It's winter time, which means it's time to bundle up with a good book and some cocoa and sit by the fireplace. Or you can do as the Namibian natives do, and head to Swakopmund for the holidays!
This year, my family skipped the presents and drove for two days down to a German beach town to spend our Christmas by the ocean. After you live right next to the beach your whole life, and then suddenly move to an area where there aren't even lakes to swim in, it's not easy to take no for an answer!
Our first sight in Swakopmund is one I like to call the sass-ful sea lion. The beach was abandoned at the time, since there was a freezing cold marine layer covering the shore.
Everyone gone except the seal lion and my camera! By far my favorite picture ever!
On the first day of our stay here, we went Quad Biking through the enormous dunes of the African desert. It was an experience that combined the rush of adrenaline and adventure with desert wildlife. Imagine gunning it up the side if a dune the size of a five story building, and then turning sharply to speed back down it... and yelling like a crazy person despite yourself! Your heart leaps into your throat for a second and your stomach must have left you back at the top!
But if that doesn't have you psyched, seeing one of the deadliest snakes in Africa will! Our guide could find any creature just by the unique tracks it left in the sand. We saw a lot of crazy stuff, but the Sidewinder was by far the most intriguing. Our guide, Johannes, had stopped at a small cluster of plants that had managed to survive in the harsh, ever-changing conditions of the desert, and smiled, "Snake," he told us simply, using his walkie talkie to move it onto the large dune above us. A small, brown and tan snake glared at us. When Johannes tried to move it once more for a better camera view, it moved diagonally across the dune towards the sandy floor in a way that gave the Sidewinder it's name.
Unlike a normal snake, which usually uses its entire body to slither forwards across a surface, the Sidewinder moves sideways, winding its body in a backwards and forwards S shape so it only has to touch two parts of its body to the hot desert at any time. they are extremely venomous, so if one of us got bit out here, we probably wouldn't survive. But the only thing I took away from that lesson was that it looked like the Sesame Street show character, Cookie Monster, would have a hard time dealing trying to munch on this tough S-shaped cookie!
When it had arrived on the floor, Johannes told us he would pick it up. It was a unique process of holding its head down with a tyre pump and inching his fingers up until he held it right behind the head, which I caught all on video and will hopefully get a link out to you all soon. We got to touch it and feel it wrap around our hands -okay, besides my mom ;)- which is much less intimidating when you know the venomous part is under control. But just the slip of his hand, and we'd all be in trouble...
The chameleon we found that reminded me of a cross between Godzilla and Yoda....
If you manage to tear your eyes away from my extremely attractive sanitary hair net, youll notice that I gained a fabulous pair of ear rings during the tour!
Johannes explained that this horse skull below was just one of the two thousand horses killed during the war. :(
Everyone gone except the seal lion and my camera! By far my favorite picture ever!
But if that doesn't have you psyched, seeing one of the deadliest snakes in Africa will! Our guide could find any creature just by the unique tracks it left in the sand. We saw a lot of crazy stuff, but the Sidewinder was by far the most intriguing. Our guide, Johannes, had stopped at a small cluster of plants that had managed to survive in the harsh, ever-changing conditions of the desert, and smiled, "Snake," he told us simply, using his walkie talkie to move it onto the large dune above us. A small, brown and tan snake glared at us. When Johannes tried to move it once more for a better camera view, it moved diagonally across the dune towards the sandy floor in a way that gave the Sidewinder it's name.
Unlike a normal snake, which usually uses its entire body to slither forwards across a surface, the Sidewinder moves sideways, winding its body in a backwards and forwards S shape so it only has to touch two parts of its body to the hot desert at any time. they are extremely venomous, so if one of us got bit out here, we probably wouldn't survive. But the only thing I took away from that lesson was that it looked like the Sesame Street show character, Cookie Monster, would have a hard time dealing trying to munch on this tough S-shaped cookie!
When it had arrived on the floor, Johannes told us he would pick it up. It was a unique process of holding its head down with a tyre pump and inching his fingers up until he held it right behind the head, which I caught all on video and will hopefully get a link out to you all soon. We got to touch it and feel it wrap around our hands -okay, besides my mom ;)- which is much less intimidating when you know the venomous part is under control. But just the slip of his hand, and we'd all be in trouble...
Quad Biking was by far one of the coolest African adventures I've had yet. But there's plenty more in store!
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