Namibia Part One: The Orange Sand Dunes of Sossuvlei

Friday 3/19/10

We all started off bright and early heading to the Cape Town bus station to start our journey to Namibia. The bus we took was a sleepliner with the company Intercape. It was the first time I have ever been on a double decker bus. The bus ride went from Cape Town, South Africa to the capital of Namibia, known as Windhoek. When we finally came to the border we all got our passports out to have them stamped for our visas. My friend, Howie, and I were the first ones in line to be checked off into Namibia. I gave the border patrol man my passport, he takes a look at it, looks at me, looks back down, and says…. “ooooohhhhhhhhh, alllll the wayyyyy fromm UUUUUU AAAAA SSSSSSS”, (yes… all the way from U.A.S hahaha) so then the woman next to him looks at both of us and goes “these guys look suspicious.” So Howie and I apparently looked like we were bringing chaos into the country of Namibia. Finally after they realized we were harmless…. Or so they thought…. We were stamped off and could continue our bus ride to Windhoek.

The greatest tour guide in the history of Namibia, the infamous Milner


My fellow companions watching the sunrise on Dune 45



Saturday 3/20/10

We arrived at 7 in the morning which completed our 21 hour bus ride to Windhoek, however, we had to wait about an hour to have our tour company pick us up. Finally we were picked up by our mini tour bus and were headed off the orange sand dunes of Sossusvlei. We decided to roll with the Wild Dogs Safari tours with our guide, the infamous Milner. We drove South through Namibia; the entire time on gravel roads. We saw some Springbok, Ostriches, and even a Chameleon along the way :) Milner decided to stop at a lonely picnic table in the middle of the mountains to make us lunch.

Hanging on the Tropic of Capricorn


Our guides literally cooked the most amazing meals for us. They were the best I’ve had since my good ole mother’s cooking back home haha (and maybe chipotle). While driving we randomly crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. It was a surprise for us because we didn’t realize that our trip took us over the line, so we stopped and grabbed some pictures. We finally arrived at our camp after; about a 6 hour drive along the bumpy, gravel roads. We set up the tents and started to prepare dinner. The camp site was literally in the middle of nowhere with mountains surrounding the horizon.


The Namibian Sunrise on top of Dune 45


Sunday 3/21/10

The next day we woke up at 530 in the morning to drive to the sand dunes and watch the sunrise. After the 20 minute drive we began sprinting up Dune 45 without realizing that after about 2 minutes of running our calves would be burning with pain. I do not know if any of you have ever experienced running up a mountain of sand, but it was pretty much Stairmaster 4000 haha Finally after the grueling climb to the top we waited and saw the most beautiful sunrise I have ever witnessed in my life. As the sun rose on the horizon you could notice the sands beginning to take their orange glow that they are so famously known. After taking in the awe of the gorgeous sunrise, we all decided to sprint down the sand dunes. While running down I would take enormous leaps where I felt like I was suspended in the air for seconds at a time, looking as if I was jumping twenty feet per leap.



Before and after the sunrise



At the bottom of the dune we had Milner awaiting our arrival with a delightful little breakfast. Then we drove over to a spot about 10 minutes from the previous dune and began our hike through the desert. Equipped with my jansport backpack, new balance shoes, stunnaz (sunglasses), my Penn State hat, and about as much water as you could possibly carry we headed off up the dunes, around the dunes, and anywhere you could imagine a desert scene. It was as if we were in a movie, aimlessly trekking through the hot and scorching Namibian desert, with no sign of civilization in sight. My favorite dune that we saw was the Big Daddy, which you can see in one of the pictures. It’s the tallest dune in Sossuvlei. Our journey lasted about two hours and brought us all the way back to our convoy. We loaded up the car and drove back to the campsite.

Running down the Dune :)


Around there was a really sweet canyon where we were able to walk down to the water, however, the water was so muddy that you couldn’t even see an inch deep so we decided it best to just relax on the rocks and just take in the fresh air. After that we changed into our swimsuits and jumped into the site’s pool while Milner went off to watch soccer with his friends. Luckily for us it just so happens that we were in Namibia on their 20th year anniversary of their day of Independence. For some of you I can only imagine how insane the 300th year anniversary of our Fourth of July was, 7/4/1976 (and Fourth of July weekend this year, which I absolutely cannot wait to be at the Lakehouse and see you all again :) ). So in other words, the country went absolutely berserk in celebrating their 20th Independence Day :). After our little swim we prepared dinner, and then Milner decided to walk us to the closest sand dune to watch the sunset. Now remember, it was Namibia’s 20th Independence Day, so by this time, our delightful tour guide might have been a few beers deep. We hiked up the sand dune with Milner’s call, “Ohhh it’s just up above here.” And then we hiked up more, with another call, “Just around this hill.” So we hiked, and walked, and treaded, up the sand dune while the sun seemed to be more distant with each step. Before we knew it, the sun had already set and I do not think we were even half way up the sand dune haha but regardless, we all enjoyed the hike, as well as Milner drunkenly attempting to lead the way up. So on the way back down we decided to have a group picture, and for some odd reason, my friend, Farley, left her camera up to Milner to take it. He grabbed the camera, walked backwards to have us all in focus, took a couple more steps backward, and then just completely fell over hahaha but he did not let his collapse stop him from taking our picture. He remained on the ground, camera in hand, and at least attempted to snap our picture, smiling and laughing the entire time. We then headed back laughing histerically at our failed journey up the sand dune to see the sunset, but all of us agree, we wouldn’t of had it any other way.

Big Daddy



Beginning our hike with Big Daddy in the background


The Canyon

An amazing week with a fellow Penn Stater: Homestay at the Township

So this week has been absolutely insane. My friend, Andrew, from Penn State flew in to visit for the week. It was quite the experience for him since the moment he arrived our entire program took off for a homestay in a township for the weekend. Now for all of you that are not aware of what a township is, it was known as government enforced housing during the apartheid era when blacks and coloreds were removed from their homes and forced to live in these areas. Now that the apartheid is over people have chosen to stay and live since that is where all their family and history is from. The townships are usually in extremely poor conditions, with most of the houses being built out of just metal sheets. The family ended up being paired with a Muslim family who took us in as one of their own. They cooked us the most amazing meals and we sat around and talked about our lives and how they varied in so many different ways. It was probably the best hospitality I've ever experienced in my life. So during the weekend our host family took us around the township. We went to this market area and did wine tasting, went to a petting zoo, and were even able to ride camels :) They are so much bigger than I ever thought they would be. Later that day we all went to the local high school and faced their team in a basketball game. Even though we were in it almost the entire game they ended up taking over at the end and were deemed victorious. Afterwards we all went home for an enormous dinner that lasted hours. It was so difficult to even leave because they made us feel so welcomed. I just wish you all could meet the amazing people of this country.

Wine Tasting and Lions Head!!

Hey everyone!! I know it's been a while but I've been so busy that I haven't even had a chance to sit down.. this past weekend was just insane! Starting on Saturday we drove we all drove out to Stellenbosch, which is about an hour outside of Cape Town. There we went to a wine vineyard called Spear. It was incredible! We all got to taste the several wines that they had there and just chill out and listen to live music all day. I even got to stomp grapes inside a barrel as well as get my face painted. They had all their house wines available for sale and I only paid R 26 for a bottle of their finest Shiraz Rosé (which is only $3.00 haha outrageous) and not to mention... I definitely made sure to celebrate State Patty's Day the South African style haha and I wore my t-shirt all day.





Then the next day we did a hike up Lions Head mountain under the full moon! It is extremely popular every full moon because you are able to hike up and you can see everything. We decided to avoid the crowd and went up around 5 pm to watch the sunset. It was only about an hour hike, but we climbed up ladders and even a rope chain to get to the top! While up there we saw the sunset and had a picnic and then watched as the moon began to appear. You could literally see the ENTIRE city on both sides. It was without a doubt the most amazing sight I have ever set my eyes upon. Afterwards we made our descent down the mountain... and it ended up taking twice as long because there were so many people haha and remember there were some ladders on the way and people were coming up as well as going down so we even had a few traffic jams. Anyways I am literally having the greatest time of my life here in South Africa. I can not thank you all enough for all the support you have given me. I feel though that the greatest experience won't actually be here in Cape Town... but back at home when I get to share my adventure with all of you. Thank you guys so much for keeping in touch and I will be sure to update soon!

Overnight Hike Last Weekend

Hello everyone! It has been a pretty crazy week with classes starting to pick up as well as the start of my volunteering :) Anyways last weekend I went with a few friends and the Mountain and Ski Club to an overnight hike at Zuurberg Mountain :) It was about an hour away. We were driving along a normal road and then all of a sudden it ended and we were just driving on dirt through a farm to get to our location. Once we arrived we walked about 20 minutes to a dam where we jumped off of the top of it and into the water! It was about 35 feet high haha so after swimming for a while we began the real hike. We ended up missing the path by 10 feet and took the wrong way up! A hour and a half hike then turned into 4 hours haha but it was still so much fun. The leaders of the Mountain and Ski Club were telling us there was running water and huts at the top for us to sleep in. So after the 4 hours they announced we were almost there. We turned the corner... and it was just flat land haha so we set up our sleeping bags and headed to a rock pool. It was like a mini quarry with a tiny pool no bigger than a bedroom in between. Someone had the crazy idea to jump off the cliff into this tiny pool where you could see the bottom of the water from the top!! Everyone ended up following suite since he made the jump successfully :) I ended up leaping off 3 times and it was the greatest time ever as you can see in the picture :)

So afterward we all went back to our "camp" and slept under the stars. You could see literally every single star in the sky. It was epic. Then we woke up the next day and took the real path this time and made it quickly down :) It was such an amazing time and I met a lot of local South Africans. Hopefully I'll be going on even more hikes and rock climbing with the club. I miss all of you and I would give anything for you guys to hike up that mountain with me.

The Elephant For Mason

Haha so here it is Mason... "the Elephant Formation" this was from our trip along the Garden Route the week before classes started. I was able to walk an elephant while he rested his trunk on my hand, and then they all performed tricks and afterward we were able to feed them :) The place is called "The Elephant Sanctuary". They have 6 elephants total which they have all taken in from Game Reserves where they would have been killed off due to the overpopulation of elephants in southern Africa. Some of the trainers are dedicated to stay there for 15 years to help raise the elephants! I hope you enjoy, Mason!

The Atmosphere of South Africa

So I just got back from one of the local bars here in Cape Town. The city is broken up into little districts, and the area that my dorm is in is known as "Mowbray". Up a little north is a district known as "Observatory" and people call it "Obs" for short. It is a really chill place with plenty of local bars to relax at. We ended up stopping at this place called "Stones" which also has a location of the same name in downtown Cape Town (known as Long Street, but I'll explain later :) )

So "Stones" was such a sweet bar.. they have like 100 pool tables, as well as a balcony to just relax at. I've never encountered bars/clubs in the states that share a counterpart here in South Africa. "Stones" was such a cool place. It's amazing how different the little things can be in a different country. The pool tables are MUCH smaller, along with the pool balls themselves. The pockets are smaller as well which makes it very difficult to make a shot. We would sometimes go 10 minutes without a single ball dropping in haha but eventually I learned the essentials that were necessary for the much smaller table.

I've been to over a dozen bars and clubs here in South Africa, and not one reminds me of the States. Each bar is unique in its own way and has the type of atmosphere that just welcomes you in to explore a new found area. Most importanly, the people shape the concrete of these bars. I have never in my life encountered anyone more open and willing to talk about anything. They don't just talk aimlessly either.. they actually are interested in who you are and what brought you to this beautiful country.

I know it is very difficult to describe in words.. and is pretty much something you need to experience for yourself.. but just life in general here is open to anything you have to offer... never will you feel unwelcome.. but instead a feeling of acceptance no matter who you are.. something that is rare to come by.

Ladies and Gentlemen.... the Penguins of South Africa!!

Haha so here you go Ally... it's true.. there are penguins in South Africa. It's pretty much the most bizarre thing I've ever witnessed in my life haha so basically they just stand around all day and then every now and then they will walk around aimlessly, but nevertheless, it was amazing.. hopefully if I can get to the coffee shop I can upload a video of the penguin race... the bandwith to upload a video is horrendous.. anyways I hope you enjoy the penguins as much as I did!!

I thought I would try and post a picture and to show you all how this country is so beautiful. This is of Kalk Bay in Cape Town. We were here about 2 weeks ago and seals swam straight up to us.... wild seals haha

Hey everyone! So I've finally settled in and have my schedule set (for the most part) I just had my first day of classes and it was pretty hectic haha the university still has yet to finalize all of the courses so my African music class is still yet to be determined. It is amazing how different it is here in South Africa, but I'm slowly transitioning. I have done so many things so far that I never even imagined would be possible. So for now I'm just trying out this blog and seeing how it works, but now that I have my schedule I'll be able to have some time to just sit down and relax. I really miss all of you and I can't wait to share all of the stories that I have so far.