Tim_Day 187 - 195 (Namibia)

Day 187
We woke up the next day, eat showered, and got ready to leave town. I was excited to finally get out of that town. We had been there too long and it was starting to get a bit boring. It was also going to be nice to be traveling with Maya and Alesh. Somehow traveling with people seems much easier than traveling by ourselves. Things don’t seem so difficult or crazy. It’s weird how that works.

We jumped on the local bus that was going to take us across the boarder and into Namibia. We had heard from some locals that the bus line we were taking was going to a good bus and ride. I was hoping that was going to be the case since we were getting closer to South Africa and civilization.

Sure enough the bus was great - for Africa that is. It was clean and they only allowed the amount of people that fit in the seats on the bus. What more could you ask for? They also put our luggage in the bottom of the bus and not all over everyone. Man we were “Rollin Big” now.

We drove through the afternoon and everything went pretty smooth. Around 3:00 we made it to the border into Namibia and the process of crossing the border went pretty smooth. We were definitely getting closer to civilization and people with brains.

After crossing the border we had about an hour to look around the border town on the Namibia side. I found a little cheap shop that was something like the 99 cent stores in America. The quality of the merchandise was shitty but I found a great deal on a tent. I borrowed some money from Alesh since of course we couldn’t get any money out with our card. Man I don’t even want to start talking about our problems with getting money out. There’s only one word to describe my feelings in this area an its “fuckkkshhheedammmmfufckkalckilllfaber!”

We jumped back on the shiny modern bus and headed out. Sometime in the early part of the night we finally reached our stop. Our stop was a gas station in the middle of nowhere Namibia where someone from our camp (Ngepi Camp) was supposed to pick us up. Once we got off supposedly someone would be there to pick us up. I wasn’t to sure about that and was preparing myself to sleep the night in the bathrooms at the gas station.

To our surprise when we only had to wait about ten minutes until someone from the camp drove into the gas station to pick us up. Alesh and Maya had reservations at Ngepi Camp but we didn’t. We had tried the other day but had no luck making reservations. All we did was spend 20 dollars in a five minute call talking to someone who was and idiot and in the end couldn’t tell us if they had room or not.

The ride to the camp was cold. We had to sit in the back of the truck on some seats freezing. After about 20 minutes of dirt roads in what felt like the middle of nowhere we arrived to the camp. Sure enough the camp had a bar and was light up like Christmas. It was a surreal experience coming into the camp. It was decorated really cool and the lighting was mostly red and really magical. It had tables made up upside down morocco boats and contemporary hip pop music playing. It was so nice to see that and made the journey to this place in the middle of nowhere worth while.

We carried our packs down the sandy trail along the river bank to get our campsite. It was really cool being there in the night and it was so nice to be with Maya and Alesh. All the campsites were set up really well and were right on the bank of the river. The river was covered with tons of tall grass and about 500 feet across. It was also filled with fish, birds, hippos, and crocs. That made it that much more cool to be there.

We set up our tents at night using flashlights in our campsite on the bank of the river. I wasn’t too excited to be a less than 15 feet from the sandy banks of the river. We might be a nice mid night snack for a large croc. We’ll see?

I grabbed my new ten I had bought at the 99 cent type store and popped it open. To my surprise it was fluorescent green and pink and looked for all the world like a huge watermelon. It also had a nice silver shimmer to the material which added to the effect. It was a funny tent that was built like a piece of junk. I could see air through the sewed seams and I was praying for good weather for the time we were there.

As we were setting up we heard the sound so hippo’s in the background. They were growling and it was a magical sound. It was a little scary but at the same time really magical. I’ve never sleep by a river where you could hear sounds like that. That was so nice. The moon light up the river near our tents and it was really magical.

We grabbed some huge black caldron looking pots and some fire wood from the front to cook dinner. We were all hungry and decided we were going to attempt to cook rice and vegetables over the camp fire. Of course we didn’t have much to work with so we had to do things like share forks, cut vegetables in our laps, and eat directly out of the pots. But in the end our bellies were full and the dinner wasn’t half bad. I think our hunger and proud feeling form cooking on the fire helped make the food taste better.

After dinner we went to the bar to have a couple drinks and talk with the staff. The staff seemed to be ok. The manager was kind of an idiot and but the other staff seemed pretty cool. We found out that they have had a few problems with the local hippos. They said one time for about a month there were two hippos fighting over the territory. They said they would hear them running through the camp all night long chasing each other. Man that must have been an interesting time to be there. They said they had one of them come right up to the bar we were at. Since hippos are the number one killers in Africa I wasn’t too excited to hear these stories. But they did make the place more adventurous and I like that.

With reality feeling a little less controllable we headed back to our tents. We sat for a little bit talking and were able to see a huge croc swimming in the river right outside of our tent. That was pretty interesting and Maya and Ana were a little scared. I keep joking with the girls by throwing rocks in the bushes and making sounds. They didn’t appreciate it and kept punching me. But in the end I was pretty sure they were not going to be a problem. That croc is a local croc, lives in a fertile area, and we were pretty big in group and sleeping in our tents. But in the end I wasn’t sure and must admit I was a little worried about being woken up by the feeling of a croc biting down on my leg.

It was getting pretty cold that night and since we didn’t have any ground pads I was pretty sure we were going to get cold so I put on all the layers I had and jumped into my mummy bag. That night I decided it was best to sleep with one eye open.









Day 188
My psychic powers of prediction were spot on. I was cold all night and slept really badly. The ground was hard and ice cold and I was too lazy to try and figure out a way to get warmer.

We got up pretty late and lazed around and checked out the camp in the daylight. It was a nice campground covered in green trees and little hidden campsites. The entire camp was covered in funny signs and themed toilets and showers. They had the “Royal Thrown” toilet right on the bank of the river. It had only three walls and ass you sat down you faced the river with the missing wall. It was a great view and had a large golden ball used to flush the toilet. Each toilet and shower was a different theme and the entire place was very open and fun. The owner did a great job in developing the place.

Lunch was cooked on the campfire and was much easier in the light. After our bellies were full we pretty much lazed around the campground the rest of the day. It was a very chill camp and was great just for losing time laying on the sun deck or drinking beer at the bar.

In the evening me and Alesh rented a couple poles and tried our luck fishing off the croc pit. We sat for about an hour throwing the jig out and reeling it in. In the end we didn’t have any luck but it was fun just to be out there watching the sun set and hear the hippo’s with their deep echoing voices.

When the sun got close to setting we got on a boat for an evening sunset cruise. It was a nice little boat and took us cursing slowly up the river. The sunset was magnificent and golden red, orange, and yellow. It was so peaceful to be on the river. I brought the fishing pole on the boat and tried for a bit to catch something but had no luck. Alesh also gave it a shot and pretty managed to catch some large weeds. Alesh had told me that he had never caught a fish before and I was really hoping that he would catch one. Man that would be so cool to catch a huge Tiger fish for his first fish.

The boat trip lasted about an hour and we got to enjoy the entire setting of the sun which was really stunning. Man they have beautiful sunsets in Africa.

I was a little bummed we didn’t get to see any hippos or crocs on the boat cruse. Our guide though did point out allot of different birds. But in the end they were pretty unexciting and I wasn’t too impressed.

We cooked dinner and it was interesting. We blended some of the ingredients we had and made a pasta kind of thing. It was ok and the little crunchy stones in the pot added to the taste.

After a lazy day we were pretty tired and ended up hitting the sack after only a couple beers.









Day 189
We woke early after another cold night to be get ready for our Moroko boat trip we had planned the day before. I was really surprised at how cold it got in the night and in the mornings. Both Ana and I had our jackets, beanies, and gloves on in the morning.

The drive to the upper part of the river was fun and freezing. We all huddled down low in the seats to keep the wind from directly hitting us in the face. Alesh and Maya didn’t have as much warm gear so I think they were even colder than us.

Once we were at the river side the guides unloaded the boats. The main guide from our camp was a local black guy who had feet that looked like he had shoes on. They were dead flat and must have had about four inches of callas. When he walked it reminded me of what a camel toe looks like walking. His foot kind of squished when he walked. -- Wait did I just use “camel toe” in a sentence. Man that was so cool. No offense to the girls that might sport one. Long live the camel toe.

Anyway the guide’s feet were weird and he walked on the glass in the riverbank sand with no worry of cutting his feet. It was easy to see he was more comfortable without shoes then with shoes. It’s interesting to see what I’m sure most of the people’s feet looked like a few thousand years ago.

Eventually we jumped in the boat with our smelly local guide and headed out onto the river. The boats were basically the traditional Moroko boats just make out of fiberglass to make them easier to handle. Transporting a huge log to the river each time someone wanted to do a trip wasn’t the easiest task. The sides of the boat were only about six inches off the water on the side and it gave you the feeling you shouldn’t even move or it was going to tip over. With tiger fish, alligators, and hippos in the water I didn’t really want to go swimming. I’m the biggest and meatiest person in the group as well so they’d probably be headed straight for me.

Once we got underway and started to get a feel for the boat it felt pretty secure. We were guided first to the small falls which in my opinion was more like a couple rocks that the water fell over. But it was still nice to see.

We continued to paddle with the peacefully flowing river past the tall grass. The weather was wonderful and the sun kissed your skin and the wind blew your hair. It was too tranquil and at one point I was actually having trouble staying awake and upright in the boat. It was a really beautiful experience quietly moving down the river.

At one point in the trip we got to see what we were all pretty anxious to see – a group of hippos. As we came upon the group of about twenty hippo’s they made there deep “URRR URRR URRR URRR” sounds. That sound was really unique to the hippos. It was also so loud that it carried amazing distances across the landscape.

The group of hippos was great to see and we got pretty close. We were about two hundred feet away but that was close for a group of hippos. You can’t see them when there underwater and they can come up and bit the boat right in half with their powerful jaws. They are funny animals and will attack for no apparent reason. The guides were really respectful of them and that was a sure sign they were not to be messed with.

At one point on the cruise down the river we also stopped off at a local village. Since we had seen a few of the villages already we weren’t that interested. It was basically a bunch of pour people living in huts along the river. The men all pretty much looked drunk and were hanging out in the shade under the trees.

We did a small tour around the village where we got to see how they made the large barrels of local beer. They pretty much used the corn and boiled it to make it. It was pretty nasty stuff and the smell was pretty horrid. Not sure how they drank it but they did.

We got to see some of the fields that were harvested and being held in large bins. That was pretty interesting as well as the older lady using a basket to filter out the seeds from the wheat type plants that looked allot like corn just the top was different.

Leaving the village I had a bit of a sad feeling in my heart. But that was how thing were and maybe they weren’t as bad as I looked at it. Who knows?

Eventually we floated right back to our camp. I could tell we were there because I could see my watermelon tent about ten miles down the river. That tent was pretty damn bright for the lush green environment.

It was nice to get out of the boat as my back and butt were starting to hurt a little. They boats weren’t that comfortable. For lunch we had a sandwich and chips. For the English illiterates we ate a sandwich and some “crisps”.

After lunch we headed to the local game reserve to do a “game drive”. We had all been on game drives before and were semi interested in going. It was part of the trip so why not. I was actually interested in seeing some more elephants. I had heard there was allot of the in this area.

We jumped in the back of the truck and headed out down the dirty bumpy roads. The game drive was going to be a couple hours and was set in the evening since that was a good time to go and look for animals. They come out in the evening when the temperatures get a little cooler.

The game drive actually turned out to be pretty entertaining. We saw some giraffes, a few elephants, gazelles, hippos, etc. Not bad for a little park. At one point we were allowed to get out of the truck and look around. That is always a weird feeling in a park that has so many meat eating creatures. Once out of the truck I headed over to a local MASSIVE and old Boab Tree. I really love the shape of those trees and they look like they belong in a fairy tale. They have HUGE trucks but are short and have tiny limbs. While I was taking a couple shots I heard a hippo grunt right on the other side of the bushes. That was close enough for me and I headed back to the truck to take cover. I didn’t want to meet Mr. Hippo. It was pretty funny.

For the last part of the trip we headed to the outer part of the park to try and catch a lion. The road was more fun and seemed more adventurous. But in the end we pretty much just drove around in a few circles looking at the local shrubbery.

The sunset was really beautiful and we watched it glow and change colors as we headed back to camp. The temperature began to drop and so did we trying to escape the direct force of the wind.

It was dark by the time we got back to the camp. We cooked dinner in the dark and headed to bed. I was pretty tired and hit the watermelon pretty early.










Day 190
Me and Ana woke up early and were doing things in the morning early. For some reason we had energy and wanted to get some things done. We washed our cloths, cleaned the pots, and pumped some clean water from the sinks. It was nice to finally be using my water pump. I’d been carrying it around for almost a year and never really used it.

Eventually Maya and Alesh woke up and we all decided we didn’t want to cook again. Starting a fire, waiting for it to get hot, then trying to cook with what we had was really a pain in the butt. It was time to splurge and eat at the local camp restaurant. We ordered breakfast it was really good. It was eggs, bacon, toast and sausage. I couldn’t have asked for more.

After breakfast Alesh and I hitched a ride to town with one of the workers. Of course the driver was hauling ass down the back roads. It was pretty fun but I was glad the girls weren’t with us. He was sliding around corners and I was hoping we didn’t role because we were goners if that happened. Despite the danger it was really cool flying down the back roads of Africa with the wind in our faces. We were passing small villages and local people going through their daily lives. An experience I won’t ever forget.

Luckily we made it to the local store in town without dieing. We grabbed some bread, beer, and wine and headed back to town. We picked up a couple of local people and drove them to their huts. Its funny how in these towns if you have a car you’re expected to give others a ride. It seems like an unsaid rule. You can’t just drive by them with room in your truck and not pick them up. So in the end I think we had about 5 other people in the truck with us. The driver knew a few of the guys and was joking with them.

When we got back to camp we chilled for a little while on the sun deck and pretty much did our best to waste away the day chilling and talking with Alesh and Maya. At one point in the evening we decided we had to swim in the croc pit before it got too late. The croc pit was basically a cage built in the water that you could swim in. It was about 20 feet wide with a 4 foot wooden walkway around the edge. The cage was in the water and went around all the edges and was about eight feet deep.

With the hope that the cage was still intact under the water we jumped in. The water was freezing and the current of the river was pretty strong. We only lasted a few minutes before we had to climb out and warm up. The water was murky green and I can only imagine what was in that water? Hopefully it didn’t attach itself to us or find its way into places it shouldn’t be.

Overall it was pretty cool to swim in the river and we dried off and headed to the bar. Spending time with English people pretty much means you’ll be drinking most of the time so that’s what we did for the rest of the night. We started by drinking the cheap wine called “Tassenberg” then bought a few beers at the bar. It was a good night despite the music and day crowd that came in on a tour bus. After Ana started dancing on the tables I decided it was time to head towards camp.

When we got back to the camp Alesh was pretty drunk and started hiccupping. Hearing him hiccup and laugh was hilarious. We keep laughing at him and he was laughing at us. In the end I think we laughed for about half and hour before we started calming down. We keep saying jokes that keep us going. One joke that really got us was that Alesh sounded like a hippo when he laughed. Sure enough off in the dark distance a hippo made a noise just like his laugh. It was a good time and we had to go to bed to try and stop the drunken craziness.

As we were in bed Alesh stayed outside making a video of himself drunk. It was so funny to listen to himself talk and hiccup like a drunk on a cartoon. It was a good night and we in the end we passed out and waited for the next day to come.








Day 191
Good thing about alcohol is that you sleep great despite the conditions. The ground was hard and it was cold but I didn’t notice. In fact I slept right through it all and woke up late feeling pretty rested. It was nice just to chill in the camp and I was enjoying the slower pace and traveling with more people than just me and Ana.

After waking up we moved our beds to the sun deck and stayed there till lunch. After moving enough to eat lunch we settled back into our second beds on the sun deck. It was so peaceful to just sit in the shade along the quiet moving river. It was a beautiful day and it was great just to laugh and joke with no worries about time, food, work, or any kind of schedule. I don’t think I’ve been able to relax like that since I was a kid. I think it takes being on vacation for a long time to really settle down to that level. I had no sense of anxiety or need to move. I was content and complete just sitting, laughing, and watching the trees blow in the wind. That’s true peace.

Eventually we decided we had to move from the deck to go swimming in the croc pit before the sun went down. That was good fun and we swam for about thirty minutes. That wasn’t a straight thirty minutes but more like two minutes in then ten minutes out warming up. So probably in the end we were in the water for about six minutes max.

After swimming I headed to the shower called the “Today” shower. I had heard it was one of the best in the camp. Sure enough it was pretty cool and was actually a shower built inside the branches of a tree. I got stung by a bee right before taking the shower and that pretty unusual. I hadn’t been stung by a bee in quiet a while. The shower was really fun and the water was warm which made it all the more great.

After the shower I headed back to the campsite. On my way I saw a line of people getting vaccinations. They motioned me to come over and I did. They said they had found a new strand of polio in the waters in that area and they were giving the vaccinations to everyone. Great. I’ve been swimming in the water and drinking the purified water from the fountain. We’ll see.

After a couple drops on the tongue and a permanent marker mark on my thumb and they were gone. I was really surprised to see such a measure happening in the outback’s of Namibia. I didn’t think anything like that was even possible. They seemed organized, efficient, and intelligent. It was great to see and I hope they are effective in keeping such a horrible disease at bay.

For dinner we cooked some rice with tuna and it was ok. Nothing to special but it filled the belly.

At evening I rented another fishing pole and headed out to the croc pit to try and catch something from that damn river. They “fisherman” guy had installed new white lights on the deck to try and illuminate it more and attract more fish. While I was fishing I could see fish but they didn’t seem to be interested in the jig we had. Alesh and I spent the next two hours after dark trying to catch something. But no luck. I had pretty much given up trying and gave he pole to Alesh to have fun with. He was learning how to cast and real and it was good practice for him. He was getting pretty good.

I headed to the bar to have a beer and talk with Ana and Maya. They were playing a card game that seemed to be pretty fun. Sure enough after about 10 minutes of talking Alesh comes in from the dark with a broken fishing pole and a HUGE fish.. He was laughing and smiling like a little kid. He didn’t know how to get the fish off the jig and it was flopping all over the place.

It was pretty funny and I grabbed the line and started to move my hand down toward the jig. Once I got a hold of the jig I could take it out of the fish’s mouth. But as my hand got closer to the mouth I realized that the fish had MASSIVE thorn like teeth on the outside of his mouth. It kind of startled me and I moved my hand away quickly. No wonder they call this fish the “tiger fish”. This fish had by far the biggest teeth I’ve ever on a fish. The teeth were actually outside of its mouth and were about 2 inches long. They looked like long thorns and there were about 10 on the upper and lower jams.

It was really cool and I was so happy for Alesh. This was the first fish he had ever caught and it was a monster. I think it was a few pounds and about 2 feet long. It also had the most amazing teeth I’ve ever seen. What a cool fish story.

Eventually the “fisherman” of the camp came and grabbed the fish and threw it back in the river. Alesh keep telling the story over and over again about how he thought the jig was caught on the bottom of the river but then he realized he had a fish. The pole was bending over and it was really hard to real. The pole then broke about a foot from the top and he didn’t know what to do. He said he kept yelling my name but I wasn’t there. A few people went down to see what he caught and they were amazed when he finally pulled it from the river. He ran up the banks and to the bar to have me take it off. It was really funny and I’m pretty sure he at least told me ten times the same exact story. I was so happy for him. Very cool first fish.

After the fish excitement calmed we paid our bill for staying in the camp ground and headed to bed. The camp was fun but it was time to move on. We were headed to Swakopmund the next day.

I feel asleep easily in the small silky watermelon tent.











Day 192
The fact that we didn’t drink the night before made the ground harder and the weather colder than usual. That resulted in an ok nights sleep and in the morning when we had to get up early I was glad to since I knew that meant I would be feeling warmer soon.

We hitched a freezing cold ride to the local gas station where we could catch a local bus headed toward Swakopmund. It was going to be interesting that was for sure. A local bus in Namibia is a sure road to adventure.

The adventure started by us waiting about 1.5 hours for a “bus” to finally come. What rolled up was a small blue mini van with shinny new chrome rims and trailer strapped to the back. I though that trailer was a pretty smart idea. The luggage wasn’t going to be in our laps and that was a major plus. Maybe this wasn’t going to be that bad of a ride after all?

We agreed on a high price and jumped in the van for the two hour ride to the local town of Rundu. The ride wasn’t too bad except for the fact that the van keep swaying right and left all the way down the road. The driver was constantly adjusting the wheel to keep it on the road. The motion actually was making me a little sea sick and I’m not sure how dangerous it was. One good thing was that I was in a row made for three people and there were only four people. They could have fit at least eight more but they didn’t. I was lucky. You know it’s funny how comfortable I’m getting with touching and being on top of local people I don’t even know. I can totally rest my arm on their leg and feel comfortable. Pretty cool ability. But at the same time kind of weird.

Once we got to Rundu stop we had a hard time trying to figure out where the bus we were on was headed. The guy who drove was saying they went to Swakopmund and that was different from what he said earlier. It was extremely frustrating and he was trying to pressure us into getting back in the bus and going with him. But when we asked him the direction he was going he kept saying being very irrational. He just wanted us back in the bus and was just short of picking us up and throwing us inside. The whole thing was confusing and I told them let’s just find another bus and we left. FUUUUUK I hate those kind of situation. They spoke English but after 10 minutes I couldn’t get a direct answer from them. There to dumb and at the same time are trying to find ways to screw you and lie to you. BAASTERDS! I can’t wait till I don’t have to deal with crocked dumb people.

We walked over to the large group of mini vans on the outskirts of the large gas station. Our previous driver of course drove over to intercept us and feed us some more lies. He said “get in my van now. It’s the last one today” and shit like that. I was starting to get pissed and told everyone let’s just not let this guy pressure us into something. We tried talking with some of the other drivers but they seemed to be pretty closed mouth. There were things happening outside of what we could understand. I think it’s bad to take other peoples business or something like that. Also our driver was a really large guy so I think the smaller thin guys were intimidated by him.

Eventually we found a HUGE black guy that was nice as a teddy bear agreed to take us on a direct trip to Swakopmund. He was a really nice guy and his van looked pretty new and probably didn’t sway back and forth when it went down the road. We were happy to give him our business and the other guy was pretty pissed. Too bad for him. Maybe that will teach him not to be such a low life liar to foreigners.

After we bought some fried chicken and a few snacks we were on our way. The ride took 9 hours and wasn’t that bad. The van never really got to crowded and if there were many people they would usually cram in the back with the other locals. Out two rows seemed to be reserved for us. That was nice of the driver. He was a really sweat guy.

The one passenger I did see that caught my eye was an albino black woman. I never knew those kind of people existed. But sure enough her skin and hair was white but here structure was black. She also had a baby that was black. Really interesting and I’m sure life must have been tough for her. But she seemed really sweat.

We arrived in Swakopmund at around 10:00pm. We checked into our hostel which turned out to be a palace. It was amazing and I couldn’t believe we were in Africa. We had obviously gotten closer to South Africa and civilization. Swakopmund was known as a German community and it showed in the design of the hotel. It had a German log cabin feel to it. Massive wood beams and beautiful furniture.

Up till this point in our African trip we had only known what most of Africa is like. Things like crazy people, dirty small towns, and huts were officially on the decline and we were near the end of our trip. Half of me was sad to see such nice things since it felt like the end of the adventure and things with character. The other half of me wanted to run up and lick and hug the beautiful brown leather couches.

We checked into our room and tried to adjust to normal life again. I keep toughing everything that seemed nice. Things like the clean sink handles, and the clean bed railings. It was wonderful and I was so happy we would be spending the night in a comfy and clean German bed.

The weather was pretty cold and cloudy that night. Swakopmund was a city right on the edge of the skeleton cost and I was pretty sure it was going to be colder than the camp we had just been at. Maya wasn’t happy about the place and was starting to get a little grouchy. She was on a short holiday and didn’t want to spend her time in a city with grey skies and was civilized. She was looking for more adventure.

We were all pretty beat and ended up turning in pretty early. The bed was wonderful and even as I write this I can remember the smooth feeling of the sheets and resting my head on that large soft pillow. I don’t even remember falling asleep that night.









Day 193
I sleep like a champ that night. I was warm all night and that was something I hadn’t felt since before Ngepi camp. Breakfast was included in the price of the room and I was ready for some more toast and jam. But to my surprise the breakfast included bacon, eggs, and some sausage. It was wonderful and I consumed it with my happy little smiling Dutch fact.

I was interested in checking out the town and we decided just to head out and see what the city had to offer. I had heard there was a real supermarket and a real movie theatre. I had to check it out for myself. It was too good to be true.

As soon as we hit the streets you could tell we were in another world. The streets were all straight and had signs on them. There was a sense of intelligence everywhere and that had to be the imported German influence. Buildings were clean and nice and things seemed to move with efficiency. There were traffic light and the buildings had signs that you could read and actually tell what the place was. Man it was nice to be in civilization. I started to feel like I was jay walking when I crossed in the middle of the street. I asked questions to myself like “can I get a ticket for doing this?” That seemed impossible in Africa but maybe it could happen here. Wow we truly were somewhere else.

As we were walking we checked out a few other hostels. We found a Youth Hostel for half the price that we were paying in the other place. The other place was way nicer but we were all interested in saving some money.

We packed up our gear and squeezed into a small taxi to get to the hostel. We barely fit and it was pretty funny but we did make it. The hostel looked like a little castle and was pretty close to the beach.

Of course when we got to the hostel there was no one us out. The place seemed really funny and eventually I found out it was government run which explained allot. The staff didn’t care about anything and were more interested in taking lunch than actually doing something.

Eventually we found someone that checked us into our dorm room. It was an ok room and would work for the time we would be in town.

After we dropped the bags we headed out to try and find a rental car. We wanted to rent a car to go to the local dunes. They were supposed to be pretty amazing and should be allot of fun. In the end we didn’t have much luck finding a car. All the dealers seemed to be really busy. Don’t ask me why but it was that way.

In the evening we did like we did most nights and headed to a local bar. We found a nice little place with good cheap beer and some good pool tables. We played for a while and stacked a few empty mugs on the tables. It was allot of fun and I’m going to miss traveling with Maya and Alesh. There so much fun.

Ana was starting to get close to dancing on the tables so I decided we should go get something to eat. Alesh knew of a great steak place so we headed there. Sure enough the steak was wonderful and so was the Tassanberg wine.

We were pretty blazed by the time we got back to our castle. It was a good night.












Day 194
I woke up with a dry crusty mouth and a thirst that demanded I get out of bed and find some water. I think we were all feeling a little beat and we slowly got ready to start the day. Since the showers had no doors we had to take turns with the girls first and the boys second. Good thing was the water was warm and you can’t ask for much more than that.

Most of the morning we spent trying to call Alesh’s friend who might have a car and a few different dealerships. It was getting really frustrating and the only options we had in the end was to get a car and take it on the rough roads against what the dealer said we could do. It was too risky and we didn’t want to be responsible for problems with a car. In the end we decided we weren’t going to go to the dunes and just make our way down to Cape Town to spend out the rest of our time. Maya wasn’t happy about being in Swakopmund and I was hoping the weather would be better in South Africa for her.

That evening we went to take advantage of yet another restaurant available to us in this civilized part of Africa. It was a pizza place and it served amazing pizza. The garlic bread and beer was also great. We left pretty intoxicated again and I was starting to think all we were going to do was drink our way to South Africa. But who cared. We were on vacation and when am I going to have this much time again to be totally irresponsible.

We headed back to the castle shaped hostel to drop of Ana and Maya while me and Alesh went out to have a few more beers. On the way to the bar we took an oversized bottle of Tassenberg we had bought earlier that day. While walking down the street I realized we might get in trouble for drinking in public here. Damn I forgot we were in civilization. But we solved that problem in two minutes by chugging the entire bottle of wine. I’ve never chugged wine before like that - especially cheap wine. But what the hell it was gone and we were saving money on drinks at the bar.

Chugging that much wine and the beers we had before started to catch up to me while I was drinking a double rum and coke in the bar. Man it was pretty fun being so wasted with Alesh. We met some really nice locals and were playing pool with them. I was so drunk I had to really focus to remember whose turn it was and which balls were ours. But in the end we did pretty good and won allot of games.

In the end I left Alesh to talk with some girls he met and headed back to the hostel. Of course when I got there the gate was locked and I had to jump the castle wall to get in. Luckily I didn’t hurt myself. Trust me there was a high chance of that happening.

I banged on the door and woke up Maya to let me in. I then jumped in bed and waited for the spinning to slow down before falling asleep.










Day 195 (July 12)
I didn’t sleep much that night since Alesh came in late and they had to leave on the bus to South Africa. They were taking the bus a day earlier than us. Ana and I wanted to buy some stuff in town and we told them we would meet them in Cape Town.

With Maya and Alesh gone me and Ana could move allot faster. We first went to the local store that sold authentic antiques store. I was excited about buying some real artifacts from Africa. I had my eye on a couple really nice pieces. In the end I ended up buying a beautiful bust of a woman from the Tanzania area. It was a piece used in ceremonies by young men. The piece represented fertility and was a way to ensure babies in the future of a young warrior man. I love that piece and was really happy to purchase it.

I also got a pipe from the Caprivi Strip area in Nambia. The pipe has an unusual figure of a women carved on it holding her breast. They said this pipe was used by important men in the tribes to ward off evil spirits. I think that is so cool. Real tribal men sat smoking hopping to get rid of ghostly evil spirits. These pieces were much more expensive than the fake ones in the markets so I was hoping the process of getting them home wouldn’t be that hard.

One thing that we found out that was king of cool was that Angelina Jolie had been in that store buying stuff a few months earlier. Jolie and Brad Pitt have a house a few miles down the coast and she was obviously checking out the local city. It was in that house that they had their little baby. Was funny to think they were living in a place like that. But I’m sure privacy is a sacred thing for the both of them.

After buying my artifacts we headed to the bus station to get our bus tickets for the next day. With those in hand we headed to the large market to buy some more sculptures. This was one of the last places we could buy really cheap African sculptures and I wanted to load up before we got to South Africa. We could send the stuff we bought home with Patrick or Brian once we flew to Europe.

Buying stuff in the market took a few hours. We had to first find out what we wanted then we had to play the price game with the people. It was pretty fun and Ana and I are starting to be a pretty good team when it comes to haggling over prices. We have all the different moves from me pretending like I don’t want it and she really does, to showing them the money so they get excited and accept a lower price. We keep the whole process pretty fun and light hearted which always seems to work better than driving hard on the people.

In the end we walked out with our arms full of heavy wooden crap. In fact we had so much that we had to head to the local store to buy an extra suitcase to put all the sculptures in.

After getting the suitcase we didn’t have enough time to drop it off at the hostel so we headed to the movie theatre with it. It was funny to role it into the theatre. We were able though to stow it behind the counter outside the theatre.

Of course I had forgotten my glasses so I ran back to our hotel anyways to get them. I returned right on time and we walked into the theatre to watch our first movie in a really long time – XMEN 3. It was so wonderful just to sit and enjoy the brainless movie.

After the movie we ate pizza again and had some of that wonderful garlic bread they made. The garlic bread looked like a pizza but had a ton of garlic and cheese on it. Man it was wonderful and a great way to celebrate my birthday. Since we were going to be on a bus all day the next day we decided we would celebrate my birthday the night before.

After the movie and pizza we headed back to pack and spend our last night in the castle by the beach. We feel asleep early that night since we were pretty tired from running around all day and were going to get up early to run some errands before we headed to Cape Town on the bus.