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Published: February 10th 2011
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We arrived in the early afternoon. I have an entire day and ½ free to do whatever I want in this ‘Nazi’ town. The entire town has German influence. I have never been to Germany, but apparently it has a strong resemblance with German restaurants, street names, etc… It even has shops with Nazi souvenirs. OYE I tell you. The drive here from Solitaire was bumpy, but only a few hours and very scenic. We passed by the birth place of Shiloh (a very famous baby here). Apparently, the real estate in the ‘Brad and Angie’ area has skyrocketed to the exclusive rich and famous. The starting price for a waterfront home/new construction is about R25,000.000.
As this was the first time with internet in a few days, I spent some time catching up on uploading pics and my blog. I headed to a café for some lunch followed by a well needed massage (as the last few days have been rough). I head back to my Lodge/hostel and found my roommate. After showering, she joined me to go to the Tug. Yummmmm. It is a cool restaurant situated on the ocean front. A ton of seafood later, I simply
passed out for the night.
Ann so kindly woke up at 4:30am as she thought she was missing the sun rise. I think she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. She put her coat on and went out. About 45 minutes later she comes back, starts making tea wondering why the sun didn’t rise yet. I actually raised my voice as there was no way I was going to join her at 5:15am. I never fell back asleep.
I had breakfast at 7am as I was being picked up at 8am for a day of ‘Living Desert Tour’. None of my tour mates wanted to do any optional activities at all. Phew. I met my guide for the day. He is a German looking man with a huge mustache and is a Camel chain smoker. There are 5 other people in this old and beat up Landrover. It is a couple from Germany (most of the tourists here are), a couple from South Africa and Mick, a young guy from Perth, Australia. Everybody was so NICE! OMG… what an awesome day I had. Our tour guide picked on me most of the time which was
a treat as I miss being picked on sometimes (in a good way people). So the day was being spent tracking creatures of the dunes. I HEART lizards, so this was up my alley. We started with a little lizard. This lizard was a legless lizard, so it sorta looked like a snake, but was a lizard. We learned it eats flies which are a source of water. Then these little guys are eaten as their bladder holds water. Who knew! I held this weird creature and saw the heart beat through the skin.
Next we learned about the different track marks. I can now tell you when a snake is around! Woo hoo. We caught a little lizard next with legs. Our guide tried putting it on my ear… ummm, no thanks. Mick volunteered and before we knew it the lizard wouldn’t let go and his ear started to swell. He bit long and hard. Mick was a good sport and it became comic relief trying to get the lizard off his ear. Then came a snake – a poisonous one! It was slithering and hissing. Next was the cutest gecko I have ever seen in my life.
I was able to lie down next to it and stare it in the eyes and take photos. My guide said focus on the gecko’s eyes as sometimes you will see your reflection and/or scenery in your pictures of the eye which is really neat. It didn’t work, but I liked this little guy as he was super see-through and colorful at the same time. Next came a deathly scorpion. WOW. This little guy was intimidating as if he bites you, survival rate is slim depending on your size. Last was a chameleon. It changed colors like 5 times in the 10 minutes we hung out with it. My guide brought along worms to feed the chameleon. He let me hold it and placed worms on my arm – simply awesome to say the least.
The tour ended around 1 after we 4 wheel drived it around the sand dunes. Vomit, but fun. The guide claims he can go at a 60 degree angle in his vehicle. If it wasn’t 20 years old, I may have felt better about that.
Mick invited me to have lunch with him which was awesome. I was definitely craving some conversation with someone my own age. We talked for a while until I realized I needed a nap desperately. Considering Ann had me up at 4:30am, I became zombie like. He invited me to a bar at nighttime.
I napped, showered and ended up going with Ann and Coleman to the movies. We saw the South African movie, SPUD. SO GOOD! John Cleese is in this comedic, heartfelt movie. I am not sure if it’s available in the US, but if it is – rent it!
Off to sleep as we start our drive towards Etosha National Park. More animals here I come!
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International backpacker
Christopher
Cool picture
Love the picture of the lizard thing :)