|
|
| Swakopmund to Sessriem |
Sat 9/11/2002 |
|
 |
Had breakfast at the hostel, courtesy of WhichWay Adventures, and said our goodbyes to Herbert (whom we would meet again in Sessriem), before heading over to the dropzone.
Got one skydive in before Tekla was scheduled to do her tandem jump and then went up in the same plane exiting at the same time and flying in front of Tekla and Simon, her tandemmaster. Maybe should look for work doing video on tandems?
As I was allowed to use the heatwave rig again got to the ground very quickly and shot some pictures of Tekla's landing. After which we packed up and headed out towards Sessriem, briefly stopping off in Walfish Bay to get petrol and food.
Shortly after the stop roads were no longer tarred so I tried to maintain a speed of 80 to 100 to not resontae with the ripples in the road, which I successfully managed most of the time.
Stopped briefly to take some pictures of a bird colony's nest and then continued on to the Namib Naukluft Lodge, 18km after Solitaire on the road to Sessriem, where we had made a reservation for a tented camp.
The lodge turned out to be fantastic, with unbelievably friendly staff and great facilities. (The lodge had actually won several awards for it's excellent service).
Before dinner we headed up a hill just behind our tented camp and I took a whole sunset photo gallery, of one of those incredible Namibian sunsets.
Got back to the main lodge, which was about 1km from the tented camp, and had a gorgeous all you can eat braai with a huge and excellent selection food. What a great way to end the day!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tekla - Tandem Preparation |
Tekla - Final Approach |
Tekla - Landing |
Tekla - After Tandem |
Nest of Bird Colony |
|
|
|
|
|
| Nest of Bird Colony |
Trees at Sunset |
Tree at Sunset |
Sunset |
Tekla - Sunset |
|
|
|
|
|
| Sunset Gallery |
|
| Soussusvlei |
Sun 10/11/2002 |
|
|
Set off after breakfast buffet to Sessriem, which we reached at around 11am. Drove into the park and on to Soussusvlei, which we reached with the help of a 4x4 shuttle service, as all but the last 4km of the trip are on tarred roads (with huge potholes though!). Walked into the Soussusvlei, an underground lake which only holds water on the surface about every 12 years (last time in 2000). From there climbed up one of the huge sanddunes, passing a sick orik that was resting in the shade along the way. From the top I took a panorama picture before heading back to the parking lot from where we got a lift to the Dead Vlei, another dry lake nearby with a 380 meter high dune at the far end.
Walked from the drop off point to the lake and along to the base of the dune, where we had to turn back because of the heat and because I was only wearing sandals with which I could not handle the 70 degree hot sand!. Took some nice pictures of the dead trees in the vlei and then walked back to the drop off point where we could wait in the shad for our lift back to the car. All in all the enormous dunes and the intense red and yellow colours make for an incredible sight which I will have to return to with some more time to spare, and to explore during the early hours of the day before the heat of the day.
On or way back stopped at dune 36??? but could not walk up due to the strong wind blowing along the valley that was pretty much sandblasting us.
Continued driving only to have our first flat tire minutes later and necessitating a quick wheel change. Slightly stressed drove back to the entrance of the park where we were luckily able to buy a similar tire that then was put onto the spare.
Had a truly last drink with Herbert who was staying at the Soussusvlei campground with another tour and headed back to the Namib Naukluft Lodge. Got there in time for the sunset and walked back up to "our" mountain from where we saw another great one. Went to bed early after a nice dinner at the lodge, in preparation for an early start the following morning.
|
|
|
| Return to Windhoek and South Africa |
Mon 11/11/2002 |
|
|
Got up at 5:20 and packed up all our stuff, picked up a breakfast box that had been prepared for us and started towards Windhoek at 6am. Did not have any significant breaks until we got to Windhoek from where we drove straight to the airport to drop Tekla off for her 11am flight to Capetown.
Arrived at the airport with almost one hour to spare, so said my goodbyes to Tekla and then drove back into town to drop off the rental car and to sort out some airline ticket changes at Lufthansa and BA.
I got a lift to Airport with the rental car company and after a small discussion with BA staff about letting me onto the very full plane, I succeeded in getting a seat on the flight to Jo'burg.
Arrived there at 5 in the afternoon and waited an hour for the (free) lift to the hostel, where I even managed to get a single room for the first night! Set down all my stuff and went off to explore the immediate surrounding area which was very safe, in contrast to some of the places I would see the next day during my two day stay in the big bad city.
|
|
|
|
|
