Spring 2015 - Day 89: Namibia

This time I followed the rules and went to meet the sand boarding program out by the bus. On the way there the professor that was leaving and his daughter were getting off the ship. There was a huge pile of luggage at the top of the gangway and they, along with one of the field office ladies and a few friends, were coordinating how to get it down. I volunteered to help and grabbed a huge flowered duffle. 

I hoisted it over my shoulder and took the gangway steps very carefully. At the bottom one of them suggested I balance the duffel on one of the tiny rolling suit cases. So I did and began rolling the very unsteady thing down the towards the shuttles. 

I left both bags by the airport shuttle, arriving after everyone else who had come down the gangway with bags. Angel, the field office lady, thanked me profusely for helping out. She asked if I was on a program and I told her that I was hoping to get on the sand boarding one. 

She told me I would be the first in line for extra spots so I went to go stand by the bus and felt like I had just witnessed a good deed being repaid in a very short amount of time. Not that I had planned for it to go that way, I was glad to help out, but I felt appreciated and good for doing it. 

As I suspected, the bus for sand boarding was not a 10 person vehicle but a huge coach bus. There was plenty of room and I got on easily. 

We set off immediately and drove for a very long time. We went into the desert via Swakomund, which I thought was very strange because we could have gotten to the same patch of desert by going by Dune 7, which would have been considerable quicker. 

Now, the desert all looks the same, if you didn't know. And sameness is the perfect condition to get lost in. And we did get lost. Not that lost, but we couldn't find the exact dune that they were waiting for us at. All of the dunes looked the same. 

We pulled up to one dune that we thought was it but it ended up just being ATVers. They were at the very top of a very tall dune and seemed to show off for us once they noticed us there. They road the steep dune straight down, it looked terrifying. 

Eventually we did find where we were supposed to be going, but it took one of the sand boarding people driving out to the road and leading us in. 

We all piled out of the bus and learned quickly that there was not a bathroom. Oh dear. I already had to pee so this would be an interesting morning. 

We were given instruction. We would be laying down to sand board, which made it very similar to sledding. The boards had rough sides and smooth sides. The smooth side went down on the sand and you laid on the rough side on your stomach with your head down. You then help up the front of the board with you hands, making sure to keep your elbows in the air. If you did it correctly you would not get any sand in your face at all.

We were given elbow pads, a helmet, and a board and then were sent to trek up the dune. 

Climbing sand is hard. Which we already know from climbing dune 7. It was even harder trying to do it holding a giant board. 

My arms were not long enough to carry it under my arm so eventually Austin took pity on me and carried it for me. Then I just had to focus on not dying. 

At the top we were given more instruction. Drag your feet to slow down or straighten yourself out. 

After these quick words we started off. They just had us go one at a time down one of the shorter hills. They helped secure our helmets, had us lie down, and then gave us a push. 

It was exhilarating and slightly terrifying. Pretty much exactly light sledding except there wasn't anything you could potentially hit at the bottom of the hill because it was just sand. 

The first hill I was a chicken and slowed myself down in the middle of it. Going too fast scared me. Because of this I didn't make it as far as I could have, but the guy at the bottom told me that I looked like a professional. I am pretty sure he was kidding. 

The worst part about going down is that you have to walk back up again. And we were able to slide down 6 different time, which meant climbing up the hill 6 times. Ouch. 

The second hill was off of the back side of the first. The third hill was right near the second and for that one the guy had one of those guns that tell you how fast things are going. I only went 29km per hour how that hill. He was incredibly disappointed in me. 

For the fourth hill we could ride tandem. Dan, one of the girls from my art class, was my tandem buddy. She us so tiny and small that she wasn't heavy enough to make it down the hills by herself. She loved going tandem because we actually made it all the way down. 

I sat in the front and she was behind me. I had my feet really close to my body and used both hands to hold up the front of the board. Since she had her hands free she was in charge of slowing us down or speeding us up. 

We went really, really far. I think the tandem ride was my favorite one. 

Austin and Kelly were the last two tandemers to go and they went right after us. On the way back up the hill someone mentioned going to the bathroom and I said that I have had to pee the entire time and it was not comfortable. Kelly said to just pop a squat right there and that she would do it with me. So she held the board up for me and I held it up for her. I can now say that I have peed randomly in the middle of the desert. 

Let me tell you, the rest of the time was much more enjoyable because of it.

On the fifth hill he took our speed again. This time I went 69km per hour. Much better.

At the end the sand became very wavy and I hit it hard and took a bunch of hand to the face. By that point there was sand all over me. It coated my arms and legs. It was in my shoes. It was down my shirt and all over my face. At least I never took a mouthful of it. 

The 6th hill was almost exactly the same as the first one. We went down the front of the dune because it took us in the direction of the bus and jeeps. 

Back at the jeeps we were served lunch. They had make your own sandwiches and sodas. Surprisingly, they had no water for us. Which was a struggle. But he sandwiches were amazing. We then took a group photo and filmed something for the end of our video. There was a videographer there the entire time taking videos of each of us going down each hill. The video as included with the day, which was awesome. 

We went back to the the ship via Dune 7, which made so much more sense than the way that we got there. 

I emptied out my shoes before getting on the ship but I still left sandy foot prints in the bathroom when I got ready to shower. That shower was challenging. Sand is so hard to get off. 

I learned when I got ready for my shower that I was incredibly sun burned. The sun was not something that I thought about at all when I got ready for the day so I had not put any sunscreen on. The shirt that I had worn was sleeveless so the tops of my shoulders, back, and upper arms were lobster red. 

Whoops.

Since I knew from Vijay that it was BBQ night and there was definitely going to be Mac and Cheese, Stephanie and I went up there early. We were the first two people in line. I filled my plate full of mac and cheese, potato salad and corn. We then tag teamed, she ran and got dessert while I filled an entire plate full of grapes and peaches. It was so much food. But it was so, so, so good. BBQ night is way better than tacos. 

I spent the evening alone in my room. I was so sore from walking up and down the dune all day that I just needed to lay in bed. I watched Peter Pan and then Peter Pan 2: Return to Neverland and then The Hunchback of Notre Dame. What a great night.

And what a great day. I really liked Namibia. Everyone is complaining that there wasn't anything to do and so they did nothing. I did so much stuff. I looked a chameleons, I sea kayaked and saw Cinderella. I ate really good pizza. I went to church and went ATVing. I hiked Dune 7 and explored the town, and I went sand boarding! And I wasn't stressed or running around with my head cut off trying to do it. It was nice and leisurely and enjoyable. I loved it.