Conquering Dune 7

Friday morning we headed to Walvis Bay, which is about a 30 minute drive south of Swakopmund. It is the largest port in Namibia, and serves much of the southern Africa interior. We met with a representative from the Walvis Bay Export Zone, and then from a labor representative, who has a very opposite view of the export zone policies. Basically, the export zone provides incentives to foreign countries, in an attempt to attract foreign investment. All sorts of incentives are provided, and in return the companies employ Namibians, which eventually should help the economy. However, there are lots of issues raised with this policy, because it hasn’t always worked out well for the Namibian government.

We picnicked at Walvis Bay, where we saw lots and lots of flamingos! It was so exciting! I’d never seen flamingos in the wild before, and there were hundreds feeding in the lagoon. Due to their diet, the flamingos at Walvis Bay are very pink. They are a pale pinkish-white, but when they spread their wings you can see a darker pink.

Flamingos at Walvis Bay

After lunch and a short meeting at the Walvis Bay Wellness Center, we headed into the Namib Desert to climb Dune 7!! Dune 7 is one of the tallest dunes in Namibia, which makes it one of the tallest in the world (according to the Namibia tourist center, one of the dunes in the Namib is the tallest in the world). To reach the top, you have to climb almost straight up 1200 feet in burning hot sand. It was probably the most intense thing I’ve ever done. I couldn’t make it more than about 10 or 15 steps at a time before I needed to stop and catch my breath, but the breaks weren’t that great either because the sand was so hot, it was painful to stop and have your feet sink into the sand until you were buried halfway up your shin. Once I finally reached the top I was out of breath, needed water (which of course was at the bottom), and my legs were cramping up. But once I recovered slightly, it was so amazing!

View from the top of Dune 7. Look at how steep it is, and how small the cars are!

We are strong women: we reached the top!

It was so surreal to be standing at the top of a sand dune in the middle of the Namib Desert. In one direction all you could see were miles and miles of desert. In the other direction, you could see over the sand dunes to miles and miles of ocean. So beautiful! It was also liberating to stand at the top. We trekked over the top of the dune to a higher point. I can only imagine what it must have been like to live in the desert long ago, and go for long treks over the dunes. Looking down at the palm trees, I wouldn’t have been surprised if there had been a caravan of camels walking by. I was filled with so much joy, and wonder, and amazement. Such a great experience!

The way down was also a lot of fun. Some people somersaulted down, someone else cartwheeled part of the way, others log rolled down. I chose to bound down, leaping off the dune. It was awesome getting to see people full of energy, excited about being in the desert.

Katelyn, me, and Joel at the top of Dune 7

Saturday was a free day, so the group split up. Some people hung around Swakopmund, others went kayaking with lots of seals in Walvis Bay. There were 8 of us, though, who chose to go sandboarding! Half of our group did stand up sandboarding, which is just like snowboarding, except on a sand dune. The other half of us did the lying down option, which was a little like sledding. Every time we went down, we had to hike back up to the top of the dune. It was a whole lot easier than climbing Dune 7 – less steep, more compacted sand – but it was still difficult. We rode down on what was essentially a piece of plywood, but it was so fun! There was one run where they used a speed gun to see how fast we were going. I hit 70 km/hour! That’s so fast!! (it’s a little over 40mph). It was an exciting day. Then in the afternoon Linda, our development professor, led yoga on the beach.

It was such a fun trip. I just want to go back to Swakopmund! I feel like I left part of my heart there.

Dunes where we went sandboarding

Also, a HUGE thank you to Tamara Siburg! I didn't bring my camera to the top of Dune 7 because I was worried about sand ruining my camera, so the pictures from the top are all due to her marvelous camera!!