i'm alive

hello peeps,

quick update, don't have much time but i'm alive!! have you been worried about me ;)

thanks for your concern and messages. i'm really having a great time here. right now i'm in swakopmund. and i'm sure that none of you know where the hell this is. well it's on the west coast of namibia. and this is called a city but it's so damn quiet here. absolutely nobody out here on the streets. anyway, it's cool that i'm in this city. this means back to civilisation. i've spent the last 6 days in the middle of nowhere which was very very cool. 4 days left before going back to windhoek and to start my volunteership.anyway, i'm heaving a GREAT time here. the weather is nice (> 35 degrees every day) and the country is really beautiful.

gotta go now, running outta time here. pics will follow later. dont worry, i've made plenty to make you jealous.

see ya later! :)

my last night...

hello all,

my last night sleeping in my very own and nice warm bed before heading towards namibia. tomorrow i'll be spending the night in the plane to johannesburg, cramped in tiny air seats, and sitting next to a screaming child, or a fat smelly guy...

it took me a whole damn week but i think i've packed all my stuff and belongings and i also think that i'm ready to go.... i'm getting a bit nervous now that the adventure is really coming closer. this journey is gonna be so much different than my trip to Oz & Nz last year. first, i'm going all alone, second, i'll be doing volunteerwork so it's all work and little play ;), and third, i'm going to a not-so-developed-country-but-not-un(der)developed-country country. but i'm sure that this will be a once in life time experience i'll never forget :)

so why volunteering in namibia? well since my contract ended with my current employer and i haven't found my dream job (yet, that is), i really wanted to travel again, rather than sitting at home and doing nothing... plus, i also wanted to gain some international work experience. i chose africa because i wanted to go on a safari tour. i'm such a nature freak so going to africa and encounter some of the world's most impressive animals up close and personal has been a wish for me forever. my first choice was kenya but after the whole election fiasco in dec last year, i decided to look for something else, something more stable would be nice... and i came across a volunteership as a marketeer in namibia.

so what can i tell u about namibia? well i didn't know much of the country either, other than that it's always the first country that appears from the dropdown list when you press 'N' for the netherlands... but i did some research, browsed the net, read some books and my knowledge of the country has increased tremendously ;) the country has 20 times the size of holland, and only a population of 2 million. namibia is a semi-arid country with a dry climate (warm to hot days, cold to freezing nights) and has over 300 days of sunshine a year, which makes it possible to travel whole year trough. also nice to know, the country is rich in diamonds. and since diamonds are a girl's best friends, i might be coming back rich ;)

i start my trip with a 10 day safari with wilderness safaris on 22 march. click here for a detailed itinerary and here for some jealous making pictures of the tour. after the tour that encompasses highlights of namibia (etosha NP, sossusvlei, damaraland), i start my volunteership with imbizi tours. during my volunteership i'll be staying at puccini guesthouse.

ok that's it for now. it's getting late and i gotta sleep and enjoy my last night in my bed. updates will follow later from windhoek. stay tuned for more and don't miss me too much ;)

byeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! :)

p.s. i'm joining the safari the first 10 days after arriving in namibia so don't worry if you don't hear from me. i'm just too busy having fun and doing cool things to think about you ;)

p.p.s. for those of you (i won't name any names WINNIE) who can't be bothered to check for new updates, i'll notify you by email in case of new posts... happy? :P

p.p.p.s it's compulsory to leave comments here.

packing = HATEFUL

packing = hateful. that's a fact. my tiny room has become a battlefield. my whole room is covered with clothes. i can barely walk, i feel tired by just looking at the mess. how should i know what to bring or what not to bring?? things that seem so ordinary here might not be that ordinary when i don't have them over there, or worse, when they are nowhere to be found.

10 pairs of shorts too much? i guess not. do i really need 15 something shirts? yep i do. how about shoes? how many pairs? 3 pair enough? some fancy dresses for the evenings? yeah would be nice too, u never know. my bag is already half full with clothes and there's so much more to take with me... travel light, surely not applicable to me.

sigh... gotta continue with the battle.

countdown

countdown till my next adventure. 20 march is gonna be the day i'm heading to arse kicking namibia.