Swakopmund is, in a word, strange. This little German settlement in the middle of nowhere sits isolated, surrounded by vast sand dunes on three sides and the cold Atlantic Ocean on the other. Driving down along the Skeleton coast, there were vast horizons of sandy and rocky plains with nothing all around, and then, all of a sudden, we came upon this town with paved roads and proper buildings and markets, wedged into a little area of mostly five or six blocks from the ocean to the interior and maybe ten blocks wide, along with just a tiny bit of suburbs and housing on the fringes, though those are also all confined to a few main roads, so the unusual town fits nicely into a little rectangular area when seen from above, in stark contrast to the light brown of the desert all around. Apart from a significant fishing port, Walvis Bay, about 60 kilometers to the South, there is almost nothing around, making the place an oasis in the area, if that's even possible to have an oasis bordering an ocean (though an inhospitable piece of it). In fact, the remake of the show, The Prisoner, a show where a prisoner is isolated in a very strange small town where no one ever leaves because of the desert all around, was filmed here.
We did a quick tour of the tiny village in our truck to get our bearings and then arrived at our bungalows for the next few nights, most of us quite happy to not have to put up and put down tents for a change. The little bungalows fit the quirky character of the place well, entering into a little rest area with some pastel colored A frames that looked like ski lodges built on the wrong continent along with our little boxy two room houses, complete with a tiny kitchen and bathroom in each. Though there were two tiny beds in my cramped room, I got the bedroom to myself, sharing the house with Bruce and Stuart, the two older English men who often kept me entertained. Bruce had incredible stories from his many, many years of travelling to exotic locations, and he and Stuart always had a lively banter going between the two of them, whether in the heat of a nightly cribbage match or just making fun of each other or something they saw out of the window of the truck.
Walking around town added to the strange feel of the place, finding the streets mostly empty, still shaded in the cool fog of the day. The palm-lined boulevards feature a few tourist shops and a number of historic Germanic houses and buildings, nicely painted in a very European style. There was also a nice promenade of palms trees and sidewalk along the waterfront, though the windy day didn't make for a very pleasant stroll. In spite of all its amenities, each of us still couldn't shake the odd vibe that we were getting from Swakopmund (or Swakop for short). For our first night back in some semblance of civilization, we opted for a nicer group dinner, heading off to the Lighthouse for a nice dinner where a few of us tried some of the local meat including oryx/gemsbok and springbok, both tasting like a nice tender meat similar to steak. We finished off the night with a visit to the local pub/dance club, finding a less than lively scene that featured mostly us on the dance floor (not so much me) and a little scuffle between a few of the locals who had too much to drink.
The next morning I walked the ten minutes back into town from our bungalows, finding more of the quiet, eerie streets, and I grabbed a few donuts for the road, jogging back just in time to catch the shuttle for the first of my two big adventure activities for the day: sandboarding. Though I had barely only snowboarded for a few hours, the idea of strapping on a board and riding down the massive sand dunes sounded like fun, so I joined the tour, along with Slavek (a Polish tour operator in his 30s living in London) and Richard (a retired American who teaches online university courses) from our group. Our surfer-dude guide and his friendly dog joined us in the minivan with a few other passengers, and we headed off. Just a few minutes outside of town, we left the fog and haze behind, emerging into the bright sunlight and much higher temperatures (though being winter, it was only about 27 C/80 F). We parked outside a field of massive yellow-orange sand dunes, got our gear and headed up the hill. As all of the others doing the sandboarding had done snowboarding before, there was not much real instruction, so I grabbed my board, along with my big boots and helmet and started the steep trek up the dunes.
I was hoping we'd start on a little slope and progress forward, but we went straight for the big one standing about 120 meters high (about 400 feet), taking about 15 minutes to walk up in the loose sand. The steep descent would have surely been a black diamond ski slope, but the sand creates a little more friction and slows you down a bit (you wax the board every time you go), though it still looked very intimidating to me. Not only that, just in front of us down the steep drop was a small wooden ramp for a jump, though I knew I'd be staying away from that for a while. I started slowly, cutting straight across the huge slope to lessen the angle, sliding down back and forth with my hands outstretched, tapping the sand here and there to keep my balance. At times it felt like I got the hang of it, though whenever I would pick up speed, I feared I was getting out of control, so I either turned back into the hill or fell for a soft stop in the cushioning sand. I never got to the point where I was fast or skilled, but I did have a great time trying out the sandboarding, and I'd love to try it again. Slavek, on the other hand, is quite good, having done a lot of snowboarding back in Europe. While most of us started out slow, he hopped on and sped right down the middle of the mountain as if it were no big deal. For one of his next runs, he decided to go for the jump, losing his balance just before takeoff, resulting in an impressive face-plant into the sand. Though he didn't make it, we all applauded his effort, and he did do a slightly better one the next time around.
After an hour or so of sliding down the hill and climbing back up, we got a chance to try out the other activity of the day, sandboarding on a flat piece of wood while laying down, speeding down the dune. Richard had opted for this from the beginning, not wanting to deal with the stand up boarding. This group had begun at the same time as us, practicing on a few smaller dunes before moving up to the top of the big slope with us. We, the group that did the stand-up boarding also, didn't have that luxury, so we were given a 30 second introduction and sent on our way. You simply lay flat on your stomach on top of a thin piece of some sort of wood/plasterboard with your knees right at the bottom of the board, lifting your legs slightly and then dragging your feet if you want to slow down or need to straighten out. Laying flat on my stomach, face just inches from the ground, I set up on the edge of the huge dune, looking down with quite a bit of anxiety. I had seen one or two runs before me, speeding down the hill and not looking too difficult, but that wasn't much comfort. With my arms bent at the elbows and splayed out like chicken wings, I held the front of the board and simply picked the front up to get myself going, being reminded not to put the front end down, as that would result in spinning out and lots of sand in my face. I picked up a lot of speed very quickly on the very steep slope, sliding past the first hill, slightly leveling out for just a second and then plummeting down into the second pit, feeling a little bit out of control, yet still running straight enough. Just a few seconds later, I flew up the other side of the dune, coming to a stop and hearing the worker with the radar gun tell me that I got up to 70 kilometers per hour (42 mph), which is very, very fast when your face is just barely above the surface. While in action, I was scared and unsure how safe it actually was, but right when I hit the bottom, I wanted to go again.
I grabbed my board and hiked back up the dune as quickly as possible, ready for another run. This time was a little more fun and slightly less scary, though it's still daunting looking down from the top of the sand. Again, I managed to keep the board straight and had another good run, though the guy after me got a little out of control at the very end of his run while slowing down, getting the board turned sideways, kicking up sand and eventually rolling off the board, though at this point, it wasn't dangerous, just a dirty, sandy wipeout. Really enjoying the speed, I hiked quickly up again, making it in time for one last run in which I hit 72 kph, though the record is apparently 80, probably set by one of the workers with a running start or something. To finish off, we made one more tiring climb up the dunes, coming back down on the stand up/snow boards. As before, I wasn't the greatest, but I managed just a bit more speed and agility, though I still have a long way to go before making it down the hill with any bit of flair or grace. We finished at the bottom of the dunes with a quick lunch before heading back, where our instructor talked to me for 15 minutes about Madagascar after learning that I'd be visiting the country later in my trip, since he spent four months there and loved the place. We got back to our odd bungalows for a quick break before starting my next activity for the day - quadbiking (aka riding ATVs).
(The strange town of Swakopmund, a few squares of German architecture and strange houses in the middle of the desert, fronting the cold coastline. This is also one of the tourist centers of Namibia, known for some of its adventure activities. The empty streets of the town have a very weird, surreal feel.)
(For my first forray into the dunes, we left the cold, misty coast and within minutes were back in the hot sun and desert. This is an aerial view of the sand dunes that we climbed for a sandboarding adventure - just using a snowboard with a bunch of wax to go down some incredibly steep sand dunes.)
(Without much/any snowboarding experience, I wasn't the greatest sand boarder, but it was still a lot of fun to slide down the huge dune, though not as fun to climb back up with the board and heavy boots every time.)
(After quite a few runs on the sandboard, most of us switched over to the lie-down sandboarding. This was even more scary to start, as they let us start at the top of the steepest hill, without any real instruction. You basically lay headfirst on this tiny little piece of wood/plasterboard and pick up the front of the board, so that it doesn't get stuck in the sand. Then gravity takes over, and you fly down the super steep dunes, with your face just inches from the oncoming sand.)
(Despite being rather scary, this style of sandboarding was amazing, and I raced back up the hill for a few more runs. With a radar gun at the bottom, they measured our speed, and I got up to 72 kph - 43mph. Pretty fast when sliding down a hill on your stomach. At the end, you come into a huge basin and back up a hill to slow you down, though if you turn just slightly (a few people did), you go flying off and spinning through the sand. Fortunately, I stayed on my board.)
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