Time Flies When You’re Havin’ Fun!

The past ten days have been filled with many adventures for me that it is crazy to think that February is almost over!  Though I’ve been enjoying (mostly) all of my experiences here, it is hard to believe that Spring Break is just around the corner.  Hopefully I will get the opportunity for many more exciting trips during my ten days off, but until then, I’m still reminiscing on my adventures of late.

Two weekends ago some of my friends and I took a little camping excursion to a campsite about an hour outside of Windhoek.  We were so excited to get out of the house for a bit.  After loading up on lots of food and water and grabbing our trusty, rusty tent, we were ready to go.  When we got there, we set up our tent and got everything situated.  The campsite was beautiful and sat right in the valley of some small mountains.  The weather was perfect and so we decided to take the hiking trail up the mountain.

I hadn’t been feeling too well in the morning, but I figured it would pass with time and water.  Well, as we started climbing up the mountain, I started to feel sicker with each step.  At about the half-way point I could hardly take 10 steps without having to stop.  It was awful.  My poor friend Helena waited and walked with me the whole way.  This supposed thirty-minute hike to the top ended up taking two hours.  When I finally got to the top, well, I actually did get sick, but after I let it all out, my stomach felt a whole lot better.  The view was beautiful and I was happy to be at the top.  When we finally made it down, everyone else was waiting for us and we were able to enjoy the res of our weekend cooking out and sleeping under the stars.

The following week we only had three days of classes because Thursday morning we left for the coast! Shortened weeks are always wonderful and when you top if off with a trip to Swakopmund, you can’t get much better than that!  We arrived in Swakop Thursday afternoon and spend the day touring the cities and the surrounding townships.  Friday we did the same in Walvis Bay all while soaking up the beautiful African sun.  During those two days we visited a Kindergarten, an informal settlement, met with a small business owner, watched a male singing group perform, ate dinner on a pier, toured NAMPORT, went to a halfway house for orphans and vulnerable children, saw pelicans in a lagoon, climbed Dune 7 (the third largest dune in the world!) picnicked on the beach, and swam in the ocean!!  It was one of the most fun “learning experiences” I’d ever had.

Saturday was a free day and we were able to do whatever we wanted to during the day.  While skydiving was my first choice, I was quickly outvoted and had no one to go with.  So, I decided to go dune quading in the Namib Desert with everyone else.  I was not disappointed for long; IT WAS INCREDIBLE! We were out on the dunes for about 3 hours – half was spent 4-wheeling at up to 60 mph and the other half was spent sand boarding, basically sledding down the dunes.   Though it was not fun climbing up all the time, the view and the experience was so worth it.

Even though my past few weekends have been full of adventures, I am still so looking forward to the rural homestay in the north next week, our time in Etosha State Park, and spring break!  Then I only have one more month in this beautiful continent!  Time sure flies when you’re having fun!

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