Day 7: Swakopmund

We are one-third through our 21 day African Adventure.  We have driven close to 1,200 miles so far and have approximately 1,000 remaining, that is if we to go directly to Victoria Falls, which we won’t.
We leave Swakopmund tomorrow and travel up the coast to visit the Cape Cross seal colony before heading inland.  We spend the night at Brandberg (burning mountain), Namibia’s highest peak, and take a walk in the mountain foothills to see the well-known “White Lady” bushman rock painting. 

After that we will travel to a cheetah conservation project and spend the night in Otjitotongwe.  (Cousin Cate has a great cheetah story which she should relate to us).  Then, we are off to one of the highlights of the trip, three nights in Etosha, where we will do a game drive through the Park and watch the “nightlife” (elephants, rhinos, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, etc.) at the floodlit waterholes.  Hopefully we will have internet in Etosha and will be able to update our blog. 

So far, this has been a wonderful trip.  It is a ‘roughing it’ trip that is only a little above the “backpackers” level.  But it is great fun, with Ebron’s wonderful food and our interesting fellow travelers who are quickly becoming good friends.  And the variety and intensity of our African Adventures is all that we hoped for.

Here is an excerpt from an email that we sent to our children.  It’s a good summary of the trip so far and the town that we are staying in.

We arrived here in West Central Namibia yesterday. It has been a grueling and exciting trip through the Namibian desert to this coastal town. In Nb, this town passes for a large city, but it is really a town. Namibia was once a colony of Germany, then England, and then South Africa. It achieved its independence only a few decades ago. Its one main export is the diamonds from the DeBeers mines. Second is probably its fishing industry here on the coast. But there is only one good port between Cape Town and Dakar, Senegal, and that is Walvis Bay just south of Swakopmund. Think of it. Well over a thousand miles of coast, and there is only one port in a storm. This coast has long been known as the Skeleton Coast, aptly named by mariners due to the thousands of shipwrecks over the years. And if a sailor was lucky enough to make it ashore, he faced hundreds of miles of desert to get to the few areas that are inhabited.  Thus, its name Skeleton Coast, for almost all who made it ashore did not survive.

We took today to rest, do laundry, and to finally update our blog.  We have only in the last few days learned how to type in a moving bus that is constantly shaking and jumping from the rock and dirt surface of the highways we are traveling.  So, next time it is possible to post, we hope that all we will need to do is to post the blogs.  Today, we had to type and edit most of them. But it really seems to be a good thing to us to do.  This is our first week into the trip, and already the sights and events are beginning to blur together.  Without the blog to serve as our journal, we fear we would lose some of the memories we wish to keep for ourselves.  Barb the Shutterbug has taken thousands of pictures which we are just beginning to edit.  It doesn't help that we are still learning to use the new software for the Mac's that we both have.  I am typing on Barb's iPad while she is blogging on my MacBook. We brought them both, and even the bluetooth keyboard for the iPad.  All of it takes less room than my older Fujitsu that I liked so much.

The real mystery is how we can keep track of all the chargers and cords for two cameras, two computers, one phone, a Kindle and more. Then there are the cords for data transfer. Why can't they use common plugs? Why do most devices that use USB power have to have totally different connectors so that you can't use one cord for all.  Plus, we have had to use two different types of wall plug adapters since the power outlets here in South Africa and Namibia. The SA one is like no other anywhere else.  But we are not alone.  The bus looks like an electricians nightmare with everyone trying to charge as we ride.  All of us are trying to find adapters that we either left at home, or have lost in our (very large duffel bags).  So, adapters are being traded back and forth even though we probably all have everything we need - if we could just find it.  And I must mention the two connected extension cords running down the aisle as we all try to charge at the same time.  Our truck, Whistling Willie, probably needs another generator to handle all of this.

The camping experience is actually a really good one.  Last night we were looking forward to a night sleeping on beds, but by the morning had decided that our "sleep system" for camping out is better than most beds. The system consists of two oversize ExPad inflatables, one Feathered Friends large rectangular bag, and an envelope that holds them all together as if you are on a double bed with a down comforter.  It's a Feathered Friends special design.  And it has been cold enough on most nights for us to NEED the Down comforter when you sleep; and the fleece jackets and long pants around the fire.  Even some of the days - such as today - is a Seattle type of day at 60 deg F, low clouds and drizzle.  In the desert, those very hot days quickly become very cool nights.  In a few days we will be 500 miles inland, and in a more jungle, tropical setting.  We expect it to be Hot and humid there. But we may again be surprised.