Sand boarding, Ghost Town and Fish River Canyon!

Every time we start writing an update, we feel that that the time that has passed since last update has been some of the most fantastic and eventful days of our lives. This time is no exception.

The time in Swakopmund was primarily spent wandering around in the idyllic city and looking at wonderful houses. One thing about the city is that their road signs are placed about 30 cm lower than in normal cities, a fact Danielle learned the hard way by walking straight into one, auchhh :- ). Being placed in the middle of the desert, Swakopmund is known for some alternative experiences. We decided to try out sand boarding and quad biking in the desert. Sand boarding is about going face down a 100 m high dune on a greased up wooden board, where you reach a speed of up to 75 kph!!! It was a lot of fun in spite of the fact that you have to walk up the dune every time. The quad biking (4 wheeled motor cycle) was equally fun and we spent 2 hours driving through the desert and up and down some huge dunes, amazing!

After four days we left Swakopmund and took the (hopefully) last minibus on our trip back to Windhoek, where a rental car was awaiting (petrol is insanely cheap in Namibia, about 6 SEK per litre). We set out from Windhoek, heading towards the costal town of Lüderitz. Only 60 k out of Windhoek, Carsten gets pulled over by the police, speeding! Besides a trip to the local police station (a small shed with a desk) driving 80 kph in a 60 zone costs about 120 SEK. The rest of the trip to Lüderitz went without problems and we even had time to stop and look at some beautiful wild horses next to the road in the desert.

The town of Lüderitz is based almost solely on diamond mining and most tourists do not find their way to this remote part of the country! We stayed at the only hostel in the town and during our stay we did not meet any other guests at all. The lack of tourists meant that we could enjoy the sights around Lüderitz almost without seeing other people. First we went to the top of the peninsula where seals and dolphins were easily spotted from the beach near the light tower and afterwards we drove to the nearby ghost town of Kopmanskop. The town was abandoned 50 years ago when there were no more diamonds in the area and the majestic houses and building (it was an entire town with casino, butcher, hospital etc), have been left to be eaten by the sand dunes (see photos). It is really how you imagine a ghost town would look like, scary!

After Lüderitz only one last stop had to be made before going back to Windhoek, namely the amazing Fish River Canyon. It is the second largest canyon in the world, 160 km long, up to 27 km wide and 550 m deep. The sight that meets you when you drive up to the edge of the canyon is hard to describe, it is truly an incredible experience! We slept at a camp in the mountains, again the only ones at the camp (a little spooky :-)), and watched an amazing sunset over the mountains on the last night in Namibia.

Tonight we are on a 20 hour bus ride from Windhoek to Cape Town in South Africa, where we are going to spend the last 10 days of our trip through the continent. BTW it is sunny and 35 degrees :-).