So this past weekend, 11 of us decided to go camping! We settled in Rehoboth which is a really small city famous for it's natural hot springs (nothing beats really hot water in a pool during the summer days in Namibia!). Rehoboth was only 80 km (yup, it's all about the metric system here in Africa) south of Windhoek.
We loaded our stuff and had 2 drivers from our program drive us to what we thought was our camping site. Unknown to us, we were at the wrong camping place, as the sites we found were in a field, right next door to a neighborhood. Looking out the flap of the tent, we saw a large cement wall that separated us from the neighbors! On the flip side, one nice part was that our spot was really close to the hotsprings, which we found to be quite relaxing and comfortable to swim in during the later evening. At first when I thought of hotsprings, I thought it would be like the hotsprings at Yellowstone National Park out west, but in Rehoboth, the hotsprings provided the hot-water for a large indoor pool that looked a bit similar to the ancient Greek baths houses. It was quite an experience!
On Saturday, we made our way to Oanob Dam--which was where we were actually supposed to camp. Oanob was beautiful! When the computer works a bit better I'll load up some pictures! Some people went canoeing, and I went on a hike around the lake. Hiking outside with the African sun beating on your neck but in some of the most beautiful scenery, is a perfect day in my mind!
Here are some other random highlights from the weekend trip:
~getting locked in the bathroom on the first night of camping and having to climb over the wall into the next stall to get out!
~seeing wild horses and donkeys while hiking around the dam
~eating lots and lots of peanut butter since my buddies and I were skeptical of bringing in lots of food and were trying to live simply for the weekend
~smores with sugar cookies since there aren't graham crackers in Namibia
~making friends with Namibians on Saturday night who lived in the area. They invited us to hang out, talk, dance, and eat grilled goat sausage with them. The next morning, 2 of the women took us on a short hike to see some big rocks and water where some people like to swim
~seeing a couple baboons while driving back to Windhoek
Overall it was a wonderful weekend... I got to relax, enjoy nature, and feel closer to friends on the trip. Namibia is completely beautiful and I look forward to more exploring!
Later this week, I'll more out of the house to stay with a family in the Windhoek area. After the fun of the last home stay in Soweto, I'm really excited!
I'm not so excited about the amount of reading that I have to do... so maybe I'll get on that!
peace out and more to come :)
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