Tuesday 26 August 2008

Photos of Namibia

I am off for a few days, so Christiane and I drove the 400 km to Swakopmund, a German colonial town on the Atlantic coast. You can get kaffee und kuchen (traditional coffee and cake) here and even bratwurst and other traditional German specialities. The town is spotlessly clean, and it's like being in a small European town, except you realize that there are huge sand dunes in the distance (and, of course, many Africans!). It's a lot colder here than in the central highlands where we were staying, as a morning fog comes in each morning from the ocean and goes over the dunes and then clears by the afternoon. Christiane and I went on a desert tour today, and the guide explained that this fog is what sustains a huge amount of life where you would never suspect it. For example, thre are some beatles that do a "headstand" all night and collect the fog as it comes in, and, as the water condenses, it trickles down their backs and into their mouths. This environment requires unbelievable adaptation. The tour was really interesting - I held a sand snake, chased geckos, got a picture of a "white dancing lady" spider's fangs and an iguana catching a fly, and we did some amazing driving up and over the massive dunes. So amazing. The dunes go straight into the sea, which is a really unusual sight. We are trying to get on one of those puddle jumper flights over the desert tomorrow, but it was looking booked up today. If not, we're going to do some sand boarding (think snow sledding, but on a 500 foot sand dune), which also sounds pretty cool.

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