Camping in the Namib Desert

2/14 and 2/15 Camping

Happy Valentines Day! I’m in Africa…what the heck! We had a diplomatic briefing when we got to the port and right after we all ran out to the decks facing the dock to see the young girls choir that was there to greet us. Oh my gosh. I was crying. It was incredible. There were probably twenty of them, all dressed in traditional African dresses and were singing and dancing for us. They were precious and so full of life and you could tell they were thrilled to be performing for us. I just found out that they live about four hours away and this was the first time that most of them had ever seen the ocean! It was so powerful and finally hit me that I was actually in Africa. It was one of the best parts of this trip.

We headed out to walk around Walvis Bay and ate lunch at this cute café outside- we had a burger and a coke for 3 bucks, the exchange is awesome. It’s a pretty small town so there wasn’t much to do but we did find a grocery store to stock up on snacks. It’s really interesting to see 730 students take over a small town. After lunch we walked back to the ship to take off on our camping and star gazing adventure. An hour and a half later, after a 4x4 drive along the coast and then inland past dunes and sand and cliffs, we arrived at our campsite in the middle of the Namib Desert. There were about 70 of us total so our campsite consisted of 35 tents, 2 people in each, that outlined our site in an L shape, a cliff acting as the other border and inside of it were two areas for campfires and a large tent with tables for dinner. But I have to explain more. This wasn’t squat without toilet paper and rough it up camping- this was much more luxurious. The tents had two beds, yes serious beds, with a duvet and sheets, the dinner tables were covered in linen cloths and plates and silverware. We had a staff who picked up after us and a bar with alcohol. It was kinda ridiculous.

We didn’t have anything planned so we hiked up to the top of a cliff right on the other side of our site. It’s hard to get used to being in the desert and seeing absolutely no green but it was really cool. And we had absolutely no plans which at first is hard to handle because on the boat and at port we have constant activities so you feel like just sitting around is boring but it was great to just sit and relax and just be. And we only really knew two other people in our group so we had a chance to just sit and talk and get to know people really well- the more trips we go on, the more people we meet and the smaller the ship feels. So we just sat around and played cards and talked the whole afternoon and then around dinnertime a local band came to play for us. It was 5 guys, probably our age, and they played the drums in some songs and others they just sang acapella, it was incredible. They had great voices and had little choreographed dances, I feel like they are an African boy band. One of them was very attractive, it was great- We’ve been missing out on looking at beautiful faces (there just aren’t very many attractive men on this boat). They sang to us for about an hour and after we went to talk to them and someone asked them something about songs they knew that we would know and they sang the Gladiator song. Holy cow, it was amazing- It gave me chills.

Dinner was all local Namibian dishes- we had some strange pasta, potatoes, rice and lamb stew- it was really different but so delicious. Ohhh my and the desert he called “pudding” but it wasn’t what we think of as pudding- it was more like a mushy cake that was really sweet and there was a cream to pour on top. It was amazing, I want the recipe. Oh and there was salad, which we were told not to eat lettuce or any fruits or vegetables unless they were cooked, but I think we all just assumed these would be okay since it was such a nice trip… but no. I think our entire group got sick. But luckily it didn’t hit Perez and I until after we got back to the ship the next day so we didn’t have to deal with it while in the middle of the desert. It’s funny how open you are about that kind of stuff when you are traveling with people. The rest of the night was spent around the campfire just talking and sharing stories. Namibia is the best place for star gazing in the world so we were stoked to be going on this trip -and guess what happens… It’s cloudy. And it is only cloudy 5-6 times a YEAR in Namibia- seriously, what are the odds? But I guess those things happen right? There was a little section where the clouds disappeared for like 10 minutes so we were able to see some stars then and it was absolutely gorgeous- more stars than I’ve ever seen. A game of never have I ever, of course, and then bed time.

We woke up at like 8 the next morning for breakfast – yogurt and granola, the yogurt could have definitely been another contributor to our sickness- and were told the vans were gonna come pick us up at 11ish so we just sat around some more and waited. Time was going by pretty slowly, none of us had showered even though we’d been sweating a lot, we didn’t get much sleep and the sun was already beating down on us. So Perez, Collin and I decided to make up this card game called Swakopmund after a town that we passed by on our way to our site. Our driver told us it literally means “shit mouth” so we thought it’d be perfect to add in an element of shouting dirty or obscene words. I’d say it’s a combination of Speed and Tourettes and is just ridiculous. 11 came around, no vans, then 12, still no vans. Luckily we had our game to keep us entertained. I can’t wait to bring it back home and teach everyone. But it also might not be as fun as we thought it was while we were stranded in the middle of the desert. 12:15 vans finally show up but there weren’t enough for all of us so a group of about 20 of us stayed behind and waited for more to come and we finally left by 12:45 I think. We were supposed to be back at the ship at 12:30- this trip really didn’t go exactly as planned but oh well, it happens!