A Breathtaking View

Volunteering at a wildlife sanctuary in Namibia was already proving to be an amazing experience. Nevertheless, the highlight came when we were allowed to engage tourist mode for a day and go site seeing in the national park of Sossusvlei to see the world famous dead trees. However, before we could get to these wondrous trees, we had to climb the tallest sand dune in the desert which the locals called Big Daddy (and all before the sand got too hot to walk on!) So after stripping down to the bare minimum (and revealing my embarrassing tan line that my socks had given my feet,) I got my iPod ready with the motivational music from Rocky and set off.
„No matter what you do,“ they told us „don’t sit down because you’ll never get back up again.“ Less than half way up though, I was doing my own impression of Simba dying in the desert being circled by vultures. Unfortunately for me, there was no Timon and Pumba to scoop me up and carry me into the shade; only other exhausted volunteers whose version of help was throwing a water bottle at my head and telling me to hurry up. Despite the minor set back of my lack fitness however, I eventually made my way to the summit with just enough energy to take in the view before collapsing into the warm red sand. Suffice it to say, I now understand where the term ‚breathtaking‘ comes from! Yet the best thing about Big Daddy wasn’t the feeling of pride when you reached the summit, nor the obligatory group photo, or even the stunning colours the desert landscape has to offer. It’s the simple law of physics: what goes up, must come back down and going down Big Daddy is like re-embracing your inner child who still believes flying is possible. With my arms out in a true Superman style, I sprang off the summit into the long descent down into the valley of dead trees. In the confusing maze of modern student life, I often forget what’s it’s like to simply laugh at yourself, let go of everything and jump off the edge. For ten glorious minutes, I did just that. However, I would recommend not stuffing your rucksack with all of your belongings to take with you—it just makes you look like a turtle, except even turtles would probably have made it to the top faster than I did!