Study Abroad in South Africa: 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