Holiday has been off to a crazy, adventurous escapade so far,
but in order to avoid boring you and rambling on, I'll break the days down and
give the big highlights.
Day 1:
Kristin and I left school a day early so that we could start the
fun before the other two in our group... Our patience obviously isn't as strong.
I got a ride with another teacher and met Kristin in Oshakati for some lunch.
From there we wasted time until we needed to catch a ride on the Intercape. The
Intercape is a South African bus that travels through Namibia and South Africa.
Picture a fancy charter bus you used for overnight field trips and church
summer camps. The seats were amazing, and Kristin and I were acting like small
children because we were so happy with our little TVs, reclining chairs, and
lack of PDK repeatedly on the radio. I had no idea what I was getting in to. We
arrived in Windhoek the next morning a little before 6am.
Day 2:
We met up with Abby, her sister, and one of her best friends
from home. At this point Abby was about to embark on the journey of renting a
car for the very first time. After some expected struggles, we got the car and
headed for the Daan Viljoen Game Park, a resort with animals and hiking trails.
Abby mastered the city driving, being on the wrong side of the road and car.
For the remainder of the day we prepared for the trip by buying food and
supplies. The night ended with delicious Indian food and Emily and Mariella
finally arriving in Windhoek.
Day 3:
My group of four went to pick up our rental car from the small Eros
airport in Windhoek. Kristin and I were the two designated drivers for this
trip, which started off a little bit scary.
After getting the car, we packed everything up, met Abby's
group, and got on the road to head to Naukluft, near the Tsauchab River. We
arrived at our campsite mid-afternoon, giving us a little bit of time to
explore.
At the campsite, our spot was awesome! We had an outdoor toilet
and a shower in the tree. Talk about being a part of nature. That night we made
chili and froze our butts off as we slept. Unfortunately though, this is where
my part of the trip took a turn for the worst. At 1am, I was hit by some kind
of stomach bug, which led to continuous vomiting and eventually diarrhea. To
say I hated life is an understatement. I was miserable: cold, pukey, and yes, a
little dramatic.
Day 4:
This day of adventures was still pretty rough for me. I was
still sick and we had to get back on the road again. In order to prepare for
the upcoming couple hours, I stayed back from the group hike and rested for a
bit. This resulted in sleeping, a lot of nasty drinks, and more puke. I was
pretty. Afterwards, we got on the road to head to Sossusvlei/Sesriem.
Around 2 or so, we made it to the next destination, one that
praise The Lord had an emergency clinic with meds. I got medicine, we set up
our campsites, and then headed to the dunes. God was on my side for the timing
of my sickness because fortunately I had already experienced this part of
Namibia over May holiday, which made it easy for me to say no to dune
climbing.
The remainder of the night is pretty much a blur. I went to bed
before the group and barely ate dinner. Sesriem was so cold that I ended up
leaving my tent and sleeping peacefully in the car vom free.
Day 5:
Our two groups split up and headed on our separate ways. Abby's
group went to Swakopmund and ours went to Luderitz, a 7-hour drive on gravel
roads in a rented car. The drive consisted of a sing along, read aloud, and the
creation of a song thanks to Emily and Kristin. We made it to Luderitz shortly
before dinner. We checked into the hostel (read real beds and hot showers),
headed to dinner, and went to bed early. Terror struck again that night when
Sleaze (Emily) woke up vomiting... Time for round 2 and 3.
Day 6:
On day 6, more of our group got sick. Emily and Kristin were hit with whatever I had. I was still queasy, but more than
anything, I just needed to get out because I was mentally preparing myself to
feel sick again. We were supposed
to go on a tour this day of the ghost town, but luckily, we changed the
day. Mariella and I got medicine
for the group and then headed out for a walking tour of the town. That is basically all this day consisted
of. There was little food
eaten. Few events happened. A lot of sleep was slept.
Day 7:
This day was very interesting. Prior to getting to Luderitz we booked a tour that would
allow us to explore Sperrgebiet National Park, a restricted area close to
Luderitz. This park is owned by Namdeb
(Namibia De Beers) and is used for diamond mining. We were not able to see any of the current mining being
done, but our tour allowed us to visit old mining sites. Overall, it was not what we expected
and a little boring, sad to say. At
the end of the tour though, we got to see the Bogenfels Sea Arch, which was
definitely my favorite part of the day.
The scenery was gorgeous and the air was fresh and smelled of the sea. I would have been happy staying there all
day.
Day 8:
On our last whole day in Luderitz, we headed to Kolmanskop, the
famous ghost town. If you Google
Namibia, a lot of these pictures will show up. It is the town where the sand dunes have started to invade
the living rooms, etc. There were
only two big things left on my list to see in Namibia, and this place was one
of them. We arrived at the site,
got a brief tour, and were then free to roam around on our own. It was amazing to see how the dunes had
taken over the homes.
That night, we met up with some other volunteers in our group
and went to dinner close to the water.
Several people in our group did not enjoy there time in Luderitz, but
overall, I really enjoyed the slow pace of the town and the vibe. No, it did not have a lot to offer a
tourist and I would not want to live there for many years, but I could see a
volunteer really enjoying their time in this town.
No comments:
Post a Comment