Sand Madness

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Sand Madness

This was one of those great days where the unprofessionalism and incompetence of the activity operator cannot mask what is at its heart a really great, fun day.

Despite their best efforts to convince all and sundry they were incompetent nincompoops by forgetting to collect two passengers, and having to turn around an already full Kombi and pick them up so that all eight of us were sharing just six seats, and then having a nightmare drive where every 'STOP' sign appeared to mean go faster and the difference between sealed and and unsealed road was so infintesimal as to be undetectable, this was a really great experience.

There was a reasonably hard trudge into the place we would use for the rest of the morning as our return point, but once there, each return wasn't too difficult. A couple of training runs at 30-40 kph, then the first speed run. I managed to clock the quickest time of those of us doing the 'lying down' option - 64kph. There were already a couple of wipeouts and one person showing obvious signs of wimping out.

Next it was the tandem run. This was a rather gently slope from the top of the dune, and was really rather unexciting. Probably would have been more fun if I had known my partner, but we were tossed together because we were solos and didn't have anyone else to do this with.

Dizzy

The big run from the top of the dune. The operators claimed a maximum speed of 82kph had been achieved on this run. My first was at 75kph, and all there is between one and an tumble is a 1.5m x .5m sheet of masonite. The sole safety features are the curve you keep on the front of this to stop the board digging in, and your toes - the sole guidance mechanism that work effectively! I did three more runs - two more than anyone else, and got to a maximum speed of 76kph. The fastest run was 77kph, so I wasn't too far off.

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Photos

Training Run
Sandboarding in Namibia - this was the first training run - only 30-40 kph.

First Fast Run
Sandboarding in Namibia - this run achieved about 63kph.

Tandem Run
Sandboarding in Namibia - the other guy was reluctant, but we were tossed together anyway.

The First 'Dizzie' Run
Sandboarding in Namibia - achieved 75kph on this run. Best time was 76kph. Note excellent safety equipment!

Comments

[Cathy]

PMSL
And *I* get accused of being insane... That looks like a hell of a lot of fun!

[Theresa]

Fun
Looks like great fun dad:)