Soosusvlei

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Tue 10th

We made the truck leave an hour later than planed so Steve, Nick and I could go Quad biking again. The weather was clearer, so the views more spectacular and as there was only 3 of us we went over more jumps (well up cliff faces that then flatten out so as you go over at speed the wheels come off the ground). Unfortunately with only 30 mins left travelling at 70km/h I slid down a sideways slope and headed over a grassy mound flew into the air, just as I landed hit another knoll and again all 4 wheels left the ground. When the bike landed I managed to stay on it for a few more seconds before flipping over the front - luckily to the left and the bike went right. Once I realised I was still in one piece; apart from bruises; I stood up as the others were on there way back to check on me and I didn’t want them to think it was worse than it was. After the instructor had checked me over and put a plaster over a tiny cut on my thumb I was back on the bike to ride home- unfortunately the most bumpy part of the activity.

Then into the truck to drive to Sossussvlei. I was feeling incredibly fragile with a bruised bum, shoulders and neck and to top it off there was a leak in the radiator and so we were stopped at the side of the road for 3 hours while the boys fixed it. We arrived at the campsite after 8pm and I just went straight to sleep.

Wed 11th
We got up at 4am to climb the red sand dune 45 to watch the sunrise. My neck started hurting after the fall so I didn't go all the way to the top but it was still beautiful. We then went for a walk with a bushman who showed us how to survive in the bush and how the old bushmen lived. He took us from Sossussvlei to the deadvlei. A vlei is where the river is blocked by the dunes so it forms a lake in the rainy season and so trees grow. The dead vlei is now blocked by new dunes and so all the trees inside have died and the floor is coved in white lime left from the water. It was really interesting.

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Photos

Watching the sunrise
Me, Nick, Helen, Niki

Comments

[DDLL]

Injuries
Didn't you get a local cure for your bruises such as rhino pee or elephant dung ?

[Kesh]

Snake
Arghhhh that is one big snake!!! The pics are awesome.