Sand, Sand And More Sand

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Day 37 - Swakopmund - 4/9/09

Woke up with added excitement this morning as Pascal, Danielle, Cat and Duncan were getting into Swakopmund this morning. Wondered over to the Swakop Lodge, where they were staying, at 10 and was greeted in reception by a Duncan sized hug. We all chatted, told our stories and what we had been up to since we departed company. We all went into the Far Out Booking Office, which was attached to the Swakop Lodge to see what extreme activities were available to do. In the end we booked some sand boarding, it was about midday by the time we finished so we went out for a spot of lunch. We went to the Lighthouse Cafe for lunch and I ordered a Jaeger Schnitzel; 2 ornx fillets in breadcrumbs in mushroom sauce. It actually was really really nice.

We broke up into small groups; Me and Duncan went off to sort out the 4x4 and the permit for the park, whilst the girls and Pascal went off to book the table at the Tug restaurant; one of the best restaurants in Swakopmund. Firstly, we went to the permit office, which took a bit of finding, we were getting the permit so we could go camping in the national park and the guy in the office was less then helpful, eventually having got the permit we went to a couple of car hire offices and found that the majority of rental offices didn’t have a 4x4 to rent. We stumbled upon a rental office at the back of a gas station and when we spoke to him in said that indeed he did have one but currently it was getting some dents bashed out and he wasn’t sure if it was going to be available for us to hire out. We said we would stop by later on during the day to see if he would have it available. After this we decided that we should get the camping equipment as we decided the girls would have enough to do buying the food and picking up the 4x4 tomorrow morning. By the time we had all the camping equipment, we quickly swung back by the gas station and the 4x4 hire office, the owner told us that we were in luck and the 4x4 would be available! Stroke of luck.

By the time that everything was sorted it was time to go out for a couple of drinks. We had a quick shower and then had a quick drink at Rafter's Action Pub; where we bumped into a couple of the Aussie lads on were on the organised tour with everybody. We went to the German beer house where we stayed for a couple of traditional German beers and a couple of shots of Jagermeister. After this we walked down to the seafront to the Tug restaurant; like I said the Tug is one the best restaurants in Swakopmund and is in an old Tug, hence the name. The food was awesome. I walked back to the Swakop Lodge with everybody else and said my goodbyes. Fell asleep fairly early as tomorrow was a big day!

Day 38 - Swakopmund - 5/9/09

Woke up at 0800 and made my way over to the Swakop Lodge for 0830, where we all met up for breakfast. We went for breakfast in a charming little place that was opening up half an hour early for us. The food was awesome and the location breath taking, an opened air garden with lots of overgrowing branches; it set us up for a great day. We met up with the guide for the sandboarding and jumped into the 4x4's and set off for the dunes. They weren’t very far and easy to reach. We got strapped up with a helmet and elbow pads, the people who were standing up got strapped into their boards; we however just picked our pieces of wood to lay on. These were simply pieces of thin plywood with a rough and smooth side, the smooth side was placed on the sand and we laid on the rough side and there were a couple instructions,

a) To lift the front of the board up to stop you eating sand
b) If the board turns you tap your feet into the sand to straighten it
c) To slow down you dig both feet into the sand and
d) Have fun!

What wasn’t fun was walking up the dunes; that was murder but like the instructor said the first one would be the hardest and they would get easier as the day went on. Like the instructors said the first one was the hardest but the climbs did get easier as the day went on. We went on a couple of training run before being let down them properly. There was 1 run that we went down in a pair and 3 which were speed gunned; I measured 64km per hour, 59 km per hour and 71km per hour. It was so much fun flinging yourself down a sand dune on a stomach at such speeds; to be honest something that everybody should do! If you’re worried about getting coated in sand; don’t be, my arms and legs were but nothing else was, well, that’s unless you wipe out but it’s pretty easy to do.

The girls picked us up from the dunes, where we had lunch. It was such a beautiful setting with the rolling dunes that are constantly moving with the wind. After the shear exhalation of sandboarding, we chilled out in the 4x4, except for me, sticking mu head out of the window, feeling the wind run though my hair and against my face. It was an awesome feeling, everybody was looking forward to camping and I felt honoured that the guys wanted me there. We pulled off the road and put the 4x4 in off road mode as we made our way along the Swakop river bed; any troubles and thoughts about how much of a pain in the ass this had been to organise were now forgotten. The beauty of the Laurence of Arabia sandunes had gone and been replaced with a barren, rocky, grey landscape that in its own way was still beautiful. We bumped our way over the terrain, stopping to admire (and take some photos of) the beautiful mountains and the old ruins that were; trying to work out what it might have been, somebody’s house or an old German mining building.

Eventually at about 1600, we decided upon a little spot in a valley to set up camp, it looked like all the surrounding rocks had faces; it was weird! Pascal and Duncan went to collect some firewood whilst Cat was on kitchen duties and Danielle put up both tents. A short while later the boys came back with the firewood, the tents were up and everything was sorting so that the camp fire could be started. The fire, when in full flow was roaring and the coals ready for the food to be cooked. Danielle and Pascal were going to sleep in the open, as a result more firewood was required and I went with Pascal and Duncan to get some more firewood. There was a little dead bush which we stripped and filled the back of the 4x4 up; I actually managed to find the biggest piece, it was so big that it actually took the 3 of us to pick it up! By the time we got back the food was cooking on the grill and there was plenty of it; starters, 3 or 4 different types of cheese, bread, eggs, crisps, biltong, olives and more; actually there was enough food to feed a small African country!

The sun set and the cooking continued long into the night. The sizzle from the BBQ was loud enough for anybody who was around to hear. There was plenty of meat from Kudu steaks, Springbok, Ornx fillets and plenty of different types of German sausages. The food was awesome, the conversation was plentiful and the time was spent with good friends. As well as the food, there was plenty of booze; 3 bottles of red, 3 bottles of white and 6 little cans and 7 big bottles of Tafel beer, the local brew. To round of the feast, the girls cracked open 2 bags of marshmellows that were cooked over the fire; a perfect ending to a perfect day! After the food was eaten and stomachs full; we got the fire raging and chilled out round it. I crawled into my sleeping bag; lying next to it and trying to not let my sleeping bag go up in flames!!!

Day 39 - Swakopmund - 6/9/09

Woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the mountains that created the valley, they were made all the more beautiful with the coloured streaks reflecting the sun. We woke up and threw some more firewood onto the fire that had been raging all night, trying to get some heat back into the coals. The girls, then produced more food for breakfast; 3 different types of sausage, 2 of which were German and 1 Czech, some goat cheese on toast wrapped in tin foil and some fried eggs. As the morning went on it got hotter and hotter, just making the day all the better. Stomach full, we started to clear all our mess away; all the rubbish into bin bags, tents being taken down and water thrown onto the fire to make sure it was completely out. We left our campsite at about 0900, all pilled back into the 4x4, setting off along the main road which we followed to Lunar Landscapes; it’s got its name because the rock formations look like they could possibly be from another planet. We got out to take some photos and drove down some of the tracks to get a proper look; all the tracks seemed to lead to a dead end apart from one which led down to a small rocky drop. Me and Cat got out of the 4x4 and walked down the slight drop whilst Duncan and everybody else in the 4x4 tried to drive down it; at various points it looked like the 4x4 was going to topple over or get stuck but somehow Duncan managed to get it down. He stopped by as and I climbed up onto footing platform and held onto the handle inside the car via the open window as Duncan started to speed up, faster and faster he drove down this track and eventually I lost my grip and was flung onto the ground. Got up with no damage done, dusting myself off. Duncan pulled up, jumped inside and continued to reverse to pick up Cat. We drove down the tracks until we reached a fence meaning that it was time to turn around and head off to the Welwitschia plant, negotiating that slight drop, getting over it with more ease.

The Welwitschia plant is an ugly looking plant with 2 leaves, in the wind the 2 leaves look like a lot more. We stopped in the middle of the national park and looked at one; we as a collective unit decided that it would be a waste of a time going to look at the oldest and biggest Welwitschia plant. We drove back to Swakopmund via the coastal road heading from Walvis Bay; where we stopped on the beach for a coffee ... Duncan decided to park on the sand and when we got back to the 4x4 it was stuck in the sand; Duncan eventually managed to rev the 4x4 enough backward, forwards and back again to get out of the sand.

The rest of the afternoon, upon our arrival back in Swakopmund we did our own thing, we met in the evening and went to the Hansa Hotel, an old German colonial hotel for drinks and something to eat. The hotel was amazing; it was a beautiful old hotel and what was weird was that the waiters actually had a sense of humour, unlike the waiter at the Victoria Falls Hotel, an example of that would be when the waiter described the ostrich as 'a big chicken.' It was an absolutely amazing experience; from drinking orange juice round a campfire in plastic to drinking wine out of crystal glasses. That night I crashed out and slept like a baby.

#Day 40 - Windhoek - 7/9/09

Woke up and packed, carrying my bags into reception. Really didn’t do too much in the morning, used the internet and sent a few postcards. I got my bag and wondered up to the bus station. The bus arrived late and whilst other people who were waiting were spitting feathers about this I just chilled out and did some reading; I mean after all this is Africa and waiting is something I was fast getting used to! The bus journey was itself uneventful; I just sat there watching the world pass by. The highlight of the bus journey was seeing about 20 bug splat on the top window at the front and seeing a lorry driver throw a beer can at the driver as the bus driver ran a red light at some road works. I as we came into Windhoek I watched the route we took to the car park as I was walking instead of getting a taxi back to the hostel; I walked back as the sun set, checked in and guess who I met, Adrian, that German guy who was cycling from Germany to Cape Town. We chilled out, chatted and drunk plenty of beers.

Day 41 - Jo'burg (South Africa) - 8/9/09

After drinking coffee and having breakfast in town, I went to an ATM to get some money out for the taxi; I checked my balance and the ATM told me that I only had $N1768 or £136 left! I almost had kittens!! That's my trip over with!! I decided before making any calls home I would check it in another ATM, this time it told me that I had $N20020 or £1600. I breathed a sigh of relief that was more like it. The rest of the morning was spent in my hostel watching the news and drinking coffee before the taxi I ordered would whisk me off to the airport.

The flight to Jo'burg was largely uneventful and getting picked up by Rob, the hostel owner, arrived at my hostel for the night. The first thing I did was to buy a Baz Bus ticket for 14 days; he in the process took a look though my planned schedule across South Africa and told me that it was ok. I decided that instead of hanging around doing nothing at the hostel, I would go down to the local mall, to the cinema and catch a movie. I went to see G.I Joe; mainly based on the fact that Sienna Miller was in it. It was an ok film, a no-brainer where everything was blown up. Went to bed fairly early in the knowledge that my flight down to Cape Town was pretty early. I was looking forward to getting back to Cape Town as there was so much that I still needed to do from the last time I was there!

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Cheers!
Jagermeister's All Round