Namib Desert, Namibia

2/15/09

Namib Desert, Namibia

My day started early on my second day in Namibia. I was embarking on my first SAS trip called “The Geological Wonders of the Namib Desert” We left at 7 am, which I was excited about because there is no better time to go to the desert than in the morning. The sun had just risen as we drove the 40 km (25 miles) to the Namib. We were in 4x4 Jeep-like vans. The desert was beautiful. It is one of the oldest deserts in the world, thought to have been arid for 55 million years. Namibia only gets a few centimeters of rain each year. Our guide taught us how to find water using plants, and which plants have edible fruit. Hopefully I’ll never need that knowledge though! About 3 hours into our drive, we stopped for a surprise and some snacks. In my Plant Biology class last quarter, we studied Welwitschia, a two-leaved plant that has no other living relatives and only grows in the Namib Desert. They can live up to be 2000 years old, and are considered “living fossils.” I never thought I’d see one, but there were about 10 of them where we stopped for snacks! I thought they were amazing. The oldest one we saw was estimated to be around 750 or 800 years old. I was really excited because I just recently studied them, and was excited that my education is actually pertinent. I was able to have a real experience related to something I never thought I would see.
After examining the Welwitschias, we had snacks. Snacks consisted of juice, some chips, and oysters! Oysters are not native to Namibia, they were imported from South America; but because of the large amount of nutrients in the Namibian ocean, they grow twice as fast here. It only takes 9 months as opposed to 18 months for the oysters to mature. I think I’ve only had oysters once before, and the texture really freaked me out. However, I have a rule on this trip to try any food someone recommends, so I had to try one. I actually liked it! With a little lime juice and Tabasco sauce it was really good. The texture was still a little weird to me, but I didn’t mind as much as I did when I was younger.
We returned to Dune 7 again, its one of the main attractions of southern Namibia. We then returned to the ship. I met up with a bunch of friends and we took taxis to Swakopmund. Unfortunately it was Sunday and most of the stores were closed. We have been in a number of ports on Sundays, and it always amazes me how almost everything shuts down. Life in California would be very different if things were closed on Sundays. A few stores were open though, as were restaurants. We hung out at the beach too, which is always open! The water was warm. The sunset was absolutely beautiful! We headed to a pizza place (apparently Namibia has really good pizza?), and it actually was very good. I called my parents and was really excited to talk to them. I hadn’t talked to them since Spain, since they were in the Caribbean when I was in Morocco. It was really nice to hear their voices!!!