Swakopmund with Katy
Friday was an exciting day at the center. Five of the American girls were leaving so they set up games for the kids to play and we had cake afterwards. I went down with Zan, an American girl from the lower-east side in NYC, and played soccer with the boys all afternoon. Meroldi came back from boarding school for the weekend so I had an opportunity to see her which was a nice surprise. Friday evening was lazy and quiet around the house.
On Saturday morning Katy and I packed up the car and made the 3.5 hour drive through the desert to Swakopmund on the Atlantic coast. The ride is pretty uneventful as you drive through “the world’s oldest desert” (Not much of a selling point for tourism) I had been to Swakopmund on three other occasions but I knew Katy would enjoy it. The weather in Swakopmund felt like November in New England. Fog and clouds hung over the town the whole time and it was damp and chilly. Interestingly though, a mile or two inland and it was completely sunny and warmer.
We booked a suite at the Municipal lodges (not exactly the Ritz-Carlton!) and went into town for lunch. Then we walked through town and Katy did some souvenir shopping at the bazaar. She was a little intimidated by their bargaining tactics but she picked out a few things and I helped her barter the guys down. At one point I had an offer to a guy for N$200 (from his price of N$1,200) for some items and was holding hard to that price when Katy unexpectedly jumped in and raised the offer to N$300 and within seconds the guy had her conceding to N$400 which she said was “her final offer.” He sold it to her for N$450!! To be fair, I was even worse my first time a few years ago when guilt and timidity had me bidding UP!
Afterwards we walked to the beach but though the sun had broken through, it was chilly so we hopped in the car and drove to Walvis Bay, a port town 40km south. The ride is nice between the dunes and the beach but there is nothing really to write home about in Walvis Bay- so I won’t! We turned back north and then took a dirt road to Dune 7- one of the largest dunes in the area. It’s an intense climb up the dune- sort of like a stair master but every two steps is equal to one step with all the sliding sand. The effort was totally worth it when we got to the top. The sun was shining and we took some great pictures. We drove back into town along the dirt road with the sun setting over the dunes- very pretty!
At night we went to the Lighthouse restaurant for dinner. We knew there was nothing to do back at the hotel so we stayed at the restaurant for about two hours stuffing ourselves. She and I had a nice talk- she really is a wonderful young lady.
Sunday morning we signed up for quad-biking and sand boarding in the dunes- tons of fun! It was a 3.5 hour tour through the dunes, riding up, down and around dunes. Deep into the desert we got to a dune where they’ve set up sand boarding. Essentially you lie down on a flimsy board and zip down the dunes on your stomach at 50km/hr. It is really cool- except for the walk back up the dunes. Katy loved the quad biking- I think it made the trip for her.
We left around 1:30, stopped at the huge bazaar at Okahandja and bought some more souvenirs then got back to Windhoek around 5:30pm. Last night we went over to the place the American girls were staying at to say goodbye and have dinner with them. By the time we got back to the house I was beat and went straight to bed. Next weekend we will be in Etosha chasing lions and elephants. I hope your weekend went well… God bless you!
On Saturday morning Katy and I packed up the car and made the 3.5 hour drive through the desert to Swakopmund on the Atlantic coast. The ride is pretty uneventful as you drive through “the world’s oldest desert” (Not much of a selling point for tourism) I had been to Swakopmund on three other occasions but I knew Katy would enjoy it. The weather in Swakopmund felt like November in New England. Fog and clouds hung over the town the whole time and it was damp and chilly. Interestingly though, a mile or two inland and it was completely sunny and warmer.
We booked a suite at the Municipal lodges (not exactly the Ritz-Carlton!) and went into town for lunch. Then we walked through town and Katy did some souvenir shopping at the bazaar. She was a little intimidated by their bargaining tactics but she picked out a few things and I helped her barter the guys down. At one point I had an offer to a guy for N$200 (from his price of N$1,200) for some items and was holding hard to that price when Katy unexpectedly jumped in and raised the offer to N$300 and within seconds the guy had her conceding to N$400 which she said was “her final offer.” He sold it to her for N$450!! To be fair, I was even worse my first time a few years ago when guilt and timidity had me bidding UP!
Afterwards we walked to the beach but though the sun had broken through, it was chilly so we hopped in the car and drove to Walvis Bay, a port town 40km south. The ride is nice between the dunes and the beach but there is nothing really to write home about in Walvis Bay- so I won’t! We turned back north and then took a dirt road to Dune 7- one of the largest dunes in the area. It’s an intense climb up the dune- sort of like a stair master but every two steps is equal to one step with all the sliding sand. The effort was totally worth it when we got to the top. The sun was shining and we took some great pictures. We drove back into town along the dirt road with the sun setting over the dunes- very pretty!
At night we went to the Lighthouse restaurant for dinner. We knew there was nothing to do back at the hotel so we stayed at the restaurant for about two hours stuffing ourselves. She and I had a nice talk- she really is a wonderful young lady.
Sunday morning we signed up for quad-biking and sand boarding in the dunes- tons of fun! It was a 3.5 hour tour through the dunes, riding up, down and around dunes. Deep into the desert we got to a dune where they’ve set up sand boarding. Essentially you lie down on a flimsy board and zip down the dunes on your stomach at 50km/hr. It is really cool- except for the walk back up the dunes. Katy loved the quad biking- I think it made the trip for her.
We left around 1:30, stopped at the huge bazaar at Okahandja and bought some more souvenirs then got back to Windhoek around 5:30pm. Last night we went over to the place the American girls were staying at to say goodbye and have dinner with them. By the time we got back to the house I was beat and went straight to bed. Next weekend we will be in Etosha chasing lions and elephants. I hope your weekend went well… God bless you!
posted by Jim | 4:37 AM
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