Tiny Cloud, Big Desert

Karen and Moi

Karen is the wonderful person who works at the Thuringer Hof Hotel, my headquarters in Windhoek. Her lovely smiling face greeted me every morning at breakfast, even when I looked like I did in this picture. All that time running around the Namibian desert has left me so fried that it actually hurts to put on makeup. A few days out of the sun should help. I'm not sure that anything can be done about the hair......

Biking the Namibian Deserts

I was so envious of these guys biking across the Namibian deserts. Then I heard Fabrizzio and Suzanne's story. They were driving a rental car. They got lost and drove up to a lion sitting at an intersection in the road. Not sure that I would be cool enough to handle a lion encounter on a motorcycle.

The Last Bok of Namibia

Yesterday I rode back from Swakopmund to Windhoek in one of those 16 person buses. It was 5 hours of riding, watching the scenery and listening to the musical Afrikaans language being spoken by everyone on the bus. (It's a type of Dutch spoken by people in southern Africa). Midway in the trip I saw a lonely bok standing in the middle of a massive grassy field. He stood and watched the bus drive by and it seemed like a perfect last sight for me as a farewell to this lovely untamed country of Namibia.

Safari Jeep and Salt Extraction

Namibia Dune Magic

Dunes Meet the Sea

There are only 2 countries in the world where the sand dunes actually meet the ocean; Namibia and Tunesia. It was an experience to ride along in the safari jeep with 2 wheels on the dunes and the other 2 in the ocean. The timing has to be perfect to avoid the high tide.

Where's Waldo?

No expense was spared to copy this map from Lonely Planet. It's just to show the difference between southern Africa (the entire map) and South Africa (the country at the southern tip of the map). I've written blog reports for you from Capetown South Africa (at the most southwestern part of the map) and most recently from the country of Namibia (northwest in map). Sadly, this is my last day in Namibia and tomorrow I fly to Johannesburg, South Africa where I catch the Southern Cross train to visit all the other countries on this map. There is no internet on the train but I hope that I will be able to send you updates from stops made along the way.
Finally, at the end of April I'll be flying back to the US. I hope then to catch up on places I missed writing about on the blog, and also to complete some on-line albums with the best of the photos.