Day 27
Today was our last day in Namibia. :( I am going to miss it.
We woke up this morning at about 0800 to go to the grocery store for some breakfast and to get some batteries for Kelsey. Then we stopped at an African antique shop on our way back to the hotel. Kelsey and Kelly found some really nice hand-made scarves. There was lots of really cool stuff. I wanted to buy everything. They had masks, malachite jewelry, carved statues, painted ostrich eggs. There were signs hanging all over the place that said, “protected from stealing by witchcraft” or “voodoo protected.”
Kelsey needed to get some more money out of the bank before she could buy her scarves, so we decided to come back later.
At 0930 our guide picked us up in a van outside of the hotel and took us to Desert Explorers Adventure Centre for Quad Biking. We thought an hour and a half was a perfect amount of time, plus it was N$100 cheaper than for two hours.
Our very cute guide fitted us up with helmets and quad bikes. We listened to all the rules: don't put your feet on the ground because they can get run over, this means stop, this means watch out over there, keep some distance between you and the person in front of you, etc.
I thought we were going to be following another group for a while and then split off when it was time for us to go, so I went out ahead of the group. But Kelly and Kelsey weren't coming; they were yelling at me. Apparently we were following our own guide.
He led us out onto the dunes. It was such a blast. I was having such a good time, but at the same time I was shivering. So I looked like a fool under my helmet with a huge smile on my face and my teeth chattering at the same time.
He took us up the side of dunes and then back down in a huge arc. Sometimes he would signal for us to slow down and stop. Then he would look back at us before dropping off down a steep back of a dune. I wish I had a picture looking down these slopes. They looked like a straight drop-off. I screamed all the way down the first one. It was so exciting. On all of the following ones I hit the maxed out the gas the whole way down.
After a while we stopped on the top of a big dune to take some pictures. The other group was also there and some people were sandboarding. The view was incredible. Sand in every direction for miles. I am amazed our guide knew exactly where he was in the middle of a desert.
Kelly was laughing and saying how much fun it was just to watch me go up the dunes. She told me it was even funnier because they told us it was okay to go below them on the dunes, but never to go above them, and I was going above him every time. I must have missed that part of the instructions. I wasn't going above him on purpose, it just happened. She said that, every time she saw me go above him, she thought, “well I have to go up that high too.”
It came back to get us all later when I made a bigger arc than him, and the bottom of the dune wasn't as sloped as usual. I hit the bottom and almost bounced out of my seat. Then Kelly did it, then Kelsey. I couldn't stop laughing. Our guide must have been thinking, “stupid girls.” But we were having a blast.
We all three got stuck in one spot on a steep hill, but he easily bailed us out. We were like three goof balls.
He stopped one last time on a dune where we could see the ocean. It was a phenomenal view. You could see Walvis Bay, Long Beach, the stranded ship and Swakopmund. Namibia is a beautiful country. During that stop we talked to our guide for a little bit. He said he moved from the north to go to university in Swakopmund. He had left all of his family behind and come alone. He was a quad-bike guide during the day and went to school, studying business management, at night.
When it was time to go, we were sad, but still satisfied. We dropped off our bikes and helmets, paid and jumped in the van to be driven back to the hotel. When we gave the guide a tip, he was especially grateful. I guess people don't often give tips.
Back in the city, we went to the bank, picked up pictures of Kelly sandboarding and to the antique shop. I found some wooden carved wine glasses, perfect for Mark and Debra. Then we grabbed a cab back to the boat. Namibia was such an amazing place. I hope that I've done it some justice in this writing, but it's impossible to describe all the wonderful feelings, sights and adventures I had there.
Today was our last day in Namibia. :( I am going to miss it.
We woke up this morning at about 0800 to go to the grocery store for some breakfast and to get some batteries for Kelsey. Then we stopped at an African antique shop on our way back to the hotel. Kelsey and Kelly found some really nice hand-made scarves. There was lots of really cool stuff. I wanted to buy everything. They had masks, malachite jewelry, carved statues, painted ostrich eggs. There were signs hanging all over the place that said, “protected from stealing by witchcraft” or “voodoo protected.”
Kelsey needed to get some more money out of the bank before she could buy her scarves, so we decided to come back later.
At 0930 our guide picked us up in a van outside of the hotel and took us to Desert Explorers Adventure Centre for Quad Biking. We thought an hour and a half was a perfect amount of time, plus it was N$100 cheaper than for two hours.
Our very cute guide fitted us up with helmets and quad bikes. We listened to all the rules: don't put your feet on the ground because they can get run over, this means stop, this means watch out over there, keep some distance between you and the person in front of you, etc.
I thought we were going to be following another group for a while and then split off when it was time for us to go, so I went out ahead of the group. But Kelly and Kelsey weren't coming; they were yelling at me. Apparently we were following our own guide.
He led us out onto the dunes. It was such a blast. I was having such a good time, but at the same time I was shivering. So I looked like a fool under my helmet with a huge smile on my face and my teeth chattering at the same time.
He took us up the side of dunes and then back down in a huge arc. Sometimes he would signal for us to slow down and stop. Then he would look back at us before dropping off down a steep back of a dune. I wish I had a picture looking down these slopes. They looked like a straight drop-off. I screamed all the way down the first one. It was so exciting. On all of the following ones I hit the maxed out the gas the whole way down.
After a while we stopped on the top of a big dune to take some pictures. The other group was also there and some people were sandboarding. The view was incredible. Sand in every direction for miles. I am amazed our guide knew exactly where he was in the middle of a desert.
Kelly was laughing and saying how much fun it was just to watch me go up the dunes. She told me it was even funnier because they told us it was okay to go below them on the dunes, but never to go above them, and I was going above him every time. I must have missed that part of the instructions. I wasn't going above him on purpose, it just happened. She said that, every time she saw me go above him, she thought, “well I have to go up that high too.”
It came back to get us all later when I made a bigger arc than him, and the bottom of the dune wasn't as sloped as usual. I hit the bottom and almost bounced out of my seat. Then Kelly did it, then Kelsey. I couldn't stop laughing. Our guide must have been thinking, “stupid girls.” But we were having a blast.
We all three got stuck in one spot on a steep hill, but he easily bailed us out. We were like three goof balls.
He stopped one last time on a dune where we could see the ocean. It was a phenomenal view. You could see Walvis Bay, Long Beach, the stranded ship and Swakopmund. Namibia is a beautiful country. During that stop we talked to our guide for a little bit. He said he moved from the north to go to university in Swakopmund. He had left all of his family behind and come alone. He was a quad-bike guide during the day and went to school, studying business management, at night.
When it was time to go, we were sad, but still satisfied. We dropped off our bikes and helmets, paid and jumped in the van to be driven back to the hotel. When we gave the guide a tip, he was especially grateful. I guess people don't often give tips.
Back in the city, we went to the bank, picked up pictures of Kelly sandboarding and to the antique shop. I found some wooden carved wine glasses, perfect for Mark and Debra. Then we grabbed a cab back to the boat. Namibia was such an amazing place. I hope that I've done it some justice in this writing, but it's impossible to describe all the wonderful feelings, sights and adventures I had there.
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