Advertisement
Published: September 10th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Monkeying around
My friend Elizabeth climbing around a park in Windhoek Phew...where to begin!!
So I have not sat down to do e-mail since before the break...I am apologizing in advance...this is going to be long with lots of pictures....
Ok, so once we were off from school, I went to Windhoek with some of my friends and just caught up with all of them...(I then realized I wasn't the only one who went into hibernation this past term...I think it definitely had something to do with the winter months and it getting dark earlier). Then my one friend, Kate and I drove all the way to the south to do some hiking and camping at this place called Fish River Canyon.
Now before I go on about FRC, my friend Kate really know how to camp. She calls it "car camping" because everything you would ever want for camping is in her car. We each had our own tent, a blow up air mattress, wool blankets, a gas stove, plates, utensils, etc. If I ever go real camping again, I don't know how I will handle it 😉
Anyway, FRC was beautiful. Apparently, it is the second largest canyon in the world next to the Grand Canyon!
They also had amazing natural hot springs that we went in at night after we went hiking. Some people hike the whole canyon for 5 days but the Park wouldn't let hikers go this year because there was no water in the river and you need to be able to drink the water during the five days...oh well!
Then we went to this town called Luderitz. It's an old German fishing town on the water that defintitely had a ghost town feel to it...Actually, there is a ghost town about 10 kilo's outside of Luderitz called Kolmaskop that we went to for the day. It used to be a mining town for Diamonds but has shut down for over 50 years now. It was really cool to see though and they are still mining around that area for Diamonds...it is so funny...there are signs warning the tourists to stay in their car and not get out or else they can be arrested but there are no police, no fenses, and no security camaras guarding the area...we joked that if it was back in the US, that place would be ridiculous! We met up with this other Peace Corps Volunteer,
FIsh River Canyon
View from the top Dave, there who came with us for the rest of the trip. (So for all of you who were tortured for my indecisiveness between Peace Corps and World Teach, this kid Dave hates Peace Corps and is probably going to quit after just 10 months. Good news for me, bad news for him!)
So, then we went to this other park called the Namib Naukluft Park where we did some more hiking and camping. It was beautiful just really cold there! Kate's wool blankets really came in handy! But the best news for me was that I discovered my new favorite food over a campfire called a banana boat - a banana with a slit cut down the middle and you but some chocolate in the slit and put it over the fire...it truly was the best thing I have eaten!
Then is was back to Windhoek to pick up my dad! Yay! He got in just fine and it was so good to see him! We just basically hung out in Windhoek for the day and he got to meet a lot of my volunteer friends, it was funny, I wasn't planning anything and we just kept
Over the cliff
This is how the hikers who hike the 5-day trail start...phew...looks fun but scary! bumping into people all day and there ended up being about 10 of us out to dinner. Then we were off to Spitzkoppe (the place I took the 2 kids hiking) to see some bushmen paintings and hiking. Then we went to Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, two really nice coastal towns... and we got to do some quad biking on these beautiful dunes outside of town...
Now for the funny story...
So, the whole time I was with my dad, we were renting a car to drive around and I wanted to be able to help with some of the driving so I had to request an automatic (nope, never learned stick shift). Well, everyone here drives manuel cars (stick shift) and the only automatic car they had were Mercedes. So, here I was, driving around in a Mercedes and let me remind you, they drive on the left side of the road here! So one day, when we were on the road and talking to my mom on the phone, I went to do a U-turn and got into my first car accident ever. I got hit by a taxi. Luckily no one was hurt, only the
door. So after a short trip to the police station and an exchange of cars with Avis, we were on our way.
Then we drove about 5 hours on a gravel road to this place called Sossusvlei (sue-sus-flay). They are the infamous red/orange dunes of Namibia that are all over the postcards and signs here. These sand dunes are amazing and so beautiful! You really just want to go swimming in it. My dad and I hiked up and down the dunes and had a great time enjoying our stay at our wonderful lodge by the park. We also went on this hike down into another canyon called Sesreim...fun times!
Then for his last days here, my dad came back to Usakos to meet the teachers and learners at my school! He was such a good sport. Not only did he fix all of our printers at the school, he spent a whole day going to each class at my school introducing himself and telling the kids all about the US. They loved it and I know he did too! Then it was time for him to leave...I definitely shed a tear in front of all the kids
Luderitz
Cute fishing town on the water. It was really a cute town! at school but it was so good to see him and share this experience with him!
So now it's back to the nuts and bolts of teaching again...a teacher at another school in my town passed away over the holiday, and he was the father of one of my Grade 5 kids. Very sad! Then, on Wednesday I am going to the one synagogue in Namibia for Rosh Hashanah...my dad and I found it when we were walking around Windhoek...should be interesting considering it's Orthodox!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.107s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 52; dbt: 0.059s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Judy Fern
non-member comment
WOW!
J, these were the most beautiful pictures of your whole trip [so far]. They could be entered into a competition. Of course I particularly liked the ones of your Dad schlepping up hills, etc. Good for him -- builds character!!! It sounds like life is moving along smoothly and you're still having the adventure of a lifetime. I hope you'll be at Seder to tell us all about it. And btw, Happy New Year! Love, Judy