Swakopmund
Trip Start
May 31, 2006
1
62
68
Trip End
Oct 14, 2006
Swakopmund,
Namibia
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Our Quad biking wasn't till 12, so Laura and i walked into Swakop town and had a look around...it seemed like a nice place...and almost out of place after all the nothingness we had passed to have such a big town there. At 12 we got picked up and taken to our quad bikes, where i chose an automatic and got given our instructions...a signal for stop, slow down, speed up...and for 'there is a drop down there...so don't go down it!' Then we were off, after a little bit of driving along i started to get the hang of it and we started to head more onto the dunes area, where if you didn't keep your speed up, then the bike would struggle
Martin Luther Steam Engine
. After about 15mins he stopped us and asked us if we wanted to do the roller coaster...we all said yes (Anita was last and decided she'd have to as we'd already said yes, but was mighty worried as she thought we'd be going up the dune ahead of us...she was very relieved when we didn't!) so set off after our guide up and down the sides of about a half dozen dunes...there were moments when it felt like the quad was slipping on the sand...but you just had to watch your steering and add more speed and you could get it out of it...should i say at this point that i was actually quite enjoying this! There was even one dune where you came down the other side and you could cut the engine...coz there was only one way that bike was going...and that was down...the only question was how fast!! I only got stuck once, one the guys ahead slowed trying to get up a dune, and coz Anita and i were at the back...we were unable to maintain enough speed to get us up...but our guide was straight there...getting it out and moving us on. I was glad i'd only gone for the hour as it was quite hard work, but great fun on the Quads.We got back to the hostel and only had time to gobble our lunch before our guide arrived to take us on the Living Desert tour...our first stop was the Martin Luther Steam Engine...which is 100 years old, and an idea (which failed) of trying to get things travelling across the desert when animals were the only other option
Moon Valley
. Problem was, it kept getting stuck in the sand - whoops! Our guide (a 72 year old local gent) pointed out the old black township...but said apartheid was ended there in 1989...and wasn't as extreme even then. Next we moved on to the real part of the tour as we headed into the Desert. I shall not bore you with too much details but the hightlights of the tour are as follows: The desert is 80million years old and caused by the cold current from the Southern Cape, with a South to North cooling air preventing clouds. What they do have is a mist, and a lot of the plants survive with the moisture the mist provides...others (like many we saw) only appear after heavy rains and within 6-9 months most of them are dying off again and may not re-appear for 10-20 years when the next big rainfall occurs. Other than the Flora, and trying to race up a sand dune with Anita, and looking at the mountains in the distance, we just took in the sheer size of the relative nothingness in places, and the amazing strength of many of these plants to survive...quite amazing really!Back at the hostel, we decided that we'd go out for a group meal, as it was Anita and Belinda's last evening on the trip, so we went out to a Kucki's Pub (which wasn't a pub, but a restaurant!) and had a lovely meal with lots of laughter about the day (and tales from Greg with his new Quad Biking head injury), then we went for a drink, but being monday night it was very quiet in town so we all headed back to the hostel
The Living Desert Tour
.The next morning we had a lazy start, so nice shower and wander round town for provisions, before setting off. We stopped briefly in Walvis Bay (Once a british then South African Territory), and then driving on, passed the Tropic of Capricorn in the early afternoon, where we stopped for some photos, and a small town - one shop - called Solitaire. As we approached Sesriem, our destination, we saw oryx and ostrich beside the road, before arriving at Sossuulei Campsite. We set up our tents and started dinner straight away, so that we were eating as the sun was setting, with everyone sat around the fire, chatting. A nice evening. Then we got an early night as the morning would be Sunrise at Dune 45.
