May 7, 2015

Namibia has been an unexpectedly beautiful country.  We didn’t really know what we expected to see here, but we are definitely glad to have come through.  The desert landscape is beautiful and there are plenty of animals to see.  So far we have seen Mountain Zebras, Oryx, Springboks, Wildebeests, Jackals, and plenty of different birds.

Mountain zebras

Mountain zebra

Oryx along the road

Wildebeest along the road

We visited another canyon, the Sesriem Canyon.  It was smaller than the Fish River Canyon, but because it was a dry river, we could go hiking along the inside.  We made it to the back where there was a pool that has fish and where the baboons and hyenas come to drink in the mornings.  The fish that live here will remain in the pools until all of the water has dried up, then they will dig into the mud and can live for YEARS without any water.  There are actually stories about the mud being used to build huts and then when it rains, the fish come back to life and will swim out of the side of the hut…crazy!

Canyon in Sesriem

Rock climbing

Canyon in Sesriem

Canyon in Sesriem

I think the best part about Namibia are the beautiful sunsets and night skies.  The stars are absolutely amazing.  I don’t think I have ever seen the Milky Way with the naked eye before, but it is clear as day out here without any light pollution.  We got the constellation app for Hayden and we can pick out nearly every constellation because they are so clear.  Unfortunately, out camera is not quite nice enough to get pictures of the sky, but I could get some good shots of the sunset.

Sunset over Namibia

After getting into some canyons, we made it into the actual desert the next day.  We spent the day at Dune 45 where we climbed the HUGE sand dune.  It was really cool to make it to the top and to see all of the sand dunes around us.  The sand was really red, so it’s different than you might picture for the desert.  Hayden was a great sport and made it to the top without even a complaint.  Actually, he was faster than me on the way up…lol.

Dune 45 in Namibia

View from the top of Dune 45

Hold on!! 🙂

Top of Dune 45

Sand dune conquerors

On the top on a sand dune

We had a fun (but tiring!) day climbing to the top.  We went back to camp that night for dinner and will take off tomorrow for Swakopmund where we are going to go sandboarding in the dunes!