Swakopmund

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Hello everyone.

I'm in an internet cafe in Swakopmund having just returned sandy and smelly from the Namib desert.
I am now on the tour truck which left from Cape Town on 14th Dec.

Mon - 14th
We drove all the way up to a campsite on the banks of the Orange River where we set up camp and swum before dinner. It took the whole day to drive all that way but it gave everyone on the truck (our guides disallow us from calling it "a bus") time to get to know each other. On the bus there is an australian family of four, a swiss couple, an aussi couple, a couple from sri lanka, two girls from Canada and solo travellers like myself from Canada, Germany, California and one from Scotland. We are 21 in total.

Tues - 15th
Today we went kayaking in inflatable kayaks on the orange river, jumping in for a swim in the warm muddy water whenever it got too hot. After this we drove across the bridge into Namibia and up to the Fish River canyon to watch the sunset.

Wed - 16th
Baboons attacked our camp this morning but were safely scared off but our big scary "truck" driver called Raymond. He and Mia our other guide are both very knowledgable south africans and both very good fun.
Today was another driving day and we got into the truck and drove all the way up into the namib desert.
11hrs on dirt roads but with springbok, bontebok, oryx and mountain zebra on the way!

Thurs - 17th
Got up at 04:15 this morning to drive to and climb up dune 45 at sossusvlei to watch the sunrise. This was absolutely awesome and probably the best thing we have done so far. Then we went on a walk around the dunes with a local bushman who was amazing! He tracked spiders in the sand dunes to find their nests!!! We spent a few hours in the afternoon by the swimming pool as it was too hot to do anything else and then went to sesriem canyon. We were able to walk all along the dried up river bed to find a pool of water at one end!

Fri - 18th
This morning we drove to Swakopmund and checked into our bunkhouses - yes a proper bed!! I am spending the afternoon exploring town and writing this blog! Tomorrow I am going sandboarding and quadbiking with people from the truck.

I am now going to try and upload some photos so i hope it works!!

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