Dunes Backpackers Swakopmund

... Ahh, the power of being back in civilization!

The next day was the “adrenaline day!” Some people went out skydiving. We decided to do some sandboarding and quad biking (ATV). Sandboarding is quite like snowboarding but without the snow (and unfortunately without the lifts). We thought the difficult part would be boarding down the dunes but boy were we wrong! The hard part was climbing back up ...

hello hello!!

I survived the sky :)

Today was our day of free time in Swakopmund. There were tons of optional activities that we ould partiipate in!!

Mom went out on the dolphin cruise with others from teh group and although she only seen 2 teeny dolphins she seen tons of seals and had fun with them! They were climbing onto the boat and everything!!

I on the otherhand opted for ...

... wheras I was doing the liedown sand boarding. We split into the 2 groups and were given our briefings. The dunes are high and the sandboards go very fast and unless you do as they tell you to you end up wiping out and/or getting a facefull of sand. I did the wipeout and ate sand on my first try and I have to say a face full of sand is not enjoyable eh? So I got it right next time down and thereafter. The hardest bit was climbing the dunes after the run down. By the time we ...

... thing about the area was the sussfleis, a place of hard cracked white earth on top of the dunes where scraggly trees reached up to the sky earnestly. It seemed hard to believe it was there. On the way back to the truck our guide began telling us about the bushmen and how they got their name. Apparently the people called the bushmen did not always live in the dessert and eventually did not live there by choice. They ...

... to Swakopmund were we threw out most of our clothes that have been punished for the last 5 months and brought some new ones, ate an obscene amount of steak and seafood, we drank and were merry. I also sky dived which was exhilarating and petrifying all and the same time. The drop was a bit of blur but once he pulled the cord and we were floating down the experience changed to be incredibly peaceful and awe inspiring. I was amazing to see the earth from that angle.

From ...

... bit of a scary moment when they face off to each other, but Google quickly acquiesces and moves to the front of the boat while Fluffy gets all the atttention at the back of the boat. One we lose the two seals (they are quick to move to another boat when they felt we weren't giving them sufficient attention) we head out to try and see some dolphins and sure enough we see some bottlenose dolhins swimming near to the boat. They only surface for a matter of seconds so ...

... morning we had a pretty decent drive up to Swakopmund, which is right along the Atlantic coast. It's a nice little German town, still among the dunes. I think it's pretty unique to have a complete desert right next to the ocean...all the other major ones I can think of like the Sahara, Gobi, and the desert in the western States are all quite far inland. There must be something that just makes all the moisture from the ocean dry up right away. Since Swakopmund is ...

... was fully booked the evening before so we had great expectations, sadly they were dashed somewhat. Still it beats eating off the truck!

When we weren't hugging seals or playing in dunes we spent time wondering around town. Pretty small place so easy to walk around. Nice bars, restaurants and some lovely souvenir shops. I spent the best part of a morning trying to find Skype to call home as my Dad was due to leave for a month long work stint up north so wanted to speak to ...

... we were kitted out with snowboard boots! It was a strange feeling to be carrying a snowboard under your arm in 30 degree heat wearing shorts and a singlet. Due to the fact there was only the 4 of us (Cesca, myself and the two Sarah's) attempting stand up boarding we enjoyed great tuition time from our guide Beth and her dog. Cesca and Sarah C took to it like duck's to water leaving myself and Sarah R eating sand (literally) as we fell down the dune. After a few runs we ...

... the group the following day and we became a total of 27 people. First, I have to say that we had an amazing group. Everyone is so lovely and friendly, I can't say that there is one person that I don't genuinly like. I am the only Canadian which is awesome because I like being unique :) I'm also the oldest in the bunch which I expected. The rest consisted of the usual suspects...aussies, kiwis, brits, dutch, a couple of safas (south africans) as well....and one american.
Swakopmund, Namibia travelbug15