Monday, April 21, 2003 (Swakopmund - Namibia)


Half the day gone before sunrise. Finally churned out a successful DVD burn. Back on the road before the temperature rose too much. Off the the adrenaline capital of Namibia. Never pass up a good Internet cafe.

Day 40. Yet another early start to the day this morning with a hive of activity in and around the campsite long before the sun made its appearance. By the time I awoke, the two trainee guides were already hard at work with their morning ritual of preparing breakfast for everyone. I didn’t really get a full night’s sleep up on top of the truck but having done so, I’ve crossed off another item from my ever shortening wish list. The bright stars are a sight to behold and it was a real treat to just lie there looking straight up at them. Among the things that kept me from sleeping through the night were a couple of Jackals that were ravaging through the rubbish bins every ten minutes or so as well as the near full moon that lit up the sky after about two a.m. The moon put a bit of a damper on the stargazing as its glare compensated for the lack of light pollution and, as a result, the Milky Way was less visible than on previous nights – but still very visible nonetheless. Ruth (the large Australian woman) also chose to sleep on top of the truck tossed and turned a few times causing the generous suspension of the truck to rock us both from side to side. Apparently, she saw the space station drift across the sky but I must have been in the middle of a deep sleep cycle and she was unable to awaken me from my slumber.

The DVD burn last night was successful if not a very long and tedious process. It took well over an hour to complete the process and I was unable to do much more than fall asleep afterwards.

We were all packed and on the road again just as the sky was beginning to brighten a bit and we soon settled into our favourite seats on the truck ready for another long day on the road through the desolate and very barren desert. This morning’s drive took us mainly over some very long and bumpy dirt roads and through a particularly lifeless section of the Namibian desert. Even this very lifeless desert yielded some great photography, however, and this managed to keep me awake just enough to fight off the tiredness.

Our destination this morning was Swakopmund where we will participate in some very adventuresome adrenaline rush activities such as sand boarding and quad biking. After some lunch and a quick activities briefing, we all put our names down for the activities that we were interested in and then dispersed around town to spend some time alone exploring the small place. Luckily, we will be staying in a lodge for the next couple of nights and this is a welcome break from the rigors of camping life.

Much of my time was spend at an Internet café where I was able to hook up the laptop to take care of exchanging e-mail, sending out another World TravelUpdate (up to my thirteenth instalment already) and adding another page of photos to the website. Earlier in the day, I had noticed and brochure pinned to the notice board in our lodge reception that was advertising various pampering activities such as a flotation chamber and a full body massage. Sandy was particularly keen to take full advantage of these activities and spent several hours indulging herself there. She came out relaxed and quite a bit unwound compared to the past couple of days so it was a welcome activity for the both of us. I’m seriously thinking of spending a couple of hours there myself tomorrow.

Posted: Mon - April 21, 2003 at 08:03 AM        

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