Our 21 day over land tour began in Capetown... on a freezing, rainy day. Perhaps I'm a little ignorant, but when I think Africa, I think hot and sunny! It didn't last too long though. We spent our first night of the trip at a winery in the Cederberg region, where the first optional extra of the tour was a wine tasting session, which Simon and I enthusiastically joined in. By the time we reached Orange River on our second day, the rain had stopped and the sun was out, and (after assurances from superguide Mat that the river was entirely hippo and croc free) we even went for a swim.
After crossing the border to Namibia we headed out to Fish River canyon to watch the sunset. Mat decided he'd take people out on a night walk to go hunting for spiders and scorpians and other creepy crawlies. Needless to say, I passed, I didn't feel the need to go out actively seeking things that creep me out.
After a quick stop for supplies we stayed at a campsite just past Bethanie. We hiked up a big hill to see the view which was very cool. From the top you could see the road, straight and flat in either direction, our campsite over the road, and that was it. There was nothing else for as far as we could see.
The following day, halfway between Bethanie and Sossuvlei, in Middle of Nowhere, Namibia, our tour truck shit itself and died at a teeny tiny truck stop. We waited for six hours (luckily the shop sold ice creams and cool drinks) while Mat and Nick (our driver) figured out that it couldn't be fixed, the part it needed would have to be flown from Capetown, and what the hell would we do in the mean time! Evetually they decided we'd camp there for the night. Syd and Gen found a local lady who would sell us beers out of her house (I don't think this was exactly a legal transaction) and after a few beers and some Extreme Snap, it turned out to be a pretty good night. A truck was sent out during the night to pick us up and take us the rest of the way to Swakopmund.
The next day we drove to Swakopmund via Sossuvlei (a huge desert area covered in sand dunes). We trekked up the famous Dune 45 where Simon, along with a few other sports fans, competed in what Mat very enthuiastically calls, Super Dune 45 Super Dune Race 45. Basically people race madly down the side of the Dune and first to the bottom wins. It's pretty entertaining actually, because running down a sand dune is pretty awkward and you're guaranteed a few good stacks! Simon, of course, won the title of Super Dune 45 Super Dune Race 45 World Champion.
Swakopmund is a little tourist town on the West Coast, Namibia's Ocean Grove. It was a pretty cool little town, lots of tourist souvenir shops and restaurants. We were there for three nights, I think mainly for people to do optional activities like sandboarding and skydiving. Since neither of us felt compelled to throw ourselves out of a plane, we spent a day sea-kayaking with the sea lions instead. It was absolutely incredible. We saw flamingoes and jackals (on the way out there obviously, as far as I know jackals live on land). Simon and I were in a double kayak, which suited me since steering was a little beyond my level of coordination. The sea lions swam along behind and beside us as we paddled and when we stopped they came and grabbed onto our paddles and we scratched there bellies. We also saw some dolphins but the sea lions were the definite highlight, they were so playful!
