Swakopmund Day 2

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Swakopmund Day 2

While others in our group set out to do some quad biking on the local dunes (none opted for dune boarding), and still others lazed around or shopped, we had pre- booked a balloon ride over the desert. Our pilot picked us up at 6:00 am, and we joined a German couple working for Mercedes Benz now living in East London, South Africa. We made it a foursome, plus pilot, for the morning ride. 

Dense fog surrounded us, so dense that it was condensing on the windshield as we drove. Our pilot Lawrence told us that the likelihood of seeing much, or even getting off the ground over the coastal dunes was slim to none, so he proposed to drive inland out of the fog into the desert and make a morning of it. We were OK with that. So off we went, balloon and basket in tow, chase helpers in the back of the truck. At one point, when we were out of the fog, Lawrence stopped the vehicle to test the air with a small balloon. Nope, too much wind. Drive a bit further, send up another small balloon, just a bit further. Finally we reached the optimum place.

The balloon was laid out, and then blown up by a big fan, plus some shots from the burners, when it was inflated enough. Jennifer and Kayla had to get into the basket before it was upright. Richard and Andreas climbed in just as we were about to lift off. Up we went like a shot and before we knew it we were 1500 feet off the ground, floating right along in the desert air. 

It was beautiful and a highlight of our trip. The landing was perfect although Lawrence didn't know where we were. So it was fun for the chase team to get to us directed by radio and even more fun for Lawrence to find his way out of the desert and back to the road. But before that we stopped at a jumble of rocks for a champagne breakfast. These granite rocks had three large holes probabily worn out by wind and sand, big enough to sleep in if we were lost in the desert. The breakfast was fitting end for a wonderful experience.

That afternoon, we went to the Internet cafe, treated ourselves to coffee and cake, and caught up on about ten blog postings. Then Kayla went off to the local spa, found on Lawrence's recommendation, to have her nails redone, while Richard found his own version of heaven just down the street at the Crystal Gallery, which had an incredible display of all kinds of large crystal minerals and jewelry made from these crystals including the world's largest quartz crystal matrix extracted from a mine in Namibia.

We finished our day at the Brauhaus (Lawrence's recommendation again) arriving early enough to get a table before all the reservations arrived. Roast pork, red cabbage and bread dumplings, German style. Scrumptious!

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