desert life

well thats me sandboarding! i went twice here as i loved it so much. they have a speedgun to record your speed and i got up to 75km/hour on one run.. how cool is that?! its great fun, just completely knackering walking back up the dune each time. so thats the desert just here on the coast (i'm still staying in swakopmund), a lot lighter colour sand but still beautiful. kayaking a week or so ago was also amazing, past a few seal colonies who come so close and try and play with you as you kayak past. amazing - hopefully pictures to follow.
the good news is that i've also popped back inland to the orange dunes again. it was a bit of a risk as i hired a car to drive 1500km altogether, 1250 of which was on gravel road, about 600km of that pretty bad gravel road... but i got back with the car intact and no damage to pay so i am so glad i took the risk. it meant i got to spend three nights 120km from the dunes and drove in two days running to wander by myself in such beauty again.
the bad news is that my camera broke from sand in it before i got a chance to take any more photos. so i was more than a little frustrated to be back in the most beautiful place i have ever seen but unable to record it anywhere other than in my memory (which is bad at the best of times!). on day two my common sense deserted me somewhat and i went off walking for the day in flipflops (to be fair i have worn them everywhere and the day before) but this time my feet were getting slightly burnt from the hot sand so i tried to keep my flipflops on whilst climbing dunes and next thing you know they broke from the weight of the sand.. so i had to spend the day barefoot trying to avoid getting more burnt, or pricked by thorny grass. that should have been ok as i planned to catch a 4wd shuttle back the 5km to the car park... but i had failed to bring anything with me that told me the time so i was estimating by the sun and guessed wrong, getting down from the dunes too late to catch the last shuttle that leaves at 4pm. so it was a fast walk/jog back to my car to try my best to drive like a maniac the 60km to the gate which shuts at 5.30pm. to be honest it was a nightmare and i got in a bit of a state as i started the walk to the car realising i had been stupid enough to end up on my own in the middle of an unforgiving place.
the desert brings out strange reactions in me. as i set off walking in the morning i could not have been happier to be alone, it was the perfect place to enjoy my solitude. as i walked/ran back in the evening i could not have hated being on my own more. but all is well and i pulled myself together driving too fast but making it to the gate only 5 minutes late and getting through fine.

without more pictures it is difficult to express how amazing this place is. but i wrote some thoughts whilst sitting on a dune under the shade of a tree:
walking on a layer of clay that crunches underfoot and cracks to reveal deep orange sand below
hot sand that burns on one side and then once you cross the dune ridge to the shady side the sand cools and relieves
peaceful silence interrupted only by occasional birds, flies and sight-seeing aeroplanes
signs of life abounding with animal tracks everywhere
undulating dunes that curve and slope and smoothly turn
the loud fast beat of my heart when i pause halfway climbing a dune without anyone else's footprints to help me
walking on a sand mountain range that slides beneath you
the bright blue/lush green/rich orange colour combination that seems so perfect to me
literally gasping as i stop mid-climb to take in the view
disbelieving that it is possible to be wandering amongst such awe-inspiring beauty

i have to return here one day. although if i keep saying that everywhere i go, i'll be in trouble! its just two more nights at the coast, one more night back in the capital and then a flight to sydney on friday!! i will be so sorry to leave this amazing country but the excitement of meeting isabella and seeing abigail, matt and fi again is building up and up, i am SO looking forward to saturday. so this is probably it from me until oz...