The Namibian Adventure: Part Two

So here goes the rest of my trip around Namibia! Upon arriving in Swakopmund we were completely in awe of the civilization! And not just the civilization but also the fact that the coastal city is SO SO SO GERMAN!!! Everyone around us looked like they came from a German decent, spoke German, and mostly were German! You can clearly tell that Namibia was a former German colony when you drive through Swakopmund. As you can see from the photo’s, you wouldn’t really expect to see these buildings in Africa! But anyway, once we entered the city we spent about an hour looking for a campsite before we found a beautiful place right next to the beach and near the city center! Thus without wasting any time we set up our tents and headed out to explore a bit of the city and mainly relax at the beach (which I hadn’t seen in waaay too long!!). For dinner we decided to treat ourselves to our first “real” meal at a german restaurant, which was absolutely amazing (not that our cooking is bad!!haha). 

The Coast at Swakopmund

German Buildings

Is this Africa?!!?

Or Bavaria?

At the Jetty

Cheese!

Our Campsite

The next day we went exploring the city and doing all the tourist things! This included the “Krystal” gallery which houses the world’s largest quartz cluster. I was also intrigued to visit the casino, but was let down when I found out that there was no one operating the live tables :( Nevertheless we continued to be amazed by our surroundings. In the afternoon we decided to rent quad bikes and go quad-biking in the dunes. Racing around the dunes, doing jumps, donuts, and all that fun stuff made the experience top notch. In the evening we met some friends from the farm that were also in Swakop, had a great night, and returned back to our campsite.

We got a bit carried away!

Group Photo :D

Stuck in the sand because Hannah drove too slow!

A snake we discovered on the ride

And a desert Chameleon

One thing I did notice during my stay in Swakop, which is always ridiculous to see, is the amount of racism that is still happening in Namibia. The white Namibians (who account for just over 15% of the population) still view themselves as being superior to the black Namibians, and this was very visible when walking around in the city. 

Anyway, moving on! On Saturday morning we had planned to go to Walvis bay where we would go on a dolphin & seal cruise, and then in the afternoon head down south to the dunes of Sossosvlei. Like most mornings we left our place way too late and rushed to Walvis bay, only to end up at the tankers jetty and not the marina. Luckily a couple calls later and we were on our way to the right place and hopped onboard with minutes to spare. The boat tour was great fun as well, instantly we were joined by a large pelican followed by a friendly seal who was seeking a morning snack! We past a large seal colony and spotted a handful of dolphins during the cruise, where we were also served Champagne and Oysters (I can't think of something I hate more!) 

Seal on Board!

That Cute Smile!

Cheeky Selfie

The Best Dolphin Photo we could get!

The Seal Colony

And the Pelican

Relaxing on the Deck

The Crash

Three hours later we were back on land and planned to get some quick groceries for our stay in the south, unfortunately this is where it all went wrong. Whilst crossing an intersection, another car who was way over the speed limit and not paying much attention to the road in front of him T-boned our car. This caused a big, big dent in one of the back doors and would prove to be quite problem-some. The man blamed us, whilst we believed he was at fault. Nevertheless, the police were called and we were escorted to the police station where we had to fill out our the usual accident reports. Luckily no one got hurt and our car was still in driving condition, but it definitely created some drama. THANK GOD WE GOT FULL INSURANCE!! That’s all I was thinking as it would have been a costly accident, and in Namibia you never know how things work. 

After the big set back, we decided to continue with our plan and head to Sossosvlei. Although we were all a bit taken away from what had happened, the ride to the dunes was again stunning (The photo’s don’t do the real scenery justice!!) Along the way we stopped at a small town called Solitaire where we were recommended to taste their “world famous” apple pie. To be fair to them, their world probably doesnt extend much further than the dunes, but anyway the apple pie was still fairly good! Including the quick pitstop we had finally made it to our campsite after a 4.5 hour drive. We also had our first taste of real fast internet!! Something that we had not had for months! After 10 minutes we had no idea what to do on the internet…that’s what Africa has done to me!!

Stunning Scenery to Sossosvlei

Through amazing mountain ranges

And past the Tropic of Capricorn

Our Campsite for the Night

And our breath taking view

The next day we woke up at 5:30 to head to “Big Daddy” the second tallest dune in the world. It was the reason we had come all the way down south and is considered to be quite the challenge to climb it to the top. I can only explain the climbing as being tough, very tough. Imagine yourself walking through some sand at the beach, now imagine going through some deep sand at the edge of the beach… alright, got that image in your head?? Now image sand twice as deep going up at a very steep slope, and you’ll have the right image in your head. Every step I took my foot sank about 2 feet into the sand, which made reaching the peak a real challenge. Nevertheless after 1.5 hours and having half the desert in our shoes we had fought our way to the top and were welcomed by a spectacular view of the surrounding area, the dunes, and dead vlei. After taking it all in for about half an hour and posing for some great pictures, the fun part began; running/jumping/hopping/falling down the dune! Something that took us 1.5 hours to climb resulted in only a 2 minute run down (If only it was the other way around!!). Upon reaching our car again the sun was out in full burst with the temperature reaching almost 50 degrees celsius (CRAZY!!). This motivated us to get back to our camp as soon as possible to indulge in the pool, which felt amazing!! In the evening we prepared our last meal, had a race to get the tents up (2 minutes and 10 seconds….Hannah beat me!), and enjoyed the amazing scenery we had in front of us.

Before the hike

The Dunes

Almost There!

Always time for a photo ;)

Upon Reaching the Top! 

Yeeaah!! 

Completely Exhausted

Dead Vlei

So Unique!

On Monday morning we had a long journey back to Windhoek in front of us. We waited a bit longer at the campsite as we were waiting to receive the police report from the man who hit our car. We couldn’t get the report on Saturday, and were told to pick it up on Monday, which is when the man offered to send the report (which we needed for the insurance) through e-mail. This ended up never happening… The drive back to Windhoek was another beautiful one especially when we went through one of the mountain passes. Not only were the roads very narrow and curvy, you could see the 100 meter drop from our car, which are exactly the kind of roads I want to be driving :D When we finally arrived in Windhoek, we returned the car without a single problem. We were a bit anxious about the insurance but it all worked out, which all gave us a big sigh of relief. We were then picked up by the Na/an Kuse driver and arrived back at the farm, home sweet home!

 For this week I’m back at the farm and then heading on another adventure! This time, with three other friends, we’re renting a little VW Polo and driving through Botswana to Zimbabwe and Zambia to see the Victoria Falls, go on more game drives, and potentially go bungy jumping/sky diving (sorry mom!). Until then have yourself a good week!!