Namibia...Africa's Colorado

I have always said that Colorado would be perfect if only we had the ocean. Well, Namibia has the ocean and so much of what Colorado has to offer, so pretty much I am ready to stay! Now I just need to convince all the people I love that they should move out here too!

This past week I have been to Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, and the Dunes, except that they were called The Brandberg, The Spitzcoff, and Soussvlei. I guess you can't really find 2000 year old rock paintings of giraffe at the Peak, but there were similarities! Brandberg is this beautiful mountain, the tallest in Namibia, and J and I ran all over that place searching for rock paintings left by these nomadic hunters that used to live on the mountain. Next we were off to the Spitzcoff, or Spitzer, or just Spitz, depending on how much we wanted to butcher up the name of that place. The Spitz is this amazing red rock that juts out of the landscape. It is known as The Matterhorn of Africa. I guess the Swiss felt a connection there too. We camped inside the rocks, scared to death of being eaten by one of the leopards that roam the place at night. Telling ghost stories and being incredibly exhausted after rock climbing and splashing in mountain ponds made us a little on edge that night. It was by far, the coolest night of camping I have experienced. Our last day in the Namib Desert was at Soussvlei, these amazing sand dunes that go on forever. We got there just as the sun was rising and casting everything in beautiful hues. We ran down dunes like little kids and didn't want to leave then the time came! It was a sweet journey home though as we passed ostrich and gazelles on our way back to Swakopmund.




This morning we got up and went sand boarding---so SICK! Sick in a good way. In a, wow, my ribs will never be the same after I caught so much air going over that jump way. In a, "are you sure it's safe to go down a sand dune on a piece of waxed plywood at 80km an hour?" way. Sick in the best sense of the word.



Julie and I are heading out tomorrow, back on the bus to Zambia, which at this point really does feel like home! This trip has been so amazing. Julie has become an even closer friend, and even though we have only known each other these 2 years of Peace Corps, the memories we have together are just so special. God has truly blessed me with great friends here and at home!

Pray for a safe journey for us back to Zambia. You can read Julie's account of our journey on her blog-link to the left of this post. I'll post photos of the trip on Snapfish...let me know if you need an invite to view them. Miss you all.