Swakopmund

Things are COLD here in Namibia's Little Berlin. Sand, sea, konditorei... what more do you need?

Yesterday I went horseback riding (yes, they have a horse riding school here why?) to the Moon Landscape, which is shockingly moon-like. I should have known, right? THat was cool, except I've never used an English saddle and the other girl going insisted on a trot, which my horse imitated with painful results.

Today I took a tour to Sandwich Harbor. I wanted to do a birding tour, but couldn't find one and this was recommended since I'd see birds en route. Luckily, the guide was a twitcher and stopped to show me every bird on the way. Sweet! He could tell I was new at it and was full of tips. We saw lots of sea birds, a few endemics, the man-made bird island where they harvest the guano, and we off-roaded all over those dunes. I was riding shotgun, and told him he should have charged extra for that seat... some of those dunes were steep going down! The tide was too high to get all the way to the harbor, but we saw some ancient gravesites, learned all about sand dunes and desert vegetation and wildlife, saw the salt works, and had a lovely picnic lunch with homemade lasagne and chicken liver pate, and apple crumble for dessert. Wayne at Turnstone Tours knows how to class it up! I'm so glad I went.