And:
Mom, I'm bring you home some grandchildren:
Ostrich eggs are so tough, you can stand on them.
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.”
Sunday, April 29, 2012
I Hugged an Ostrich
The title says it all:
And:
Mom, I'm bring you home some grandchildren:
Ostrich eggs are so tough, you can stand on them.
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
And:
Mom, I'm bring you home some grandchildren:
Ostrich eggs are so tough, you can stand on them.
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!
If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?
...Yes. Yes, I would.
And I did!
That's right folks. I went bungee jumping- and from the worlds very highest one too. 709 feet!!!
And it was crazy scary. Leading up to it I was like "Yeah, bungee jumping!" and as it got closer and closer and more real I was like "...Bungee jumping?" And as I stood on the edge with my toes dangling over, seconds from falling, I was like "BUNGEE JUMPING?!?!?! What am I doing!?!?"
Someone told me to just keep my eyes on the horizon. Sure, I'll just focus on that and NOT the river and ground and rocks and sharp trees 709 feet below me which I will be joining very soon... Anyhow.
But I somehow got over myself and the horror, the absolute horror (the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced), and took the leap (literally!) and jumped.
And once that was done, the free fall was awesome! Still scary but so cool.
I screamed.
Click and zoom in on this picture. See the people standing in the bridge? It gives some perspective. That you can't even see the ground:
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
...Yes. Yes, I would.
And I did!
That's right folks. I went bungee jumping- and from the worlds very highest one too. 709 feet!!!
And it was crazy scary. Leading up to it I was like "Yeah, bungee jumping!" and as it got closer and closer and more real I was like "...Bungee jumping?" And as I stood on the edge with my toes dangling over, seconds from falling, I was like "BUNGEE JUMPING?!?!?! What am I doing!?!?"
Someone told me to just keep my eyes on the horizon. Sure, I'll just focus on that and NOT the river and ground and rocks and sharp trees 709 feet below me which I will be joining very soon... Anyhow.
But I somehow got over myself and the horror, the absolute horror (the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced), and took the leap (literally!) and jumped.
And once that was done, the free fall was awesome! Still scary but so cool.
I screamed.
Click and zoom in on this picture. See the people standing in the bridge? It gives some perspective. That you can't even see the ground:
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
Friday, April 27, 2012
How Far I've Come
We crossed into South Africa (on a bus since the truck isn't allowed in SA in order to keep the tourism money local) and eventually made it to Cape Agulhas, the southern most point on the continent of Africa.
So close!
I had a cool moment standing there where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet thinking just how far I've come, all the way from Morocco (and Spain and England...)!
I went and dipped my toes in the Atlantic...
And then the Indian...
And then the waves almost took my flip flops away so I got out.
We also went up to the top of the Cape's light house, built in 1848. Ships can see it's light from 30 nautical miles away!
Up up up
See the sea?
The lighthouse light
Look for Cape Agulhas at the veerrrrrrrry bottom. To the right of Cape Town. Pretty far...:
And still more to go!
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
So close!
I had a cool moment standing there where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet thinking just how far I've come, all the way from Morocco (and Spain and England...)!
I went and dipped my toes in the Atlantic...
And then the Indian...
And then the waves almost took my flip flops away so I got out.
We also went up to the top of the Cape's light house, built in 1848. Ships can see it's light from 30 nautical miles away!
Up up up
See the sea?
The lighthouse light
Look for Cape Agulhas at the veerrrrrrrry bottom. To the right of Cape Town. Pretty far...:
And still more to go!
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Skydive
When I woke up, I didn't know I would be skydiving a few hours later.
We had been bush camping for quite awhile and that morning we were going to stay in an actual town, Swakopmund, for a couple of nights. Swakopmund is Namibia's adrenaline activity spot and they offer sand boarding, skydiving, paragliding, quad biking, etc.
We listened to all our options and when I asked about skydiving, the woman told me the best timing with the weather would be that afternoon. So at 2:00, off I went! I was so incredibly excited and so incredibly terrified!
We hopped in the shuttle (Anna and Sharlene went skydiving too and Toni came to take pictures) and made our way to the office to fill out forms, pay, meet the guys who we'd be going with, and fill a cooler with ice and post-jumping drinks. Then off we went to the desert.
We pulled up at the mini airport and and I met the person I would be tandem with, Jack, and the pilot, and my camera man (I opted to get it filmed!)
Jack
We chilled out for a bit waiting for everything to be ready. Everyone was very laid back and joking and soon I wasn't scared at all. I was ready to get the show on the road (or in the sky!)
Anna and I and the giraffe plane
(Anna) Sharlene and I
I got suited up:
I'm going for the teletubbie look.
And I got strapped in.
Then it was time to go!
Good thing 5 months of camping pounded out any vanity I might have had...
All the guys liked doing that sign. Hang loose indeed!
This is our plane:
We went up in the plane. We six were packed like sardines in this little plane but we had some absolutely stunning views. Looking down, I could see the desert, the sand dunes and the massive fog bank rolling over the ocean. Jack, who I was strapped to for jumping, was very nice and reassuring giving me little pats on the head and even a shoulder massage. But I wasn't scared. I was amazed. After 15-20 minutes of climbing, we reached 10,000 feet and it was time to throw myself out of the plane.
The side opened, my camera person went first and then Jack and I sat on the edge. My feet were dangling in the open air and I had a 1/4 second of absolute terror and then we threw ourselves from the plane and were sucked down, down, down, down.
It was wonderful, amazing, radiant, superb, lovely, and everything else good all wrap up in one.
For 30 seconds I was in free fall. I couldn't hear a thing except the wind as we tumbled. And then the parachuted opened and it felt like we had come to a halt even though we still were being sucked towards the ground quite swiftly. For a few more minutes we were in the sky and I flew the parachute for awhile. To go right you pull on the right string and the same for the left. I pulled hard and we banked right doing circles in the sky. It was awesome!
(These are just the pictures taken with my camera. I did get video and better pictures taken of me by my camera guy. I wish I could get them on my iPad but I have no cd drive. There are some great ones though so I'll try and find an internet cafe with an actual computer soon...)
To land I was told to make like I was skiing (never gone skiing) with my legs apart. I was concerned by how quickly the ground was approaching. But we hit the ground, skidded, and stopped and no broken bones!
I made it! And so did Anna and Sharlene!
Hugs all around. We didn't die!
I am so skydiving again. 15,000 feet seems to be the next goal!
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
We had been bush camping for quite awhile and that morning we were going to stay in an actual town, Swakopmund, for a couple of nights. Swakopmund is Namibia's adrenaline activity spot and they offer sand boarding, skydiving, paragliding, quad biking, etc.
We listened to all our options and when I asked about skydiving, the woman told me the best timing with the weather would be that afternoon. So at 2:00, off I went! I was so incredibly excited and so incredibly terrified!
We hopped in the shuttle (Anna and Sharlene went skydiving too and Toni came to take pictures) and made our way to the office to fill out forms, pay, meet the guys who we'd be going with, and fill a cooler with ice and post-jumping drinks. Then off we went to the desert.
We pulled up at the mini airport and and I met the person I would be tandem with, Jack, and the pilot, and my camera man (I opted to get it filmed!)
Jack
We chilled out for a bit waiting for everything to be ready. Everyone was very laid back and joking and soon I wasn't scared at all. I was ready to get the show on the road (or in the sky!)
Anna and I and the giraffe plane
(Anna) Sharlene and I
I got suited up:
I'm going for the teletubbie look.
And I got strapped in.
Then it was time to go!
Good thing 5 months of camping pounded out any vanity I might have had...
All the guys liked doing that sign. Hang loose indeed!
This is our plane:
We went up in the plane. We six were packed like sardines in this little plane but we had some absolutely stunning views. Looking down, I could see the desert, the sand dunes and the massive fog bank rolling over the ocean. Jack, who I was strapped to for jumping, was very nice and reassuring giving me little pats on the head and even a shoulder massage. But I wasn't scared. I was amazed. After 15-20 minutes of climbing, we reached 10,000 feet and it was time to throw myself out of the plane.
The side opened, my camera person went first and then Jack and I sat on the edge. My feet were dangling in the open air and I had a 1/4 second of absolute terror and then we threw ourselves from the plane and were sucked down, down, down, down.
It was wonderful, amazing, radiant, superb, lovely, and everything else good all wrap up in one.
For 30 seconds I was in free fall. I couldn't hear a thing except the wind as we tumbled. And then the parachuted opened and it felt like we had come to a halt even though we still were being sucked towards the ground quite swiftly. For a few more minutes we were in the sky and I flew the parachute for awhile. To go right you pull on the right string and the same for the left. I pulled hard and we banked right doing circles in the sky. It was awesome!
(These are just the pictures taken with my camera. I did get video and better pictures taken of me by my camera guy. I wish I could get them on my iPad but I have no cd drive. There are some great ones though so I'll try and find an internet cafe with an actual computer soon...)
To land I was told to make like I was skiing (never gone skiing) with my legs apart. I was concerned by how quickly the ground was approaching. But we hit the ground, skidded, and stopped and no broken bones!
I made it! And so did Anna and Sharlene!
Hugs all around. We didn't die!
I am so skydiving again. 15,000 feet seems to be the next goal!
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
Skeleton Coast
A few days after Etosha National Park and about 5 days into bush camping, we made it to Namibia's coast line- Skeleton Coast. Pretty ominous, eh?
We drove through miles and miles of dry nothingness to get there.
It's called skeleton coast because ships would pull ashore and nobody would survive the treck across the desert to find water. So abandonned ships are supposedly scattered all along the coast. We only saw one. But we did see whale skeletons and animal skulls.
Our not-so-overwhelming shipwreck.
It was surprisingly cold and windy for a desert. You can see I'm pretty bundled up!
Sitting on a whale bone with me two friends.
Why did the skeleton not attend the party? Because he had NO BODY to go with! Har har har...
Lunch time
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
We drove through miles and miles of dry nothingness to get there.
It's called skeleton coast because ships would pull ashore and nobody would survive the treck across the desert to find water. So abandonned ships are supposedly scattered all along the coast. We only saw one. But we did see whale skeletons and animal skulls.
Our not-so-overwhelming shipwreck.
It was surprisingly cold and windy for a desert. You can see I'm pretty bundled up!
Sitting on a whale bone with me two friends.
Why did the skeleton not attend the party? Because he had NO BODY to go with! Har har har...
Lunch time
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
Etosha National Park
A few days into bush camping, we came into Etosha National Park.
We saw elephant, lions, zebras, wildebeests, giraffes, kudu, oryx, fox type things, ostriches, and other animals that I don't know the name of.
I'd see these animals on tv or in the zoo but it was awesome seeing them up close and in the wild.
We also had a quick glimpse of a rhino but not enough time to get a picture. But before he galloped away he let out a loud stinky ripper. Ah, wildlife is amazing- no butts about it!
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
We saw elephant, lions, zebras, wildebeests, giraffes, kudu, oryx, fox type things, ostriches, and other animals that I don't know the name of.
I'd see these animals on tv or in the zoo but it was awesome seeing them up close and in the wild.
We also had a quick glimpse of a rhino but not enough time to get a picture. But before he galloped away he let out a loud stinky ripper. Ah, wildlife is amazing- no butts about it!
- Sent from Africa using my iPad
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