Safari in Namibia

Hey Everyone!!!

We are currently sailing in the Atlantic on our way to South Africa! We're scheduled to pull into Cape Town at 0800 tomorrow and we're beyond excited for it! Our safari was amazing in Namibia and we pulled out of Walvis Bay (pronounced Valfish Bay) at around 2030 last night.

We got into Walvis Bay around 0800 on Saturday (Happy Valentine's Day!!! I hope it was fun!) And when we pulled in we were greeted by a small girl's choir from Namibia! They were absolutely adorable and we got video and tons of pictures. When the ship was cleared, we got off and got straight on the buses to travel up north to Etosha. They told us it was only about 4-5 hours and it ended up taking 8, so that was fun. Not really...we just ate a lot of junk food, slept, and listened to music. We saw a lot of desert and giant dunes and as we got further and further from Walvis Bay, we saw mountains and it became green with forests. We finally got to our campsite inside Etosha National Park in the pouring rain and set up our tents, had dinner and went to sleep. It reminded us of camping with our Dad and Kathy at Kelly's island and falling asleep to the sound of rain on our tents. Kate slept in a tent with a really nice girl named Kara, from CU Boulder, and I shared a tent with a girl from Miami- Alyssa.

We woke up at 0600 the next morning and ate breakfast and got on the bus to go on the safari! We drove around the park for 12 hours--only stopping to eat lunch and go to the bathroom--and saw so many amazing animals! We saw Giraffes (Kate was actually the first one to spot it!) and we saw tons of Springbok and Jackals. Then throughout the day we began to see Wildebeast, Dik-Dik, Red Hartebeast, and we even saw a Warthog. Then towards the end of our safari, as we started losing hope to see any of the other "Big 5", we saw Zebras!! They were beautiful and different than what we thought they would look like. And after that we saw more Giraffes and we spotted a lion under a tree! The most exciting thing, though, was that we were the only bus out of 9 to see Cheetahs!! Our guide told us that he'd only ever seen 4 and we saw 3 right next to our bus! They crossed the road right in front of us! It was extremely exciting and the day turned out to be incredible!

After the safari, we got back to our campsite around 1800 and walked to the watering hole to see if we could see animals there. We didn't end up seeing anything except giant beetles, and we were so hot (it was almost 90 degrees), so we walked to the tower. There was a tall round tower made out of stone that looked like a castle tower that was right inside the entrance to our campsite. There was a really long spiral staircase that wound up inside the tower (it reminded me of Perry's Monument) and at the top it's just an open circle so you can turn all the way around and see a 360 degree view of Etosha! It was gorgeous! We walked up to the top to watch the sunset, and it was the most amazing sunset I have ever seen! We got tons of pictures! We went back to our camp to have dinner and then we went back to the tower to stargaze. I know it will be one of my favorite memories of Semester at Sea and I'll remember it forever. We saw the Milky Way and so many stars!! And there was a storm in the distance so we got to see a really good lightning show. We all got a glass of Namibian beer (it was pretty good...and 500 ml for about $1 US) and went to sleep. We got up at 0500 to get ready, eat breakfast, and take down our tents and clean up the campsite. Sarah and I loved it so much--the whole camping experience. There were definitely girls there who would have liked to be anywhere else but camping, but we had tons of fun! And the food was really good! We had lamb, sausage, spaghetti w/ meat sauce, eggs, and acorn squash among other things throughout our trip. Our guides really took care of us and they were very knowledgeable about the animals and the area. Not to mention they cooked us food and generally put up with the 14 of us in the bus. haha

The next morning, we got up at 0500 and then took down camp and ate breakfast. We headed out for our 8 hour return drive to Walvis Bay at about 0630. It was cool, but we took the exact same road as we did on the way there, so there wasn't much to see and we were all exhausted. We tried to play car games, but there were really no signs or cars around, so it was hard. haha. But we played word games and sang songs and read books. We even learned how to count to 10 in almost every language (people on semester at sea are really smart!!) We stopped in a little German town called "Swakopmund" and got to eat and shop. The exchange rate there was $1 : N$10, so we each got 2 pairs of earrings and a bracelet for about 12 U.S. dollars! It was really cool. We got back to the port and had to get right on the ship, but we were happy to finally take showers and change clothes (we didn't take showers and wore the same clothes all 3 days! Yummy).

We had dinner with our "bus family" and went out on deck to watch the ship pull away from the port. Then Sarah and I played with Ellie (our 18-month old neighbor) and Kevin and Amy (her parents) said that it was huge because she never goes off with other people and she let us take her upstairs and run around the deck with her. We did "1-2-3-swing" with her, and we probably shouldn't have showed her that because she wanted us to do it all night! We would swing her, and then she wouldn't walk more than 2 steps before she would stop. put both of her hands in the air and say "Adain! Adain!". It was really cute, though, and when we all went back to our rooms so she could go to bed, she gave us hugs!! And Kevin's jaw dropped and he said she's never done that with 'strangers' before! It was absolutely adorable and we were so happy! It made us miss Laura and Julia, though. :)

We went back upstairs and played a really fun word game with the twins and Pat that they taught us (we'll teach it to everyone when we get home...it's pretty awesome) for about 2 1/2 hours and then went to sleep. Definitely slept for 9 hours....it was amazing. We don't have any classes today, but it's "South Africa Day" and we have Global Studies, our Cultural pre-port, a lifeboat drill, and then our Logistical pre-port! And it's taco day!! haha...everyone on the ship is very excited to see something other than pasta and potatoes in the dining hall. Other than that, we're just hanging out, doing some laundry, playing with Ellie, and NOT doing anything productive. It's a great day.

We got so many amazing pictures and we'll try to send some out in South Africa. Tomorrow, after climbing Table Mountain, we're going to try to go to Robben Island with the twins and another friend that we met on the safari (her name's Laura!) and then go out to dinner with Laura and one of her friends that's studying abroad in South Africa. Then on Thursday we're going to wander around Cape Town and get into trouble, and Friday we're going on an SAS day trip called "Cycling in the Winelands" where we'll rent mountain bikes and ride many miles through the winelands and have a picnic and a wine tasting! On Saturday, we're going to have some free time to shop and look around Cape Town and hang out, and we'll probably go out at night (we heard the night life is incredible there). Then on Sunday, we're going cliff-diving ("kloofing") which is basically lots of hiking and jumping off of high cliffs into water! It's going to be so amazing and we're both extremely excited! We're staying on the ship every night to save money, which is going to be so comfortable after Morocco and Namibia. We'll definitely keep you updated about everything.

Miss you all and love you!!!!!! Hope everything is going well in good old U.S.A.!

K&S