it reminded me of The Naked Turtle in Havasu although obviously way better!!! The bar was all sand on the ground and was right on the beach. There weren’t too many people there when we got there so we called our shuttle to make sure it would be there by midnight when the bar closed to pick us up. At midnight our driver showed up and again some people still wanted to stay even though it seemed kind of dead. So we dropped them at the only other bar in town and open and headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow we would be leaving for atving at 8:30 this tour was also with Fani.