Namibian Desert...

We had a rocky start getting outta Lusaka and and showed up a little bit late for the flight to Namibia!



Just kidding, we made it to Windhoek with no problems where we rented a 4x4 truck stocked with everything we'd need to survive in the desert... basically sleeping bags, food and beer! The next day, Em and I met up with the crew, a bunch of our friends from Philly. Lauge had just finished the Penn Med rotation in Botswana. We were psyched to see Dave and Carol- they're spending a year in the UK at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and found a screaming last minute deal direct to Windhoek! Here's J with Carol, Dave, and Lauge.



Namib-Naukluft Mountains:

We took no time to get out of Windhoek and head out into the desert. It's the summer "rainy season" in the Namib desert now and a bit early for the prime hiking... it's HOT out and certain areas will have flash flood risk. Here are the Nauklauft mountains behind Emily:



It was airy high up but scorching! Here's Em and I on a plateau on our first day hike!


(photo by Dave)

But the best part of hiking through this barren land was the occassional oasis that we'd come upon. These are little underground streams that eventually surface, creating brilliantly blue pools. This one was perfect for a little jump into the crystal pool, and a short scramble back up the cliff:



Despite the luxury of the oasis, we were reminded how brutal this landscape really is... We came across this Zebra lying below a small hill, likely fallen down the slope. We thought it was dead, but on close inspection he was taking a few final agonal respirations. None of us had a knife to put him out of his misery, so we thought it best to let nature take it's course on this poor soul:



And another oasis at the end of the day...



And a beautiful sunset put a nice close to our time in the Namib-Naukluft National Park.


(photo by Lauge)

Soussesvlei:

We drove out to Namibia's famous Soussesvlei National Park, played cards in the bar of the lodge during the most brutal heat (the biltong and salted nuts free along with your beers!). We took a beautiful jog as the light was fading on our campsite. We cooked out at the campsite under a giant willow tree, anticipating our early morning hike. We knew we had to make good on the early morning cool, and we heard of a great place to watch the sunrise. We were up and out of camp pre-dawn, heading into the park for the famous Dune 45:


(photo by Dave)

We slogged up it as the dawn broke on a perfectly bluebird day... Not a cloud in the sky and the temp was cool and pleasant for hiking as we crested the summit ridge:


(photo by Dave)


(photo by Dave)

Apparently, we weren't the only ones who'd heard of this sunrise spot. Two huge tour buses weren't far behind us! This guy behind us was trying to get some sexy pics of his girlfriend: "Stop smiling, it's not artistic enough!" says the artist. So she straddled the ridge of the dune, trying to contain her giggles!


(photo by Lauge)

Of course Jason wasted no time in poking fun at them:


(photo by Lauge)

Dead Vlei:
That same day after coming down from Dune 45, we took a short hike up to the Dead Vlei. German for pan, a vlei is basically a flat wind-blown and lifeless surface between the dunes, apparently housing some water at some point!


(photo by Dave)




On to Swakopmund...

After Dead Vlei, we met up with Nyle, an old friend from America's Adventure who came to visit Zambia and check out the surgery department at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka. He was missing a lot of work there, but I wouldn't say he was "missing" it. Instead, in classic vagabond style, he was tooling around the game park in Northern Namibia with another friend of his. We met him at the Sessierem lodge and crammed 6 in the truck for the rest of the journey... We headed out towards the coast, through some very desolate country. Here's J and Nyle goofing off at the Tropic of Capricorn:


(photo by Lauge)

This was one of the few people we saw outside of Windhoek. There were a few semi-precious rock hounders hawking their wares and a few small towns. This is the 2nd most sparcely populated country (after Mongolia).



At the coast, we checked out Swakopmund, a bizzare little German outpost that is "more German than Germany". We ate some great seafood and rented sand-boards. You ride these down the dunes, a bit like snow-boarding in really wet snow (sorry no pics). The guide from California said: "This probably won't ever take off like snow boarding has" No shit!


Damaraland:

Here's Brandenberg mountain, rising out of the desert, a scorched hunk of crumbling granite. It nearly did us in, as we didn't have nearly enough water for the hike we chose!


(photo by Dave)

This here's Klein Spitzkoppe. A granite spire of a mountain which was previously described to us as the "belly button of the universe" by a eccentric film maker from Windhoek who we met in the Nauklauft mountains. We got swarmed by psychotic bees (had to abandon our dinner plans), and sweated out on a early morning run without a speck of shade! Belly button? Enough of the desert already!




After this sunset, we wrapped up a vacation of good company, cheap beers and gossip around the campfire, endless games of Hearts in the bar and scorching hikes under that blazing desert sun. So it was onwards to Windhoek and good byes for now to the crew!