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Day313 (17/02/09)
After a fantastic sleep following our first night in a real bed in ...ages. We enjoyed a sleep in until 10am when we were woken by a knock at the door, the cleaner was desperate to clean the room (it wasn't that bad). We grabbed some brunch and mags from the supermarket and relaxed in the sun. With the imminent sky dive scheduled for 2pm we kept busy at the internet for a couple hours before we went to our Far Out for our transfer unfortunately due to poor weather it was postponed til three. With the coastal fog refusing to budge we weren't surprised when the skydive was canceled for the day. We made the most of a couple hours free time and went and explored the city of Swakopmund past the curio market and the German inspired buildings. Back at the motel we had a siesta then met up with the Oasis crew at Kuches Pub for the hugest seafood platter I've ever eaten (and I'm nearly a seafood platter expert!).
Day314- Sky Dive Day
Up and at 'em early with growing butterfly's. We joined Emma, Cathy and Sheila for breaky before our transfer to the
dunes for a morning of sand boarding. Jez too nervous to make a dent on his bacon and egg sandwich. At the dunes we were kitted up in helmet, gloves, knee and elbow pads and board (aka length of ply). After a brief safety demonstration on what to do and what not to do we hit the slopes.
The first two dunes were warm up's and allowed us to perfect our technique before hitting the bigboys.
Unfortunately some of our fellow boarders didn't quite perfect it resulting in Kellie eating sand... lots of sand!! And if that wasn't bad enough, minutes later she nearly got flattened by Shiela who had gained picked up substantial speed on her way down and flew over her head. We both clocked top speeds of 65km/hr but along way short of the record 80km/hr!! Despite the cloudy start by lunchtime the sun was shining brilliantly making a near perfect day for skydiving. We made our way back to the vans for some salad rolls for lunch and final snaps. We being Carly and Jez and our fellow thrill seekers being Emma, Anna and Sheila were dropped at the airport for an excruciatingly long hour wait.
After the safety briefing (definitely not one to nap through) we were fitted with hot jump suits, harnesses and a dive master. With nerves building by the second we were then transferred to the launching point (the longest ten minute drive if our lives) and then boarded our tiny plane with dive masters and camera men (making it a tight fit).We surprisingly enjoyed our 25 minute scenic flight over the dunes and overlooking the ocean and city of Swakopmund. Jez jumped first stepping to the door and disappearing from Carly's view in microseconds.
Its a truly amazing and indescribable feeling and an unforgettable experience leaving Carly speechless for a second time (in her life) and Jez bursting to jump again. (The DVD's are awesome!)
After a turn at taking the reins and having a steer of the parachute Jez made a graceful descent whilst Carly made the stupid mistake of admitting she had skydived before encouraging the dive master to make a rapid descent in a mere hundred twists... aaaahhh. We made our way back to the Dive center but unfortunately missed the start of the Go Karting grand prix so opted for a beer as we watched our DVD's,
purchased some souvenirs and waited for the others to return to share our excitement!The rest of gang made it back three hours later and we kicked on with a few more drinks with some fantastic viewing (our DVD's of course)!Andreturned to Napolitana for an excited big dinner.
Day315
We had an early start for our fishing trip, but only only able to recruit Anna to join us for the early morning adventures we headed out just after 7am picking up two Canadian old fellas for the trip. We headed out just off shore along the reed with Jez and one of the Canadians picking up the early bites and Carly purely providing burly. Anna caught up in the race and Carly was beginning to worry that she was going to return home empty handed. Finally Carly pulled one it just too small to keep and it was time to move on. We tried a couple other spots which were much quieter so returning to our initial spot for the last hour with our final tallys at Jez 17: including 2 baby shark, two lobster and 13 ...fish, Carly seven with just the one baby shark and Anna three
despite retiring early for a nap on board after one two many late nights.
After a wetwipe shower to try and eliminate the fishy smell it was time to get back on the truck!
A a four hour drive, through multiple river crossings with a quick stop at the Tropic of Capricorn we arrived at Agama camp site a beautiful spot with the perfect spot to view sunset and a huge rainbow.
Day316 Bush Camp
Up before the sun headed to Sesrium to collect our passes to Sossusvlei the largest sand dunes in the world. We arrived at the base of Dune 45 the majority of us boarded the jeep for our local tour whilst Owen and Matt tacked Dune 54 (mistakenly believing it was the largest dune!) also known as "Big daddy" or "crazy" dune referring to those who attempt to climb it 150m plus above the plains but to their disappointment not as tall at Dune 19 427m above the plains. We were guided by a local up Sossusvlei (which due to the seasonal winds actually keeps moving further and further inland), to the Hidden Vlei, Naralei and the Dead Vlei (salt pan) who explained how the
sands reach staggering temperatures of 80 degrees Celsius, how the fog basking beetle collects water from condensing water on its shell, the White lady of Namib spider who makes a trap door under the sand, the shovel snouted lizard who cools by a thermal dance but is also good tucker for the locals, how to track animals and your wife (especially if she goes astray) and the local rules of hunting, to claim a kill you must be in possession of its tail! Afterward we climbed Dune 45 and rued the decision to wear thongs all the way down as the blistering sand scorched our feet!
Then we were back on the road again but with the recent rains diverting our course it was a long day on the road. We eventually set up camp on the side of the road with the river crossing impassable meaning another early start as we would have to go further downstream to cross on higher ground.That evening we cooked up our fish and baby lobster on the camp fire.. deeeelicciooouuss!
Day 317 Fish River Canyon
We made it through the river safe and sound and arrived at Fish River canyon early
morning. Fish River Canyon is falsely known as the second largest canyon in the world (its actually the third) but it is the biggest in Africa spanning a huge 160 km long, up to 27 km wide and in places almost 550 metres deep.
We walked to the lookout point the boys more impressed by the pushing rocks over the edge then the spectacular views. We enjoyed lunch at the Canyon before setting off again for Felix United camp, we arrived just after four and made the most of the warm weather taking a dip in the river and then enjoying a local wine and cheese evening compliments of Mel. The night kicked on with a few more drinks.
Day 318
We packed up our tent for the second last time and made our way to South Africa. DRIVE DAY
Arriving in time for our final truck clean or for Carly the final cook group, having built up a strong reputation for cooking, the pressure was on for the final cook group. Fortunately, we came up with the goods with spicy chicken and three salads.
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