Enter south africa

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March 7th
Day 51 
Sorry last blog was on the fly we were at a super market that had wifi so I wannted to just get it posted online I didn't get to look over it. The last name of the blog was supposed to be spitzkuppe. This was a desert camp that felt very mch like siera, Nevada,dusty dry desert with some large limestone rock mounds/mountains.  
When we got to camp we set up for the night. Then we were meant to go on s bush walk to see some old bushman paintings. We had a little timeto kill so Shell and I decided to try and climb one of the limestone mounds to get q good view. It was alot of clambering up steep smooth limestone as well as squeezing in between and up cracks and crevicives.
We got pretty high but it was already the meeting time for the walk so we had to down climb quickly and run around back to camp. Apparently everyone was a bit mad at us but we were only about 10-15 mins late. The walk was pretty crap and wasn't worth it anyway. The guy lead us to a small paining site on the rocks, he briefly told us about them and then just walked us aroud the desert. So wasn't worth it and wasn't something that was time pressing that it would matter we were 10 mins late.  That was the only time I've been late the others were late when it matter like on game drives we missed seeing cheetahs and other animals because people couldn't get their act together and just about everyother grocery stop they were late for. It just irked me. 
After the walk we went to a small man made waterpool in the limestone to go for a swim. The water was chock full of algea and tadpoles. The scenery and sunset were beautiful though. After our dunk we went back to camp and waited for the cooking team to do the BBQ. It took ages but there was tons of food. Unfortunately Kathy likes well done meats so most of the meat was terribly burnt and over cooked but everyhing else was decent. After dinner we all sat up looking at the stars for a bit most of the paxs slept outside under the stsrs. I stayed up and took alot of star photos as well as climbed on the truck and snaped one of the group sleeping. 

March 8
Day 52
Well I woke up around 4:30 to go for a hike with shell to the top of one of the mountians to catch the sunrise but we both kind of talked ourselves out of it because we were meant to leave at 7 am and that's about when the sunrises so we'd have to be back down the mt earlier than then. So I just stayed up taking a few more night shots. Then lied back down in my hammock for a bit. Kaths alarm wen off at 5:15 but 6:20 rolled around and no one was up yet so Shell and I went for a walk around to look at the rocks and sunrise. We got some amazing shots and got to play around on the rocks and see the rock window but again everyone seemed very hostile to us when we arrived back late. We got back around 7:30 because it normally takes people ages to have breaky and pack up but I guess since there were no showers and not many tents to put down they were a bit quicker. But again we didn't miss anythig it was just a late start for driving to the next town big deal. I was pissed when they were all so late for game drives. Big difference. Any we spent the day driving to Swakopmund where we stopped at massive seal park. I have seen seals before but they were in the thousands here. It was crazy. When we got to town we stopped at  an adventure place to make some bookings for the next few days. Most of the groups decided to go quad biking on the dunes that avo and a few of us were keen on sand boarding the next morning. I was also hoping to get a surfboard to get In a quick session at some point. 
We got put into dorms tonight so that was a very nice treat. Kathy Simon and Suzie went skydiving that avo. Shell leash Ryan lindsy Hans margerita helite Dara Emma Nicky and myself went quad biking that avo. Partick took us on a small walk around the town to point out a few thing to us before hand.  The town is a very cute laid back beach town very sleepy now because it's out of season just like the island but a bit more built up.  The girls and I stopped by street market on the way back scoping out some more presents.   
Later on we got picked up for our quadbiking expadition.  The bikes were pretty solid they had autos, semi auto and fully manual ones. I opted for fully manual for more power. We all got briefed and away we went it started out kind of boring but 1/4 the way in we were crusing up and down massive dunes doing fish tails all over the place. It was pretty sick. We took a few majorly steep dunes down as well as some crazy banks. One of them I was sliding the back out so far I thought It was going to catch and roll over on my leg. I managed to turn it out of it though. It was so sick. We were out there for 2 hours, we took 2 breaks to take some photos and just take in the beauty of these massive dunes. Our guide was crazy good on the quad he was cranking massive wheelies and riding on the side 2 wheels it was gnarley. 
When we got back the girls all decided to have a shower and get ready for dinner. I went up to the beach for a swim.  The water was beautiful just like Lbi in the summer. It was probably around 67 or so, little chilly but refreshing. Felt just like home. Ahhh I love the beach and the atlantic. I definately think jay and I should do a Namibia trip from north Nam down to south africa to cape and out to j bay. Next surf trip? 
We all got showered up and were meant to meat Kathy at some beach tiki bar for sun set. We saw the georgous sunset on the way to the bar everyone had a drink but Kathy didn't show so we quickly moved to a bar that sold food. We all must have been cravig fish for dinner we all got the the exact same meal except leash she got shark. We all had a delicious local line caught fish. The service was fast and the food was delicious. 
When we left shell got some gum stuck on her dress luckily I heard ice works (thanks mom) and it actually did it came off really well/easily. 
After the late dinner we all headed back and nicked off to bed. 

March 9th 
Day 53
I was originally hoping to see Kathy last night to try and get a surfboard dropped off so I could do a dawn session but no dice. I did get up and go for a walk to find some surf. Shell eventually decided to tag along as well. We walked to the point a few people told me about, it had potential but was only about chest high. We had to run back so not to be late for sandboarding. 

We got taken out into the desert dunes  briefed and then suited up, helmets, snowboard boots and snowboard. The boards had a formica base apparently that's better for the sand. We had to hike up a 93 meter dunen the hot sun. Thankfully it was pretty windy so that kept us cool. First run was pretty smooth it was like snowboarding but the conditions of late spring heavy mush but a bit heavier.  Second run I hit the little jump they had, nothing major just like the little jumps we used to build a nevin park. The biggest down fall was when you go off the jump all the sand from the board flies everywhere and all in your face and eyes. It was terrible. I hit the jump a few more time got a bit more air each time. I tried doing a 3 off it but only did a 180 that I'd didn't even land. 
The trickiest part was stopping at the end in the chatter because it was hard to hold an edge in the soft sand. 
We got to join the sledders for their last monster run, were we were clocking speeds up to 70km/hour (100k is about 60m/hour). Shell and I did a couple more runs boarindg she went of the jump a few times as well didn't land but I have her huge props for her trying. They provided us with a nice lunch before they brought us back to town. Kathy had tried to get in contact with some guy rob to take me surfing but she want having any luck neither was beth the woamn who ran the sandboarding. Kathy eventually got this other guys details I could have rented a board from but he said it was super foggy and the swell wasn't that good so I decided to can it,a bit bummed but next surf trip. I spent the avo with the girls hanging at a coffee shop and doing some shopping. I got a few more presents from the market so I was pretty stoked. 
Then the boarding group went back to the far out adventure place to watch our DVD of the sandboarding. It was pretty sick the guys did a good job and it was sweet that it was included in the origional price. We could buy pics if we wanted which shell and I got a couple we figured we could take most of them from the DVD if need be.
That night the whole group was meeting for dinner at a nice restaurant so shell and I just headed straight there. We had to wait a bit because eveyone was a bit late. We did have a delicois dinner though. I had a spring bok calzone as well as some chicken wings shell had a delicious orxy steak. It as so tender. After dinner we were going to stop at a bar but it being out of season here it was pretty dead so we nicked off to bed. 

March 9th 
Day 54
Today we are headed for Seriein/Sassusulei. (Namibian desert) 
But we again had a massivly slow start grocery shopping, money exchange, forgetting to drop off room keys. Glad I woke up early and had a few minutes to myself on the beach watching the ocean. We stopped at the smallest town in namibia, Solitaire, which totally had a mid west old ghost town feel to it.  Before we went to camp we stopped at Sesnien canyon it wasn't anything massive but the algae infested water was pretty, which was a shame becaue it looked like you could do alot of cliff jumping there. We sat there for a while taking it all in. I tried using Shells camera to take some photos of the mountains and the dunes and her camera started acting funny. We tried playing with it but we didn't have any luck. I shouldn't be allowed to even hold a camera. It's taking weird exposuers and the lense looks out if ligin. Hopefully an easy fix in cape  town. When we got back to camp we did our normal set up. Then I gave shell a massage becaue her back has been hurting. Her shoulders have been painful for a while but she thinks she tweaked her lower back sandboarding. The cookig team made a pretty solid snook fish dinner after which a few of us stayed up to play mafia and sleep under the stars Shell, Leash, Nicky,Suzie Simon and myself. 

March 10
Day 55
Today we woke up around 5:20 to go to the dunes in order to climb one to see the sun rise. I tried running up the dune but was shortly in pain because it was so dry. I got the soar throat you get when you run outside when it's cold. We finally made it to the peak and got to see a pretty decent sunrise. It was a bit tainted by clouds but prety solid none the less. I decided to forgo the walk along he ridge back to the truck and just run down the steep face. Well I flew down more leaping and catching than running. I was barrelling. It was pretty sick. The old guy Hans followed suit as well as a few of the girls. When we made it around to the truck Kathy and Patick were prepairing our breaky. 
After breaky we went a bit further into the dunes to the actual Sossusvlei to go on another bush walk. I thought about not going since all the ohters had been pretty terrible and the ozzie girls weren't going but I had already paid so I went. Wow I'm glad I did. That guy frans knew his stuff. His dad had been teaching him about he bush since he was 5 or so. He knew all the tracks in the sand. He said he knew his mothers,fathers,sisters,brothers and wife's footprint. He could single anyone of theirs out if they had been in the group with us. He showed us a number of bugs and beetles and well as a cool spider and it's trapdoor system he fully explained the dunes and the limestone flats. He also said he had spent 7 days waking the dunes to the ocean. Pretty nuts considering he said the temp can get up to 55C and the sand can get up to 80C. He was crazy. But he was so nice and had a sick voice/accent. He was like a true Bear Grylls. He was a legend. 
After that walk we went back to camp finished packing up ate lunch then headed for Kankiep.
When we got to camp I did some laundry then Patrick and I did a little work out. He told me he use to bring weights dumbells barbells and a bench on the truck tours, thats so sick he's my hereo. He showed me this chest expanded thing we both used. After our little work out we had a dinner a beef stew with orgali patrcks home dish. 
Everyone was pretty tired after the early wake up so we all nicked off to bed early. 

March 11
Day 56
Today we packed up and headed for Fish river canyon apparently the seconds biggest canyon next to the USA grand canyon in the world. We set up camp, had lunch and then hung out a bit waiting for the heat of the day to pass before we went to to check out the canyon. 
Well it was beautiful even though it was a bit hazy. I wacked on my iPod and went for a walk. I wantted some alone time from the group to really appreciate it. While everyone was chatting and hanging out at the look out point I walked a bit further sat on a rock right on the edge and just vegged out. I also down climbed part of the canyon wall a bit later. 
I eventually made it to where everyone was hanging out. Except they were leaving as I got there so I got to enjoy that look out spot myself as well. 
I ran from that look out point back to where Kathy and Patrick had parked the truck on the edge of the cliff. Which is were Kathy had already prepaired dinner, her moms potato soup. We had a spectacular sunset dinner meal on tbe edge of the canyon with no one around for miles, it was really special   After dinner we headed back to camp where we set up our mats under the stars and watched for some shooting stars. Shell and I saw 5 or 6. 

March12
Day 57
Today we packed up and headed for south africa and the Orange river in particular. When we got to camp we did the normal set up and had lunch and took shelter in the shade playing with the local dogs, a golden lab and a pitbull.  They both were adorable. We had some time to kill before our avo kayak trip so a few of us went to the river to have a swim.  The water is really high because there regulating the dam so the sweep was really strong. But not nearly as strong as Kuftu the pitbull. Both dogs loved playing with rocks but when I picked up this massive boulder Kuftu went mental, squaking, belting, barking, digging, pushing and occasionally licking it. It was ridicouls. I've never heard sound like that come from a dog and wow the power he had to push the rocks back in. He even managed to bit and carry a few, I could heard his teeth grinding as he was trying to pick it up. 
Once we were done playing with the dogs we went on our kayaking trip. Our guide was a newbie from cape town a body boarder so I chatted him up a bit to find some spots out. The kayaks were infatabke crocodile things, not the shape of a crocs but that was the name of them. It was 2 per kayak so simon and I had to pair up. Well the trip was very slow and painful for me aka no action/adrenline. I was bored out of my mind 10 mins into it. The scenery was decent but I didn't think the trip over all was worth the 30 bucks. 2 hours later we finally arrived back at camp most people hung out in the sun and  read I went to play with muftu. 
He cooking team made a south African dish called fat cak or something it was basically fried dough with cooked veggies and minced meat. It was decent but really really heavy. After dinner we all went the bar hung out and chatted and danced a bit before retiring under the stars. 

March 13
Day 58 
Today we are headed for Citrusdal. 
Humm I haven't updated in a while. When we got to camp we did our normal set up then we had time to kill before everyone was going for their wine tasting so Emma leash and I did a decet ab work out. Then they all went off for the wine tasting I hung at camp, fixed Emma sunnies and then did a work out. We had a delicious chicken meal prepaired for us that we ate in the wine hall I guess. It was a beautiful wood building. As it was our last night in tour a few of us stayed up and chatted about the tour good and bad things rememebered. Little reminising. Haha.  Then we all nicked off to bed. 

March 14 
Day 59 final day
Well lastnight the wind was blowing super hard which made it very cold. Luckily we all slept pretty close to keep warm. We got up realtive early to drive the rest of the way down to cape town. As we were packing up shell noticed a dead mouse on Emmas sleeping pad. It was haiarious. She freaked out and ran about I picked his little squashed body up and chased her around abit trying to get a photo with her abs her kill. 
We finally got on the road it was meant to be a short trip but turned into over 3 hours which made us very late for our township tour. 
Our township tour was pretty intresting the guide explained the shanty towns and the separation from whites colored a s blacks. You could see a major differance in the quality of life. It was quite sad. He did say crime is actually low with in the town becaue everone in the shanty town knows eachother but if you were new to the town you would get robbed. Haha he said because so many families were split because of their color that the community became a family every adult was responsible for every child if disipline was needed it could come from anyone, pretty amazing. The gov apparently wanted the opposite to happen they wanted crime and dis families. We also stopped in one town and walked into one of the dorm style houses. It was super tiny ans was only meant for single men but families ended up living in basically a dorm room do a building that was meant for say 20 people had 100s living in it.  At the end of the tour he took us to a BBQ place for lunch in one of the larger shanty towns. The food was delicious but the atmosphere was unreal. It was like and outdoor club thumping music and a great vibe. People apparently wait hours for their food. Just like wing nights. Haha it was a really cool place. 
When the tour ended we got taken back to the Ashanti lodge were we said our goodbyes to part of the gruop and parted ways. Simon suzi Nikki Emma and myself decided to go for a walk down by the waterfront. We got to see the world cup stadium which wasn't very pretty but I guess functional. Then we walked around the wsterfront which was very posh but beautiful. I grabbed a cool south African lifeguard shirt after that we caught a taxi back picked up our bags then went to our hostels. I decided to stay at the cheaper hostel a few blocks away. So I went there got sorted and then meet the girls for dinner.  We walked down to long street the main strip and found a decent place. I had a solid peanutbutter milkshake and a crappy chicken sandwitch. We were all pretty exhausted after dinner so we nicked off to bed. 
 
March 15
Today I woke up spent some time on the intenet checking things and what not then I went for a walk to try snd find a surf board for the trip. I spent most of he am doing that. Then I meet the girls and Simon for a trip down the cape. We stopped in a town called simons town at a besch called boulde beach to have a look at some penguins. Then we continued on down to cape point where the light house is ans to cape of good hope. It was beautiful down there. Incredibly windy though. It was unreal. You could lean over the cliff so far becaue the wind was gushing back up. I threw a piece of a top off the cliff and it flew up not down. Haha then when we were on top of the lighthouse my glasses flew off my face. I was so lucky they stayed on the little platform the lighthouse was on. I thought for sure they were gone. N those were my prescription ones. 
Then we headed back to town but not before we stopped of at simons town again Simon had to meet some friend for a drink. We finally made it back to cape town and immediately went our for dinner we went to a trendy African restaurant.  Where I had kudu for dinner a game meat. It was pretty delicous. After dinner we nicked off to bed.
 
 March 16
We all were meant to climb table mountain today but the winds were to strong for us to do it safely apparently and after experiencing them last night on the lighthouse I'd say good call. So I then decided to head to muizenberg a small surf town down the coast to try and sort out some gear for the next weeks. As I was waiting for the train Simon called me and said they were going to do a partial hike up and down in about an hour. So I decided to go along with the group and left the train station quickly got ready then headed over to the girls place. There was alot of faffing/farti f around that morning and afternoon. But we finally made it to the the base after simon too 2 car trips. We hike about 2 hours up to the resivors on top of the mt we couldn't make it to the peak because it was to windy and cloudy. But it was pretty cool experience hiking up holing on asgthe wind is pushing you back,like riding in a blizzard. The view was spetacular and the clouds rushing over the top of the mountain was awesome. We hung out at the resivors for a few before we had to hike back down. When we got down we all piled into simons little car all 8 with the ozzies in the trunk. We went to campus bay to celebrate and have a drink. Simon took suzi Nicky and hilite out to some party. Shell leash Emma and I tired going out to dinner half priced sushi but the place was booked up so we walked to long street and found an African restaurant to eat at. I had ox tail soup it was decent not the best I've had though. Then shell and leash took Emma back to their palce so they all could do the full hike tomorrow. I went back to my hostel becaue I wanted to get a board sorted.
 

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