Swakopmund

The title of this post is the town we are currently in....we however did not go from a soggy campsite in South Africa to here so let me fill you in.

The day after sleeping in the rain we crossed the border into Namibia and stayed at a great campsite on the Orange River. It was dry and warm during the day but definitly cold at night. We had a day and half there, it was nice to sit in the sun walk around the river and relax. Later that day we headed out the the Fish River Canyon, which is the second largest canyon in the world, the Grand Canyon being numero uno. We got there just in time to hike to a view point and watch the sun go down across the canyon. BEAUTIFUL. We took a lot of fun pictures there with each other as well. That night we camped in a Namibian National Park and I must say the U.S. has a lot to learn, it was nice.

This brings us to day 4, Sesriem. This is another great National park with a small canyon that we actually hiked into. It was really neat in the bottom and I even bravely climbed up the side of one of the walls to check out a cave part way up, Hakuna Matata ("no worries" for all you none Lion King fans) we are not in lion country yet.

Day 5 we were in the center of the Namib Desert near a place called Sossuvlei. Something about the center of the desert in winter, warm in the day, ice at night. (Becky I am joining a new tent soon and we have already discussed who gets middle spoon and I thinked I locked it up). The cold is no big deal though because the scenery is amazing here. Bright red sand on the ground and creating the monsterous sand dunes around us. I really can't even describe it. We even got up extra early to hike to the top of a 120 meter high dune and watch the sunrise. I am quickly learning that my two favorite times of day in Namibia are sunrise and sunset it rivals a sunset over the Pacific. After the sunrise we joined a local Namibian for a bush walk in the dunes. He showed us many interesting plants and animals.

So now Day 6 we are in Swakopmund. We did some laundry had some lunch and are checking the town out. Swakopmund is on the coast of Namibia in about the center of the country right below the Skeleton Coast. It is called that because there is always a fog here, kind of like June glum all the time, and so there are many ship wrecks. Tomorrow I am going dune boarding on nearby sand dunes. I will have 2 rides lying down, they say we can reach speeds of up to 80Km per hour!! Then I am going to try sand boarding on a snowboard, it will either be fun or I will be cleaning sand from my nether regions for awhile.

A quick note on some of the people here. I have been hanging out mostly with a group of five girls. Diana is Canadian and is a veteran at Africa trips and a riot. Laura is sadly only doing half the trip with us before she goes to South Africa for an internship. Lindsey and Courtney are sisters from Pennsylvania. I don't know how they get along so well, I have a feeling if Dana and I sat on a bus next to each other everyday and shared a tent one of us may have been left somewhere on the route. The last girl is Dana, obviously not my sister Dana, she is also Canadian. She is my bus buddy. She also reminds me a lot of my sister so it is fun to hang out with her, yes Dana I did just compliment you. That is about it for now. Once we leave Swakopmund it will be a while before I have internet again so until then, adios!
Love, Meghan