A Perfect Moment ...
Trip Start
Dec 17, 2007
1
16
26
Trip End
Jan 19, 2008
Swakopmund,
Namibia
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Keywords - Donkey Wake up, Brandberg shoot, Prefect moment, 1st sight of the Atlantic ocean, Seal smell, Subtle landscape change, Namibia - the worlds biggest beach, Swakopmund arrival
I awake at first light to the rather surprising sound of a donkey Hee Haw ... presumably it is the cock's day off ...
We set off just as the sun splits the horizon and stop along the way to take landscape shots of the Brandberg mountains. Their red cliffs are a very pretty sight in the golden light of early morning, especially against the yellow/orange desert sand and deep blue sky with light cloud. A photography landscaper's wet dream ...
As we traverse the gradually heating desert sands on our long drive, the landscape becomes an inspiration to the eyes with deep reds, blues, yellows, tans, whites, oranges ... all punctuated by the occasional green... I am in awe of this place.
It is a this moment that I experience what I have come to call a perfect moment. Perfection in a moment is something which words are insufficient to describe. It is a deeply emotional and often very personal experience. Words like Elation, Euphoria, Peace, Intense, Wonder, Awe, Love, Happiness, Contentedness spring to mind... but they do it no justice. I first noticed this feeling many years ago when sitting on a beach in Thailand... it generally happens most when I travel ... but not always ... there was that recent trip to Valentia Island in Kerry ...
On this occasion my emotions are triggered by the vista around me as Benji struggles through the morning light ... The red/yellow sand of the desert gives way to distant hazy shapes of mountains and hills which conspire to deceive the eye that they are floating on the desert ... their contours hold a mysterious magical power over my gaze which is transfixed ... this is a vast open space we are crossing ... and it commands respect from the viewer.
We pull into a small town to the supermarket where ... and this will sound a bit strange and perhaps even silly but ... the intensity of the visual assault I have just endured becomes highlighted in another sense when I purchase a Magnum Death by Choclate Ice Cream Bar ... You see all of your senses become affected by a perfect moment ... so I experience taste like never before, everything is richer and subtle flavours become more pronounced.
Today I am to get my first sight of the sea in over a month and I am quite excited about this ... since I love the sea. But before I do I must witness with great pleasure as the landscape and vegetation gradually morphs from trees to bush to scrub ... red to orange to yellow ... hills flatten out ... long winding roads become straight endless lines. In the flat landscape near the sea my imagination takes hold and distant mirages look like waves on a beach ... only to reveal more sand and road. Eventually we reach the skeleton coast and my first witness of gentle waves crashing against the shore does not fail to disappoint. We pause to get some T-Shirts (it is nice to have clean clothes and a souvenir in one item) and head off to catch a seal colony ...
The Seal colony is one massive attack on the senses ... and not in the best way ... the rancid smell of dying seal cubs mixed with rotten fish makes for something only a strong stomach should endure ... As you approach along a board walk you notice dead cubs litter the ground below you ... The colony stretches for quite some distance ... there must be ten of thousands of seals lying in the sun belching out their noises, having the occasional set to ... I can't but feel that they are an inelegant beast on land ... but when they get into the water it is a different story ... they glide along with grace and ease jumping along the surf as it dances along the shore. On this scale this is quite an impressive sight for the eye.
We depart along the long coast road to our final destination of the day Swakopmund. That evening we go out to the Lighthouse restaurant for a welcome dinner ... not that Joe's wonderful cooking is any problem ... moreover it is simply nice to sit at a table and be served for a change ... even for Joe!
10-11 January 2008 Municipal Bungaloes, Swakopmund, Namibia, 22.6856S 14.5256E Alt 45m
What can I say about Swakopmund? Well for starters there is a place like this on every backpackers trail. It is kind of a cultural oasis (or perhaps cultural desert is a more appropriate way of describing it) amidst the chaos and often discomfort of the trail. It consists of all the comforts of home with a local flavour thrown in for good measure ... there are internet Cafes, Bars, Nightclubs, Over priced shops where you can get everything, Africrap stalls... you name it ...
This is the hub for thrill seeking adrenaline adventurers ... in this case the presence of a massive dune field nearby determines much of the theme for these adventures - there is Sandboarding, Quad biking, Rhino 4WD, Acrobatic plane rides, skydiving, Land-sailing ... to name but a few of a sizeable palate of things that could kill or thrill ... or both!
On the negative side ... I can't but wonder where all the indigenous people have gone ... Swakop is distinctly white ... most of the indigenous peoples you do see are serving you a drink or trying to sell Africrap ...
It is here also that I see my first traffic light since Dublin ... if you think about it, this is quite an amazing statistic really ... it is also here that we hear our first stories of crime - three guys from another truck (remember the one we water bomded after Etosha?) are maced outside a nightclub, Charles (a local tour guide) has been bitten and stabbed only a week earlier and has the wounds to prove it, another South African couple have their bag stolen ... and even we are not immune as Christina has an attempt made (happily without success) to steal her bag. Perhaps there is a link between crime and traffic lights ? ... or maybe it is the fact the just outside Swakopmund away from the eyes of the tourists is a township ...in Africa poverty is never far away .. but it is often conveniently hidden.
I sound a bit cynical about Swakop ... but despite my cynicism I have to confess I rather enjoyed the two days, three nights we spent there ... it was in fact a welcome respite from the road.
We booked a number of activities - In my case Quad biking, Sandboarding and 4WD Rhino ... all in the massive dune field ...
First up - Sandboarding ... I am half looking forward to this ... since it looks bloody dangerous and you have to walk up a 150M dune to get going ... no chair lift here ... To my surprise the lie down version of it is pretty adrenaline pumping ... the board itself is just a piece of hardboard you can get in any home store ... the key thing is the technique ... you really ought to listen to the guys who do it as the demonstrate ... I find this out the hard way and on my first plummet (and this is definitely the best word for it) ... I wipe out completely in the sand to such an extent that even now 5 days later there is a massive bruise on my arm (in fact as I edit this entry 4 weeks later there is still a lump!!) ... but undeterred I go for my second one without problem and the charge of energy it give me is amazing ... my instructor now deems me to be ready for the big slope ... a 150m 75-80degree incline ... I quickly disagree ... not because I don't want to do it but rather because I'm not so keen on the walk back up the dune ... it is quite a physical exercise ... so I opt for the baby slop a few more times before popping to the top of the dune with my instructor to do the "big one" ... he hops on his board and disappears off down the dune in front of me ... within about 2 seconds he reappears about half way to Botswana ... at this point I'm ready to have a kitten or two ... but I manage to hop on my board and about 4 seconds later he and I are sitting looking up at the tiny dots of our colleagues atop the dune ... and I am cursing the walk back up ... what a rush though ... I'm totally pumped with adrenaline!!!
The view from the top of the dunes is also worthy of mention ... wow ... the sea on one side and the massive dune field on the other make for a special moment if you can tear yourself away from the thrill of the rides ...
Next up - Quad Bikes ... This is pretty amazing in the steep precipitous dune field ... that is as soon as you can get around the slow guy in the front (no names here to protect the innocent) ... It is a personal roller coaster ride up and down the incomprehensible slopes of the dune field ... you regularly find yourself plummeting down a near cliff face at 60KPH ... screaming in terror ... and hoping to make it out of the manoeuvre ... but you do ... you just have to remember never use the brakes and keep the throttle at full speed to get up the steep slope on the other side ... if you start to lose speed on the up side ... point the quad downwards ... I have no problem passing the others on the down side ... but the ups are a different story ... my weight becomes a major handicap ... I enjoy this one so much I do it the following morning ... this time there are a lot less of us and only the bravest too ... the leader knows this and the ride is much harder ... we reach higher speeds and climb higher dunes ... it is harder ... but much more of a rush ... Melissa, Sarah and I arrive back full of energy ...
Final trial - The Mighty Rhino ... Charles our guide from Outback Orange tells us this is a milder version of the other activities ... but it is only myself and Sarah in one Rhino with Charles and Christina in the other ... with only us to worry about he treats us to the ride of a lifetime ... yes the rhino is a 4WD buggy but it does 40-50KPH ... We stop every now and again for Charles to show us some of the nature of the area ... He lifts are rock to reveal a poisonous sidewinder snake which we pick up and leave near some virgin sand so we can clearly see its amazing motion and tracks ... After checking my ability (through a few tricky manoeuvres) to handle the Rhino ... Charles give us a special treat of an adrenaline fuelled ride in the dunes ... at one point Sarah (my passenger) and I are so pumped we go from terror screams to hysterical laughter as we plummet down an inconceivable slope on this 4WD ... this is great stuff ... but not for the faint hearted. These Rhino babies can go!! ... Finally we are taken on a terror ride along the top of the steepest, tallest dune ... a difficult feat where you have to keep turning towards a cliff face to prevent from losing it ... eventually Charles and Christina pull up with the nose of their Rhino pointing down the steepest of all dunes ... stopped on the edge waiting for us ... Charles instructs me in how to get into to position and asks me to turn off the engine and slip it in neutral.. much to our mutual horror ... now we only have the brake to control our 4WD as we slide down the steep slope ... the dune sings to us as we go ... quite a wonderful song it is too ... we love this so much we do it again.
The last part of Swakop was shopping and other s**t.. There is nothing much to say about this really ... all standard stuff.
