Hey
Hey all,
Ok this is the second attempt.. i just typed for about 20 minutes then the
damm thing crashed on me so i am a little aggitated by the whole thing at
the moment..
So we have started the tour…. we on on with a group of 9 people 4 aussies,
canadian guy, english guy, irish girl, scottish girl and a girl from the
states ( that reminds me of Mel….My brothers Girlfriend ).
Day 1
we left capetown and headed to citrusdal…. this is only a small campsite
and at first glance really gives you an idea of the whole trip… isolated..
outdoor shower…….
we arrived at 4pm and had a tent demo.. then we were on our own…. .Bill &
i picked it up pretty quickly…… we then headed up to the pool….
Citrisdal is famous for it’s thermal springs and i kid you not the water is
hot……. This was the same water that we showered under.. ( no hot and
cold taps)… on the tour we have split split into groups of 2 to help with
the duties… I am team Giariffe with sean from canada and Bil is with
trisha from aus and they are team hippo… we basically have to help with
the cooking, help the guide prepare the 3 meals for the day. cleaning, wash
up the dished after the meals, and security pack up the camping equipment
each morning and make sure that the truck is not left unattended during the
day…..
that night we just sat around the camp fire and got to know each other a bit
better.. sat around the fire and told some stories and then headed to bed..
Day 2
6am start.. we have a big drive today to orange river… ORange river is the
border between south africa and namibia…. we arrived at the camp site at
around 4pm… put the tents up etc and then headed down to the river for a
swim….Since the river is the border if you swim right across it you swim
to namibia.. Bill did this of course… i wasn’t so keen as i like to see
the bottom and the water was a little murky but i had a dip to cool of
anyway…
we headed back to camp for some dinner then went to the bar and had a few
drinks…. we met up with another tour group as well so we met some more
cool people..
Day 3
Again up early and watched the sun rise over the orange river and the
mountains that surround it…. it was amazing… the river was colours of
pinks and purples and the mountains went red and orange right in from tof my
eyes….
we went of a 3 hour canoe ride down the organge river which was so relaxing
and beatiful.. seen quite a bit of bird life..
After lunch we were off again headed for fish river canyon.. it was about an
4 hour drive. we set up camp and again went for a swim… the days get
hotter as you go…. we then drove out to the canyon to watch the sun
set…….Fish river canyon is said to be second biggest to the grand canyon
and it did not dissapoint…. we took a 30 minute walk around the edge of
the canyon and they Liz our tour guide had organised some nibbles and drinks
while we sat and watched the sund set….. we also had dinner there as
well…… it was beautiful again to see the landscape change so quickly…
Day 4
we head to the desert
again up at 6 and off to sesirem….. long drive today and kinda
uncomfortable as the temp was around 35 degrees at 10 in the morning.. by
the time we got to the camp site at 4 it had to be close to 40-45 degrees
and the sand was really hot…
the highlight fo the day was actually seeing the start of the desert.. you
have moutains on one side and sand dunes on the other.. quite a contrast
but amazing at the same time… There is very little shade and everyone
looks stunning in thier big hats. sunnies and cool clothes… it got really
windy in the afternoon and we had to pin the tents down as a few off them
started to blow away….there was also the whole sand in your eyes
thing…..
we had and early ngiht as we are heading into the dunes very early tomorrow
morning…
WE heard jackles thourghout the night which was kinda freeky but really
bought it home exactully where wer were… in the desert in africa….
Day 5….
up at 4.30am and heading into the desert… we climded dune 45 which is 125
metres tall and it probably the most publised sand dune in the area…… we
climed to the top of the dune which took provbably close to a half hour, it
was very exhausting and hard.. not easy walking up samd dunes……
BUT
it was so worht the effort.. again the watch the brown dunes of the night
come to life in red and orange colours as the sun hit the sand……. it
didn’t take long for the sand to start to heat up…
at the bottom of the dunes we had bacon and eggs for bfast before headign
further into the desert for a 2 hour desert walk with a local bushman who
lives in the area…
This guy was unreal.. he could tell by the shape of the dunes which way was
north and south etc and showed us just how alive the desert was with all the
wildlife.. lizards, bugs, oryz, jackle, hyimers etc…….
he had the whole group mezmerised for the whole 2 hours… He drove us out
in the back of his 4wd ute and we were all hanging on for dear life as we
cruzed though the dunes… It reminded me of driving aound the farms on the
back oif utes…..
we headed back to camp for lunch at around 1pm and by this time it would
have bene close to 50 degrees in the desert… it was around 40 where we
were….. we were then packed up and headed out to the next camp which was
it was only a short 1 hour drive away……
arrived set up camp, went for a swim to cool down ( can you see the pattern
yet) then had a bit of time to just relax before dinner… again a pretty
early night we were all pretty stuffed from the big dy….
Day 6
again up at 6 and off to swokamond…… we arrived around 11am and headed
to the adventure centre to book our optional tours…… the whole group
booked duning of 4 wheelers for the afternoon. and I booked horseridng on
the beach and dunes for tomorrown and as if you all didn’t know already but
bill booked deep sea fishing off the africa coast for the morning….
For the first time in 6 days we get to sleep in neds tongiht with real
pillows and sheets, dooners etc… get to shower in proper showers and we
have toilets as well… no squatting for 3 days… yeah…
we are in swokomond for 3 nights… the place is pretty layed back and gives
us all a chance to catch up on some sleep, emails, banking and extreme
sporting…..
we all went sand duning in the afternoona nd was truley the best fun i have
had in a long time… we all got a video and i’ve gotta tell you i pulled
off some pretty cool jumps… one was a little scary but damm it looks good
on video………
we went out for dinner tonight as well…we got to sit at a table and had
real plates, drink out of proper glasses and be normal for a night… pretty
cool… we then hit the town.. had a few dances and drinks.. Bill and I
headed home about 12.30am as he was off fishing and i was stuffed and
looking forward to a ngihts sleep in a bed……
so that brings me to today……..sitting at the computer sending this
email…
am with trisha who is from melbourne and we are just giong to have look at
the shops after this and take things easy… I am off with SAm ( the english
huy) this afternoon for extreme horseriding,… should be fun…
would love to hear from some of you to see what is happening in the real
world at home……
take care
love Sheena
Wendy.. Finally finished the Bride stipped bare…… you were right what a
great book so far 3 others on the ttuck have read it as well and i think by
the time we finish the trip we all would have read it. we have formed a
discussion group about the book to discuss out theries………..
Mum… can you forward this to Ben & Tarn as i don’t know if i have thier
email address
talk to you all soon
Vic falls should be the next place i can email which is about 12 days i
think… i don’t even know what the day is today…. i love being on
holidays
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and also fill out the application form. *sigh* So much to do.