sob i'm back sob in amsterdam sob. very strange. one moment u find yourself sitting in a 4x4 all hyper and excited looking at elephants in etosha, and in a blink of an eye u have traveled 10,000+ kms and you are back in amsterdam, to your old life, the closest to wildlife are the pigeons at dam square. sob. ;)
i haven't updated u since april but a lot has been going on since (busy, lazy, no internet access). i moved to another place in windhoek, from the guesthouse in the city center to a brand new apartment in eros, the posh part of the city, i volunteered at the children's home (kiddies, i still don’t want them!), went to the sand dunes in sossusvlei again, worked a lot on the marketing for imbizi safaris, and went 3 days to etosha again in search for simba and friends (we found him!).
my two months in namibia were amazing! it was an incredible experience. i’ve seen a lot, done a lot and learned a lot. i enjoyed every single moment there and never felt lonely or homesick. i was too busy having fun to worry about u ;) sorry guys but 2 months is just way too short to miss u. did u miss me then?
walking in windhoek didn’t really give me the impression that i was in africa, except for all the blacks of course. tarred roads, clean streets (much cleaner than amsterdam actually), big expensive cars, shopping malls with anything to buy, and very, very nice restaurants. it could’ve been any metropolitan in a western country.
but there's also the other side of namibia: poverty. u don’t see it when walking in the city center but it certainly does exists. i've been to the township of katutura. this is where the poor black people live, tucked away on the edge of windhoek, far from the city center. the people here inspired me a lot, they don’t have much but they are happy. life isn’t about a big house, big car, or fancy clothes...
and then there’s still the apartheid. black and white live apart and don’t have a lot to do with each other. there are black and white clubs. blacks don’t go to a white club because they aren’t welcome there, and whites don’t go to a black club because they don’t want to be seen there... it's sad but the harsh reality.
anyway, i know u are all dying to see some pics so here they are, finally. it's worth the long wait cos they are amazing :) namibia is such a beautiful country, nice weather, spectacular landscapes, and abundant wildlife. and then the people. such nice and warm people. everybody is open, friendly, and kind. i made new friends. namibia feels like home and i cannot wait going back!!
i’ve seen the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets and the sky painted in all the colours of the rainbow...
nature-wise namibia is absolute spectacular. the landscape changes continuously and wherever we drove, the scenery was stunning!!
the red sand dunes in sossusvlei were one of the many highlights. i raced down from the top of the dunes and made a spectacular dive into the sand. ok, the dive wasn’t intentional (i was running like mad and the dune was a bit too steep and i fall) but it sure looked impressive hehe :)
some people we met along the road
wildlife. i've been twice to etosha for game drives. YAAAAAY!! :) wow very impressive to see all the animals out there. highlight was definitely the bull elephant in the middle of the road the second time in etosha. we were rushing towards to the gate cos it was getting dark and the gates were closing in a few minutes. and there was this GIGANTIC bull elephant blocking our way.
we were stuck behind it for like 30 mins before it finally moved away. since we couldn't pass by it we were too late at the gate... the gates were already closed when we got there. we had to go to another gate and had to wait till someone came and opened the gate for us, eventually. but it was great, seeing the elephant walking right in front of us was just THRILLING :)
the first time i went to etosha was in the beginning of the tour. it was during the wet season and we didn't see much then... i decided to go to etosha again last week and i was NOT dissappointed! i had very, very high expectations and this tour totally met my expectations. we saw 2 male lions, a black rhino, THE bull elephant on the road, lots of mother elephants and babies at the waterhole (so sweet!), giraffes, and more of the plains game like springbok, zebra, oryx, kudu etc.
also the scenery has completely changed in two months. the first time the park was all green with thick bushes and high grass with lovely yellow flowers. now it's all gone and it has turned into brown and yellow...
and last but not least, allow me to show off my accommodation during the 10 day tour. i slept in the most beautiful and luxury lodges in the most amazing and remote sites. excellent rooms, delicious meals 3 times a day, sitting at the camp fire and watching little stars. sighhh... that was great stuff :)
after 10 days this sadly all came to an end... for the next month i stayed at puccini house in windhoek. it's a nice guest house, very friendly staff and very comfortable beds but u know, not exactly what i had experienced for the last 10 days... but as i said before, it wasn't bad, not at all. i got everything i need (like a toilet and shower with running water) so it was all good :)
my own apartment in posh eros
so now i’m back. back to my old life and i'm missing namibia big time. i miss the nice weather, it's so grey here! i miss the friendly people, i've just been to the shops and my god, how rude is everybody! what’s next for me? work. i’m running outta money so i need to work. also, i’ve got some cool things to look forward to, concerts. bruce and R.E.M. are on the list. plus, i can watch roland garros all day long, if it's not raining that is. GOOOOO ROGER!!!
and my next destination? dunno, the world is so big and there are too many nice places. patagonia apppeals to me a lot, so does iceland... so perhaps somewhere cool :)
