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It was with a very heavy heart that I left this beloved country behind but decided to give Namibia a go for 12 days...ok, so I lasted only 8 days but I still managed to fit a lot in!
The first day saw us depart Cape Town heading north for the Cederberg Mountain region. We stayed here for the night, but choose to give the camping a miss for the first night. We felt we needed time to aclimatise. The second day saw us travelling further north through Namaqualand before hitting the Orange/Gariep River, where South Africa meets Namibia. Here we pitched our tents for the night and I spent the evening wrapped up inside my sleeping bag trying to keep warm!
We crossed the border into Namibia on our third day and headed for the Fish River Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world. No prizes for guessing what the largest one is! We watched the sun setting over the canyon before pitching our tents again for the night and "enjoying" another cold night under canvas!
An early start saw us continue further north into the remote Namibian hinterland. Nothing for miles... We arrived at
base camp in the early afternoon and enjoyed a walk through the Sesriem Canyon. It was an early night all round as we were to be up before dawn the following day...
We headed out of base camp at 5.30am and drove into the Namib-Naukluft National Park where we hiked up Dune 45 to enjoy our visit views over the Namib Desert! After recovering from the hike up the dune, and my disgust at having to be up so bloody early, I am pleased to report that it was all worth it...the views were magnificent!
After enjoying a cooked breakfast and emptying my shoes of the half the desert sand, we enjoyed a three hour guided hike into Sossusvlei, part of the Namib Desert.
The following day saw us drive through the arid Namib-Naukluft, crossing the Tropic of Capricorn, before arriving in Walvis Bay for lunch and to see the flamingoes! After lunch we headed up the Skeleton Coast to the seaside town of Swakopmund where we would be based for the weekend!
Whilst everyone else in the group got their fill of adrenalin-charged activities, I, having decided I'd already had my fill in New Zealand,
decided to head out into the local townships to get a flavour of what life is really like for the majority of Namibians. I really enjoyed my day, playing with the children, drinking with the locals in the Shebeens and getting to grips with some of the issues they grapple with on a daily basis!
Having decided that I could no longer bare another week with my Geman travelling companions, I decided to bid them an "Auf Wiedersehn" and head back to Cape Town, where my heart really belongs....
All in all a worthwhile trip and my German improved tenfold!
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Vicky
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Its hard to believe that i moan about such alot when infact those childen have so very little. Looks amazing!!