so far so good :)

hello folks,

here i'm again :) well i know that u are all dying to see some pics but unfortunately that's not going to happen. at least not today. i found a internet cafe but this place doesn't allow me to use memory sticks/cards. so u just have to be a lil bit more patient :)

so bet u wanna know all about my 10 day trip. well, it was FAB!! for 10 days i've been living like a princess. i've been to the most beautiful places in namibia, slept in the most luxery lodges, and had the most delicious meals u can EVER imagine :) the only thing i had to worry about was to worry about nothing ;) it's such a shame that i can't upload the pics, u'd be soooo jealous hehe :)

the safari tour was like a private tour cos there were only 4 of us. S & D from the states, our tour guide R, and me. so we started the tour with 2 days in etosha NP... we went on a game drive and animals we've seen include springboks, steenboks, oryxes, wildebeasts, impalas, elephants, rhinos, zebras, giraffes, ostriches, and many many other birds. springboks and zebras are seen everywhere and anywhere. they're like kangaroos in aussie or sheep in NZ. unfortunately we didn't see simba, mufasa, or nala. they were hiding from us :( it's a bit difficult to spot animals during the wet season since they can be anywhere and don't have to come to waterholes for water. so yeah, such a shame we didn't see lions... but this doesn't mean that they weren't around cos i could hear them loud and clear from my tent in the middle of the night, and again during breakfast. so yeah, they were definitely around ;)

after etosha we drove further up north to palmwag and hoanib. to get there was extremely difficult. the main road has been washed away by the rain so we had to take the back back baaaack road to get there. it was travelling at 20 km/h max and i can tell you from my bruises that the ride was extremely bumpy... and also we got stuck. in the mud. yeah u go on a guided tour and think that nothing could happen to u... well not so true. we got stuck very badly. we were driving in the river bed (it's okay to drive there in the dry season but not when it's wet and muddy obviously) when we got stuck. we were very close to the camp (u could see it) but R couldn't find the way up since the road has been completely washed away... so we went back and forth, up and down the river, trying to find our way and then it happened. stuck. great. so we called the camp via radio (thank god we had radio on board cos there is no cellphone reception in the middle of nowhere) and the camp people came to rescue us. it took them like like 3 hours to pull the landrover out but we reached the camp, eventually... siiiiiiiigh...

but this place (hoanib) is beautiful man! so remote, so desolate, so peaceful, so quiet. we were the only one in the camp. the view from my tent was absolutely amazing. also R, C (guide at camp) and me went mountain climbing (not as in real mountain/rock climbing but we did climb the mountain) and the view on top was just STUNNING! absolutely one of the highlights of the tour :)

another highlight of the tour was kayaking in walvis bay and the sanddunes in sossusvlei. we went kayaking in the lagoon of the ocean with seals and dolphins!! how cool was that!! the seals and dolphins were like everywhere. anyway, i was paddling like mad to keep track of them. and apparently i was too enthusiastic cos i got seasick. it was disgusting i can tell ya. the waves were high but i didn't notice them cos i was too busy following the dolphins. so the last part wasn't very enjoyable for me...

sanddunes, another favourite. the dunes are like 300m high and beautifully shaped. S and i climbed one of the dunes which was very very cool! we also saw the sunset and sunrise over the dunes. again, very impressive.

so now i'm back in windhoek. very different than what i had experienced during the safari tour. spacious and beautifully decorated rooms have turned into a small single room with no en suite facilities, delicious meals have turned into quick meals, beautiful and remote areas have become busy places filled with people and cars. no more quietness or animals... but this place isn't bad at all!! yeah my room is small but not smaller than my room in the netherlands, and my bed is is super SUPER comfy. i have to 'cook' my own meals but i can buy everything in the big supermarket around the corner. i have everything i need, so don't worry, i'll survive my 2 months here hehehe.

okay gotta go now. time's running out. see ya next time. i do have internet in my guesthouse but it's extremely slow so i only use it to check emails. but i do have access to fast internet at the office so i can secretly do some stuff during office hours as well ;)

see ya next time!

p.s. could u please tell me what's happening in the netherlands? weather, politics? i update u about my life here and u update me about things in the netherlands. deal. what happened to the geert wilders movie anyway?