Namibia!

Five days before I turned 25, three friends and I (heretofor referred to as 'the kweens') left the cold of Lesotho for the deserts of Namibia as soon as school finished for the winter break.

We rented a car and drove all around the country, camping most of the time and making a loop that took us from Windhoek in the relative center of the country, north to Etosha National Park, west to the skeleton coast, the rock formations at Spitzkoppe and the adorably strange, extremely German town by the sea of Swakopmund, then south to the awe-inspiring sand dunes of Sossusvlei and finally northeast to the capital of Windhoek, where it all began.

Namibia is one of the most desolate countries in the world, which means that as soon as you leave a town or city, you can drive all day and not see a soul. It's dramatic in the vastness and diversity of the landscape and how it juxtaposes the clean, developed towns and cities. It was my first road-trip ever, and I felt so utterly free and capable and ALIVE. It wasn't even on my radar as a place beyond the name until less than a year ago, but it is without a doubt the coolest place I've ever been.

Words are great, but photos are better. Scroll down to have a look. The arrows point in the direction we drove.

So, we started in Windhoek (yes, where the beer is from). 

From the beginning, Namibia felt worlds apart from anywhere else I've been in Africa. Windhoek is CLEAN, maybe the cleanest city I've ever been in. I didn't take any photos because it's hard to capture a feel for a whole street from one building, but the architecture is very dutch/german, and it's incredibly developed. Cafe's and ATM's and cute bars abound. There weren't even any fruit vendors on the street...it felt like we had left Africa.

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After meeting up with Sheri, eating a huge burger and spending a night in Windhoek, we drove straight to Etosha. Etosha means the great white place or something, and it fit the description. The ground and the plants that grew out of it were barren and chalky white to pale yellow. I was amazed that it could support all the life it does.

hey friends

at the watering hole, magic happens

crocodile branch

zazoo!

waves of sand

and then this happened, our last night there. Naturally, I cried in joy.
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From there, we drove to the skeleton coast, which is where the desert meets the ocean. As soon as Sheri parked, we tore out of the car, threw off our clothes, and ran screaming like banshees into the freezing cold ocean, feeling utterly alive and breathless with joy. All around us were lion footprints, because it's the only place on earth where lions are adapted to live by the ocean. Camping on the beach that night was a little bit scary in that kind of delicious way; we didn't venture far from our car/tents to pee.

just, ya know, an adorable cafe with amazing coffee and pie by the roadside

Namibia is a geologists wet dream 

remnants of a car tearing past us

well hello gorgeous

That's how kweens change a tire 

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The day of my cancer crab sister kweens birthday

we drove to Spitzkoppe, stopping a couple times to explore some shipwrecks and once to simply run into the ocean. I felt like the woman in that book Tracks (about a woman walking with only her camels through the australian outback), wind pitting sand against my mostly bare flesh. I kind of get why people lose it in the desert...if you go deep enough into it, it seems like that's all there is and all there ever will be. We asked the only person we could see if we could camp by Spitzkoppe for the night, and after she gave the okay, we ended the day with a lil rock climb, cards and rum n' coke.

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The day of my birthday, we drove to Swakopmund, and ended up having an incredibly delicious international brunch with a lot of people in our hostel (skeleton beach backpackers: go there. Friendly people and nice digs). Around the table were a Swedish traveler, a Croatian pilot, a Japanese traveler, us, and three fun folks from California. We toasted to new friends and a new year for me over mimosas and pancakes while a german parade went on outside. They say that Swakopmund is more German that Germany; colonialism looks a little different everywhere you go. Here it was particularly intense.

We all went to the beach together, and then the kweens went to a nice seafood dinner. We partied with everyone in our hostel that night, and I woke up the next morning thinking about how grateful I am to be living the life that I am.

lookin' witchy. feelin' 25

Then we went sandboarding. Like snowboarding, but more stuff in your crevices. Also softer falls.

yas kween

Don ya crown

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We stopped in Walvis Bay to pretend to run up some dunes, chat with the seals, see the skittish flamingos and eat some amazing seafood.

Then it was south to Sossusvlei,

thats how we do it where we from 

#Iwashere

where we arrived in pitch black, slap happy and out of our minds from the day of driving. Words can't describe how incredible those pre-historic orange dunes are, and my pictures hardly do it justice. But here they are. Lets just say it was a magical time.  

Also, there is no feeling in the world like running down a sand dune. The soft sand catches you like some kind of amorphous comforter, and I wanted to keep running forever.

Sheri drove like a mad-womankween all day from Sossusvlei to Windhoek in one day, and we ended up staying at a super-dope hostel (Chameleon Backpackers. Go there) and meeting some PCV's from Namibia who were about to COS (be DONE) in the next few days, the night before we flew out.

And then we left, feeling happy and sandy from the inside out.