We have just recently left the port of Walvis Bay, Namibia. As we’re approaching South Africa, there are so many things going through my head I wish I could explain in words. I guess I will just have to try the best I can. Namibia was absolutely amazing, I feel like each place I want to go and spend even more time exploring the sites and meeting the people who live there after semester at sea is over. I bought a “First Time Around the World”traveler’s book before I came on this voyage and it literally breaks down how you can travel the world. They have 5-6 different ways to do it, using different forms of transportation, including cruise lines (Semester at Sea is NOT on there), trains, buses, flights, and other ways (like a boat on the Nile River). It is sooo cool. I just want to make a few thousand dollars, put it in a savings account and just go travel for six to twelve months to see where life takes me.
Anyways, Namibia…for what I saw of the country, it was incredible. It was literally beyond words, so I have given up trying to describe it to you. If you have traveled or passed sand dunes in your life, take that image and multiply it by another few thousand feet. Now you’re in Namibia. The largest sand dunes in the world are here, and I was able to see them my own eyes. As the semester at sea students started to leave the ship in the morning of Valentine’s Day (so weird to be in Namibia on V-day) there was a young girls’choir who came to sing and dance for us as we arrived. It was so sweet of them to travel from the capital (Windhoek-4 hour drive) to see us! There was a perfect view outside our window. They ranged from ages 5 or 6 till 18. They seemed very excited to see us and afterwards they were given a tour of the ship. The bus for my independent safari were waiting for us by the ship so that was easy to just get ready and go. There was a total of 122 Semester at Sea people on the safari. There was professor, his wife, and their son on our bus as well, which was nice to have their company along the trip. We had a great group. We got along really well and were very easy going. We stopped in Swakopmund (pronounced Swak-a-mun-dah, now say it 5 times fast) which is about twenty minutes from Walvis Bay and bought some snacks and Namibian dollars for the trip. It was a pretty nice small town. Namibia is about the size of California and is one of the fifth largest countries in Africa, but only has a total population of only 2.5 million people. So it’s also the most sparsely populated country in Africa. Out of the five cities along the coast none have populations exceeding 150,000 people. Can you imagine California like that? Never. It was a beautiful drive up to Etosha National Park (where most of the animals live in the North). We stopped in a few towns for bathroom breaks and once we got closer to the park it started to rain. This was around 8 pm now and by the time we got to the camp and set up our tents (in the pouring rain and the mud) it was around 9:30 pm. We then cooked dinner which turned out to be deliciously incredible. The campsite was really nice too. We each had tents with mattresses and sleeping bags. There were also bungalows too which looked really nice to stay in as well. There was a sheltered place with a sink and counter for cooking and bathrooms with showers. So, it was really not horribly “roughing”it. Dinner was actually amazing, at least for camp food. We had spaghetti with a tasty meat sauce along with acorn squash and corn. We were all starving at this point and the dinner was hot and yummy in the cold weather. It was not actually that cold, but because we were outside and setting up the tents, and soaking…we were a little chilly. After dinner I wrote in my journal in another bus of friends who had just started eating. After sleeping a few hours we woke up at six to get ready and have a little breakfast before we started off our day. They had actually really fun flavored yogurt (unlike the kind on the ship), toast, jelly, cereal, and granola. There was also coffee, hot coco, and tea to help wake us up too.
After some breakfast we were off to explore the park and see some animals! It was such an amazing day. It was a long day too, but a lot of fun. It was still very overcast during the first few hours of our ride but eventually it cleared up and we were really able to see a lot of wildlife. We saw hundreds of animals throughout the day. It was absolutely out of this world. We started to see some steelbok, gemsbok (Oryx), springbok, damara dik-dik, and ostrich in the beginning and then saw a lot of different birds as it became clearer. We saw wildebeest and a lion off in the distance sitting under a tree and catching some shade. We were the only bus to see cheetah in the Etosha as well. Not only one, but THREE CHEETAHS!! It was soo AWESOME. They were just walking around our bus. They walked pretty close to the car and around it behind the back. It was incredible. There are 2,500 cheetahs in Etosha National Park out of the 10-15,000 in the world. That was definitely the highlight of the trip. No other bus on our trip (there were nine of them) saw cheetahs either. It was insane. We took a break for lunch had a little cook out at one of the camps which was nice. There was a tourist shop too, which I bought some wooden salad tongs (they are so cool), carved earrings and postcards. We continued our drive throughout the park where our guide, Gabriel and his assistant, Pauli were helpful in spotting animals and explaining information about the animals as we drove along. We eventually saw zebras (which were sooo cool!), jackals, and a baby zebra. It was really almost unrealistic to see all the animals right next to our bus. The family which was on the ship with us, Mindi, the mom was a naturalist in Ohio, so she was so helpful in spotting birds and telling all of us about them. We eventually made our way back to the camp and some people went swimming in the pool (it did feel good to stick our feet in), while Gabriel made dinner. It was nice to relax and chill with everyone from SAS back at our campground. There was a tall tower in the camp which we climbed to the top and watched the sunset (WHILE WE WERE IN AFRICA) at a 360 view. It was indescribable. Watching the sun slowly set on the savannah where we drove all throughout the day was unforgettable. There were zebras in the distance as the clouds change from light blue to pink, purple, and bright orange. It was like a starburst watercolor all over the sky. We then had delicious grilled lamb (I don’t even like lamb, and it was good), squash, garlic bread, corn on the cob, and some yummy Greek salad. Oh man, it was WAY better than the food on the ship. Yum. Today we had the infamous taco day on the ship…it was a disappointment. This is probably because I am spoiled from being in Arizona though. Anyways, back to Namibia. After dinner, most of the students on our bus went to the pool bar and tried the local beer and I had a lovely glass of South African wine. We played cards for an hour and talked about the day, it was nice bonding and relaxing time. We also went up the tower again (I’m talking a couple flights of stairs, but nothing like the cathedral in Seville) and watched the stars. We were able to see the Southern cross, Orion’s belt, and LOTS of other ones. I felt so small in the world, but happy to know that my mom and sister could still see some of the same stars I was looking at right then. I won’t be able to say that in India. The stars we saw there was like nothing else I had ever seen before in my life. I’ve been in the mountains with no lights and this was unbelievable. I’m so glad I was able to see it. We then went to bed because we had to wake up at 5 am for our drive back. In the morning, we packed up our tents and camping gear and had another delicious breakfast with eggs and sausage. Real eggs (we have powered scrambled eggs on the ship I’m pretty sure) too which were very yummy. We drove through the park on our way out and saw a few more steelbox (they were everywhere), zebras and ostriches before we left. It was a good ending to our safari. We then started our 7-8 hour drive back to Walvis Bay. We stopped to mail postcards and for a bathroom break then we got back a little earlier to stop in Swakopmund for some crafts and the grocery store as well. I got some beautiful artwork which I’m really excited to have in my room next year. We also got some yummy ice cream (waffle cone, two scoops, $.12 US, and love exchange rates) on the way back too.
After getting back to the ship it was yet again comforting to know we had time to rest (even if for only 38 hours) before we arrived in South Africa. I had so many amazing memories for this awesome country and loved the time I had spent here. There were so many places I did not get to see and experience that I need to go to back and explore.
But, then again I have said that for each and every country we have visited so far. I loved Spain and Morocco, but this was place was very different than both of those countries. I cannot tell you in feelings, words, or photos. You will one day just have to experience it yourself.
We arrive in Cape Town tomorrow and I am so stoked for everything we will be able to see. I might not update for a few days after we get back on the ship because I have a HUGE exam a few days after we leave the port. But I promise I will as soon as I can.
Love your addict of this world traveling experience including outstanding photos, memories, incredible tastes, beautiful sightings, and new friends to sit by you and say, “Where are we again today?”:-)
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