Time to Move On, Time to Get Going

Nothing beats a road trip. Open roads, open windows, and open bags of chips in rental cars are universal signs of freedom and serendipitous travel. That's why I was so excited to take a massive road trip to Namibia from Thursday to Monday.  Eighteen hours each way, mostly through desert and mountains in one of the least densely populated countries in the world. We left on Thursday afternoon, eight girls among which were three Lehigh-ers, and drove six hours to a town about an hour south of the South Africa/ Namibia border called Springbok.  We spent the night there in the Cat Nap Inn, probably the most bizarre hostel I have ever seen. The beds were cots bolted and chained to the wall. Comforting? No. Comfortable? Surprisingly.

 

We left around 7am the next morning for what was to be a 12 hour drive to Swakopmund, a town on the coast of Namibia. This was a really great drive that went surprisingly fast. We had some good music that helped to pass the time, as well as some amazing scenery. There were honestly times when I couldn't breathe because the sunset, mountain ranges, and landscapes were so intensely beautiful. 

Swakopmund is a really cute town of German-style architecture. I think it might be the largest German population outside of Germany, actually. Weird. For all of the beautiful buildings and sand dunes, this city was a total ghost town. There was no one there. In fact, I think the 7 girls and I doubled the population of Swakopmund when we showed up. Our hostel there was called the Desert Sky, and reminded me a little of the Fairy Knowe hostel that we had stayed in on the Garden Route. We all crammed into two small rooms and avoided duck poop. The owners kept these two funny looking ducks as pets, and they pooped everywhere, as ducks will do.

 We crashed early after our long drive and woke up early the next morning to go sand boarding. Just outside of city limits are these huge sand dunes, and you can strap on a snowboard and sand board down them. It was really fun, but really hard work.  Every time you board down, you turn right around and climb the 250ft dune. It was hot and tiring, but really fun too. We went to the beach afterwards to rest our aching muscles and we instantly learned, while lying on the beach, the fascination that Namibian men have for American women. We were pretty uncomfortable and made a quick exit to a seafood dinner, followed by a trip to the local hangout where a video of our sandboarding adventure was played. It was funny to see how stupid we all looked and we had a great time laughing at our various wipeouts. 

The next morning we searched around for a good breakfast place, and again discovered what a quiet town Swakopmund really was. We were the only ones walking around, and it was almost a little bizarre. After a little fiasco at the ATM where one of my trip-mates Lindsay had her ATM card stolen, we grabbed lunch along the beach where we had relaxed the day before. After a nice huge burger, we went shopping on a strip of vendors not far from the beach. I was surprised at how up-front and resilient the vendors were. One actually followed me to the car, trying to sell me baboon candlesticks!

That afternoon was taken up by a 6-hour drive back to a bed-and-breakfast in a town called Mariental. It was a lovely place, with the most comfortable beds and bathtubs. I think I fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow, which never happens. We woke up at 5:15 the next morning for our leg back to Cape Town; another 12 hour ride. Snacks and girl talk coaxed us through this last leg of our journey and back home to our little flats in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. I got home and felt an immediate sense of relief to be out of a car and back to my room; my personal space. It was also nice to see my roommates, and Olivia made us a lovely pasta dinner to come home to. 

Matt informed me when I got home that he would soon be leaving Cape Town for good, and while I am disappointed, I honestly think I would choose to do the same thing in the wake of the accident and surgeries, along with all of the other medical care necessary. We had a braai for him tonight so that everyone could get  chance to say goodbye, and I realized just how much I really am going to miss him here in our apartment and for the rest of our stay here in Cape Town.