Namibia Day 13 - Quads and Dunes

We have a delicious breakfast of French toast and head out early for quad biking, dropping Mom and Gitti off at the promenade for their walk. It's a really foggy day In Swakopmund and we wonder whether it will cause us any problems. Desert Explorers had told us to be there at 8:00, but when we arrive they are not ready for us at all. The guide has not arrived yet and they are still readying the quads. We sign indemnities, pay N$450 for the 90 minute experience and kill time by reading about Brangelina's visit to Namibia and Desert Explorers...

Soon Ben arrives and kits us up with helmets. He gives a very brief instruction on how to drive the 250cc manual quads, and we head off into the dunes. We all get the hang of the 5 gears of the quads pretty quickly, and they have plenty of vooma to power us up the dunes. He starts taking us around more challenging parts, racing up a dune and then doing a sharp turn. We follow his tracks, staying single file to minimize the damage to the desert.



At one point Peter loses momentum on a tricky uphill, and he and I both get stuck in the deep sand. Ben comes back to saves us, reversing the quads for us. He doesn't seem that keen to teach us to reverse. Next we stop for a break, and admire the surroundings. There are just dunes, dunes and more dunes everywhere, and nothing else to be seen. Not a creature or a spot of vegetation. The sun is out, and the sky a brilliant blue. And we pose for some photies.















Continuing on, we gain confidence and speed over and around the beautiful white dunes. Towards the end, we encounter the mist again, and it is kind of eerie riding through it. For me the experience is over a bit soon, but the others feel 90 minutes was just right. We park our quads and head back into Swakop to pick up the ladies.






By this time, we are lus for coffee, and head for the Village Cafe on the main road. Fom the outside it looks small, but it's actually a huge place with an outdoor area at the back. It has a really quirky feel and funky colourful decor. One of the tables is inside an old kombi. We order coffees, rusks, and carrot and cheese cakes and melkterts, everything is great.















We decide to do some shopping and walk around town a bit. After checking out a few souvenir stores, we head to the lighthouse and it's market, and walk down the Mole, which juts out into the sea. A large hotel is being built here, which will have awesome views once finished. We walk down the promenade to the Tug restaurant, which is built out of a real tug boat, and turn up one of the streets to check out some of the old buildings. One is the Kaserne - it used to be a barracks used by the company that built the jetty, now a hostel.















We shop a bit more and then head home for a delicious lunch of quesadillas. We relax for a while and then decide to walk to the Vogelstrand beach. It is a fair walk, past many posh and modern houses in this new upmarket suburb. Most look empty. We reach the beach and discover that it is made up of large grey pebbles, and there are some huge mussel shells. The sun is setting and a fisherman seems to be catching nearby.









Later that evening we enjoy a delicious game potjie, made with red wine, dried fruit, mushrooms, pumpkin, onions, potatoes and carrots. And mopped up with fresh bread and washed down with Jerepigo.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Swakopmund, Namibia