Namibia Day 2 (February 15, 2009)

Day 2 in Namibia was jam packed with extreme sports! We woke up to the African heat, it was incredibly hot outside. I obviously had not adjusted well to the African heat either, because I had woke up with a v-neck tan line (more so sunburn), which I had gotten from our walk in Walvis Bay. We left the beach house in search of a place to eat. The search just lead us back to the restaurant we had eaten at the previous night, oh well. After lunch, we went and got some ice cream. The flavor I chose was great! Like nothing I had ever tasted before – Kiwi. Some of the main tourist attractions in Namibia are extreme sports in the sand dunes (ATVing, sand-boarding, etc.). So we found a place, called Outdoor Orange, to go ATVing. Our group was fairly big so only Mark, Matt, Jack, Dean and I went today. I couldn’t wait, but was a little nervous. We all were presented the contracts, and signed our lives away for the first time on the trip. Not to say anymore signings are going to come, but you never know. There was a two hour lay away before our venture actually started and four untouched computers with unlimited internet access…so…we did what any male students deprived of the internet for the past month would do -- Facebook and ESPN! Once it was time though, we hit the road for the desert. Upon arrival, we did a quick tutorial and got fitted for helmets. Then, with no other prior experience to riding ATVs, I hit the dunes (along with the rest of the group). It was very intense at first, but I soon got the hang of it. It took Matt awhile to get used to his though; his stalled out and he went about 150 yards in the other direction. It was hilarious. The best description for the entire experience is that it is like an on-going roller coaster which never stops. However, at any moment, the bike can feel like it is going to completely flip over; especially when riding up and down a huge sand dune. The largest dune we rode on was probably in the height range of 100 feet. Picture these beautifully and naturally-laid sand dunes, which don’t even look real. Then picture five guys in their early 20s on off-road machines with a max speed of around 50 mph. Put two and two together and it is a great picture. It is somewhat of a great and intense feeling, looking at all of the beautiful sand hills while riding on an ATV through the desert. Then when the time comes, ripping that dune apart with you ATV. It is kind of hard to explain. The whole trip was great besides for the last ten minutes. My ATV stalled out on me (I think because we had them all on max speed the entire time). I ended up doing the last ten minutes of the venture on the back of one of the guide’s bike – “got to be flexible”. It was a pretty funny sight though, and it gave me a chance to really enjoy the scenery. Once we got back to the beach, we immediately headed down to the beach to watch the sunset. Jack and I played the guitar as we were all down there – a very cool experience. That night we ended up hanging out with a lot more S.A.S. kids, it was great to see some more familiar faces.