Blogs from Namibia, Africa - page 124

Slept in a bed for the first time in days! We went quad biking up sand dunes today....3 hours, full throttle ...fantastic! ... read more

The campsite today welcomed us with a swimming pool. Darren spent most of today splashing around and pretending to be a dolphin while Charmaine caught up on some more admin; mostly washing clothes. At 4 pm we all set off to watch the sunset over the magnificent Fish River Canyon, second largest canyon in the world to the Grand Canyon. The canyon forms the border between Namibia and South Africa. The view was magnificent and we could clearly make out the many different colours and patterns of the rocks within the canyon. We weren’t really that excited about seeing another sunset but we were most definitely taken aback as the sky started to change colour. Firstly to lilac and red and slowly to the most intense reds, yellows and purples that only a sunset could produce. ... read more

25/10/05 - Orange River Into Namibia today! We all got through the border no sweat - it took our guide a little bit longer. Still there were plenty of volunteers to drive the truck! Today we start our 2 day river adventure along the Orange River. With all stuff packed into a plastic bucket we are off - in 2 man canoes. Extra tubs contained food, beer and wood for that evenings camping. It was hard push - the rapids not too bad! Fantastic chicken casserole and sleeping under the stars just on the grass. 27/10/05 - Fish River Canyon Trekked the ridge of Fish River Canyon in southern Nambia. Cold beers at sunset - lovely! ... read more

Up early and we were ready for our flight into northern Namibia to visit a Himba tribe. Our journey started at Swakopmund International Airport (tee hee) where we were introduced to our pilot and our lovely little Cessna. Our flight across Namibia was nothing short of breathtaking with so many varied landscaped in this dry and dangerously arid country. The flight ended by circling Epupa falls and passing, only for a few seconds, into Angola. The pilot then made his descent into what can only be described as the smallest runway in all of Africa, so small, nobody on the plane could see it until the last minute. Shortly after landing our guide for the day picked us up and took us straight to a Himba village. The Himba people were fascinating, even the persistent smell ... read more

Our transit stop between Etosha and Swakopmund is one that the majority of people on the trip have been looking forward to, in fact, for many it was probably the highlight of the trip! We arrived at Otjitotongwe Cheetah Park (www.cheetahpark.com) in the early afternoon; it was hot, hot, hot. We all waited in the bar, had a few cold ones and played with Ruby, the Jack Russell pup until the Cheetah arrived at the bar, yes, the Cheetah! Tzu (we think that is her name) is a wild Cheetah brought up by and in the company of people. She was lovely but still just as deadly as was shown when she decided to be in a bad mood with her owner and nip, bite, scratch, claw and basically maul him a few times, drawing quite ... read more