Namibia: Spring break of a lifetime

I am lucky enough to be here during the Spring Semester of UCT, therefore I got to enjoy 10 glorious days of Spring Break.  There were 14 of us - quite the crew - that decided Namibia was calling our names. It is about a 7 hour drive from Cape Town to the border, and then we made our way about halfway up into Namibia and came back down. 

We started our journey on Saturday by only going about 2 hours away from Cape Town to a music festival called Alien Safari.  However, right when we got there my car's trunk broke, which resulted in a week of inhaling sand and dirt, and all of our things being layers in inches of it. It wasn't very fun. Alien Safari is a psy-trance party - which is music similar to dub step, kind of a techno feel. It was absolutely crazy and a complete blast. Everyone was covered in glow in the dark paint and was just dancing all night, it was great. It was held at a vineyard in the mountains and was breathtaking. We camped the night and headed for Namibia at about 8:30 Sunday morning.

Alien Safari- still going strong at sunrise

Sunday was a day full of driving and was incredibly hot and uncomfortable in the car. We got through SA immigration fine, but no one at Namibian customs stopped us, so we didn't get our passport stamped, this caused problems later on. After driving all day on dirt roads, we arrived in Ai-Ais at a hot-springs resort where we ended up camping for 2 nights. We were able to set up camp and sit in the hot spring pools all night and it was exactly what we needed after a long day.

We woke up the next morning and drove to Fish River Canyon about 30 minutes from our campsite. It is the 2nd largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon. It was completely gorgeous and we hung out there for a few hours, and hiked down part of the canyon and explored a little. Day hikes are prohibited however, and we discovered why with its loose rocks and steep slopes, but it was still doable. After the canyon we relaxed at the campsite for the night.

Fish River Canyon

Tuesday morning we woke up early to embark on a '5 hour' drive to Sesriem. This 5 hour drive turned into a 10 hour drive - all on horrible dirt roads.  Along the way our tire/ rim/ hubcap got completely destroyed, along with one of the Land Rovers also getting a flat, in the middle of nowhere. But the boys changed the tires and it turned out fine. We arrived at our campsite, made some dinner, and ended up seeing my roommate Roger and Carl and the bar, so it was a fun night.

We woke up bright and early at an attempt to get to the Sand Dunes by sunrise, but that didn't happen. We still got there extremely early, and it was the best morning of my life. We were in the middle of dunes, just surrounded by mountains of sand. It was so incredible and very peaceful. I took tons of pictures, I think it may have been my favorite part of the trip. After the dunes we got back on the road towards Swakopmund, a coastal town we stayed at for the rest of our trip. We got there pretty late and ate our first real meal of the trip! I had a greek salad and it was so delicious. We then went back to the hostel and had an amazing night sleep, in an actual bed.

Sand Dunes

We woke up the next morning and went to the beach for a few hours before going quad-biking through some sand dunes. It was one of the funniest things I have done in awhile. We were going as fast as possible up and down the sides of huge dunes, it was so awesome, everyone loved it.

Friday was a day of relaxation, with exploring the town, going into shops and to the open market, and hanging out at the beach. It was a much needed day of no stress and no driving.

Saturday morning we woke up early to head back to Cape Town - it was a 19 hour drive, arriving back home at about 3:30 am. On the way home we had one little issue- we had been in Namibia illegally all week. They threatened to arrest us, we freaked out, and ended up bribing them R3,000 to let us through. It was stressful and we were so happy to not be in jail. However, my roommate had the same issue but they said it "happens all the time" so we think we got played. But there has been students jailed for it in the past, so I guess it depends on the immigration officers mood that day.

Overall I had an amazing spring break that I will never forget.
I will try to post pictures this weekend!

A few photos...

My pictures refused to load yesterday with my post, but today it was cooperating, so I thought I would put a few on:

Bungy!!

Tasty treats at Old Biscuit Mill

Roommate lovin' - out to eat at Taste of Madness 

Recent Happenings

Much has happened since my last blog post. School is in full swing, and I am now writing papers and studying for tests, it is no longer vacation. But right after school started we got a little break, and on our three day weekend my roommates and I and a few other friends went on the Garden Route - a coastal stretch of road with many popular destinations along the way.

We drove to Oudtshorn on Friday night and stayed at a really nice hostel. We meet up with Pierre, a 50-something gay democrat that befriended my friends David and Andy on their early travels during the World Cup.  We just hung out with him at the hostel for the night, sat by a fire, and drank a few beers.

The next morning we woke up quite early to go to the Cango Caves.  We went the on the "adventure tour", and the adventure aspect is that you need to squeeze through alleyways of the caves that are very small and intimidating. I, of course, was not as nervous about this as everyone else, but we all got through them just fine. And I now love caves, it was so crazy being completely inside the earth looking at beautiful rock formations. That night we went to Pierre's house for a good ole South African braii and it was so so so delicious. You don't even understand. We had the most delicious lamb and ostrich you could ever ask for. We also had potato salad, some veggies, and lots and lots of whiskey and wine. It was a great night with great company. Pierre is quite the host.

The next day we had another early morning, with waking up and driving to the Blourkans Bridge, the highest bungy bridge in the world. It was Natalie's birthday, and what a birthday it was. Most of the group did the jump. It was absolutely insane. Words cannot describe it. I wasn't nervous until looking over the edge right before jumping, but it was such an adrenaline rush you can't even think about being scared. It was definitely an experience that I will never forget.


We then headed straight to Jeffery's Bay, commonly known as J-Bay. It is one of the most popular surfing spots in the world, with many many dreadlocked surfers wandering around. It was fantastic. And being Nat's 21st, we partied at our hostel all night, with making a quick stop at a hostel where some friends were staying. The night consisted of a lot of foosball, whisky, fish bowls, and flame throwing. Overall Natalie had a great birthday.

The next morning we woke up and headed home. My car made a pit stop and Monkey land, where you can take tours through a cage in the forest with monkeys all around you. But the weather was horrible so we decided to save it for another trip.

Apart from the Garden Route, I have had a few other adventures recently. I finally got to Old Biscuit Mill, just a 20 minutes walk from my house. It happens every Saturday morning, and it is similar in concept to farmers market, but it is all food. Delicious, amazing food. Anything you could ever want they have, from bagels to gyros to falafel and even belgian waffles. This place is amazing, with also little shops outside that sell clothing and furniture and even one that is all photography related. It is the perfect start to a Saturday.


This Friday I was able to attend a soccer game at Green Point Stadium, which is where the Cape Town World Cup games were held!! It was a good game, Cape Town won! There were tons of people and tons of vuvuzelas, it was blast. After the game we walked further downtown to Long Street, which is a very popular area to go out. It kind of reminds me of Bourbon Street, with tons of crazy people everywhere going in and out of the bars, and also the street itself is jam packed with taxis until about 5 am. We went to a few bars and they were all a blast, plenty of dancing happened that night.

I also recently played beer pong for the first time since I have been here! It was so great, my roommate Roger and I did Madison proud with going undefeated at 6-0. I have really missed beer pong, they do not have plastic cups available here so it's hard to play.

I have also been extremely busy with school, I had a paper due last Friday, another due this Friday, and an exam right when I get back from spring break (which is this next week). So I have finally been studying like I should and it is kind of depressing. But I will have a nice little 10-day break, with spring break coming up. Some friends and I are road tripping to Namibia, the country on the West coast directly above South Africa. We start our trip with Alien Safari, a psy trance party which will definitely be interesting. From there we are heading to Namibia and have many activities planned.
I will do my best to get pictures and a post up relatively soon after break:)

Hope everyone has a good first week in school!