South Africa part 2 - Namibia

11 augustus 2014 - Windhoek, Namibië

Hey everyone!

On our final morning of the travel, right before our flight home, I am writing this travel story. It feels very strange and a bit sad to say goodbye to the traveling life. But most of all we are very exited to go home, hug our family and friends and start with a new part of our life. However, before today we have done a lot of amazing things in South Africa and Namibia! Let me tell you about it.

We arrived after yet another drive with the Bazbus in Wilderness, a small town surrounded by (again!) beautiful nature. The house we stayed in was very rustic and the owner of the hostel was an extremely friendly old man. We decided to go canoeing with three Dutch girls we met: Sophie, Sharon and Brit. It was a lot of fun. After an hour we arrived at the place where we should drop the canoes, cross the water with a raft and hike the remaining distance to the waterfall. Beautiful. After cheering in our orange T-shirts during a long and unsuccessful match of the Dutch football team (let's not go on about it), we went to Oudtshoorn.

Unfortunately Stefania was was not feeling well, but nevertheless she went with us on a tour to visit the impressive caves and the ostrich farm. Dedication! The caves were amazing, huge and slippery. We chose the adventure tour, so we had to worm ourselves through very small holes, crawl under low hanging ceilings and slide across the slippery floor. It was awesome. The ostrich farm however was a big disappointment. The ostriches were not looking very healthy, there were too much people and there was the opportunity to ride on a not happy looking ostrich, which we obviously did not take.

After this we went to Mossel Bay, did practically nothing but stay in the nice hostel and went on to Hermanus. Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to Stefania for now, we would meet her again in Cape Town. In Hermanus we stayed in a great hostel, very nice and cosy. The reason to stay in this small town was to go whale watching. And wale watching we did. Wauw, those animals are very impressive. They were extremely close to the boat, let's say that if they would have come any closer the boat would have been in trouble. There were so many and most of them were busy with mating rituals. Most of the ladies did not really feel like it, they turned in the water to lay on their backs so that the males couldn't reach them. This gave us a great opportunity to see also the bottom of the whale, with a stunning characteristic of a bright white spot on the belly. The sound that they make is also impressive, the air comes out of their blowholes with a massive force. We were very lucky to see all of this, perfect timing.

In Stellenbosch we obviously joined on a wine tour. 'Obviously', because there are more wine houses than schools/churches/stores in the region, which is saying a lot. It was really great, the group we went with was very nice, the houses were beautiful and we got a lot of information about the wine making process in South Africa and about the wines theirselves. With the visit to one of the winehouses, there was a cheese tasting included. Well, Janneke and me hadn't had good cheese in literally months, so we felt very spoiled. Of course we had to buy some of the cheeses and a lovely red sweet desertwine, so we could enjoy it one more time in the hostel.

When we arrived in Cape Town we were blown away by the hostel. It was perfect for a whole week stay in the beautiful capital of South Africa. In Cape Town we saw a lot: a huge foodmarket, a great aquarium, the beautiful waterfront, Robben Island wih the famous prison where Nelson Mandelenwas held, nice architecture in the city and the Cape Peninsula, were the Table Mountain National Park is situated and also the Cape of Good Hope. The most special was the visit to the Table Mountain. We went up wih the cable car, which allows you to have a perfect view over the city. Once you are on the top you realise: yep, this is flat. After a bit of hiking on the top we could see the whole Cape Peninsula. We were again quite lucky with the weather, most of the time the mountain has a table cloth of clouds but this day was nice and bright. We also had a good time with the people in the hostel, it was very nice to see Stefania again en we had good times with our roommate Line, thank you guys!!!

Our wonderful stay in South Africa had come to an end. I now realise that I haven't mentioned the cold once in the story. It was very cold, so cold that we bought a heater haha, but apparently the nice things weigh much more.

The busride to Namibia was good, it felt very safe, there were enough stops and we had some good entertainment. The buscompany Intercape is very religious, so we heard a lot about how God could save us. It was a diferent experience for sure. In Windhoek we chilled a bit, before we went to Swakopmund. We were there to do the one thing we both had not done: skydiving. We were surrounded by dessert and at a few kilometers distance was te ocean. The plane was kind of cute, with black dots and a tiny compartment inside. There was no door. What? There was NO door. Haha. Only an open space on the side of the plane from where we were jumping. Janneke's jumping instructure was Paul, mine was Dereck. Great guys who already made over 10.000 jumps. After a nice scenic flight it was time to jump out of the plane. Janneke went first, I saw her kind of being sucked out of the plane and starting the freefall. Then my instructor hopped towards the 'exit' with me on his lap, you wear the instructor kind of like a backpack. We rocked a few times back and forth and then we just let go. The freefall was awesome, I am not sure if I can describe the feeling. I guess you should go and experience it for yourself ;). But in any case, it is amazing. The paragliding after the freefall is mostly a lot of fun. And before you know it, you are approaching the ground and landing on your two feet. It was truly a great way to end this trip: with a bang!

When we come back in the Netherlands, we will write a final piece to conclude the blog. Also, we have then the access to good computers, so we can finally post all of the pictures.

Oke, it is time to go to the airport now! Holland, here we come! See you soon!!!

Kisses and hugs, Fleur

3 Reacties

  1. Nienke:
    11 augustus 2014
    Ook Afrika klinkt geweldig! Goede reis terug meiden en tot snel!! :) xxx
  2. John:
    12 augustus 2014
    aiiiii, van Table mountain naar Lemelerberg mountain... zal wel even wennen worden, maar eerst iid: hugs and kisses vandaag!!!!
  3. Wiebe&Daniela:
    12 augustus 2014
    Hoi Janneke en Fleur,
    Welkom terug in Nederland, we hebben elkaar ontmoet in de trein vanuit Moskow da's alweer een hele tijd geleden. Al die tijd hebben we jullie blogs met veel plezier en jaloezie gelezen ;-)
    Wiebe & Daniela