Here are my answer’s to Cee’s Share your world 30 January 2017

What is the most incredible natural venue that you’ve ever seen in person?

I am privileged enough to be able to visit many incredible natural venues in my own country and neighbouring African countries. It’s the birds and wildlife that attract us to visit over and over again. But the most unusual natural venue I visited in 2015 was Sossusvlei which is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park of Namibia. Those magnificent Red Dune are mind boggling.

We climbed to the top of this one

We took an hour and a half flight over the dunes and looked down on our lodgings – our hut is the first one in the row this side of the main buildings.

How many siblings do you have? What’s your birth order?

I have two brothers and a sister. I am number two. Big Brother is three years older than I am. My sister is two years younger and Baby Brother is seven years younger than I.

If you were a shoe, what kind would you be and why?

Well I would not choose to be a shoe! But I love boots – so that’s what I’ll choose as long as they’re made from real leather and don’t have killer heels.

What is the strangest/weirdest thing you have ever eaten?

Several years ago we stayed at Lokotula Lodge, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe – another phenomenal natural venue.

Earl and Me with The Victoria Falls thundering behind us – September 2002.

On our first evening we ate at The Boma which is an area enclosing guests under the glittering African sky. There were sumptuous braaied (barbequed) meats to choose from the buffet and we tried a whole variety including warthog – you can read my story about that here.

As we were wandering around choosing our dishes one of the servers said, “Would you like some mopani worm?” “No thank you,” I replied. “But you must,”he insisted and not wanting to offend him both my hubby and I swallowed one each. It really wasn’t bad but not something I’d rush back to have any time soon! Well, we continued with our meal and when one of the hostesses came to enquire how we’d enjoyed the food, we told her that it had all been delicious. “Did you have mopani worms?”she asked. We replied proudly that we had and she promptly wrote out a certificate for each of us. So we have proof!

Optional Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

This week I am grateful for my precious husband, the wonderful friends we have made in our new home, Struisbaai and of course for the family and friends in Cape Town and the rest of the world too.

Young and in love – On our Wedding Day – 1987-01-30

Still in love thirty years later – 2017-01-30

We don’t have many friends in Struisbaai but last night we invited them all to help us celebrate our thirtieth wedding anniversary. Looking back on our years together brought home to us how much we have survived and how much we have been blessed. They have certainly been dramatic, exciting and adventurous years and we would not have changed a thing.

We don’t plan ahead so I am just looking forward to the surprises that are bound to happen in the coming week.

Saturday 6 June 2015 Sossusvlei

Our wake-up call is a knock on the door at 4:30 am. It is a tad chilly and we all meet wrapped up in fleeces and warm jackets. It is an hour’s drive to the sunrise spot. We take photos of the rising sun before climbing a high dune.

Dune Sunrise

The name, Sossusvlei, comes from two languages – Sossus is the Nama word meaning No Return – or – Dead End. Vlei is the Afrikaans word for marsh or pan. The actual Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan which fills with water on the rare occasion that it rains. There is no water in it when we visit. The name “Sossusvlei” also refers to the surrounding area (including other neighbouring vleis such as Deadvlei and other high dunes), which is one of the major visitor attractions of Namibia. The area has many high sand dunes of a vivid pinkish/orangish/reddish colour caused by the high content of iron in the sand and the consequent oxidation processes. The older the dune, the redder the colour. Big Daddy is 380m high and this is the one we climb!

Big Daddy

Erich at the top

The dry pans look white because of the high salt content

Wendy does well but has a height phobia so decides to go back down after a while. As we climb it seems to get steeper and steeper with each footfall! There are a number of other climbers, some in groups, some individual. We have a photographic group in front of us so they keep stopping to take interesting and creative photographs giving us an excuse to rest frequently! We are supposed to descend at a certain point and go down to Deadvlei but I turn back and go the way I came meeting Sammy on his way up and he tells me to return so as to get to Deadvlei with him. Omiword – another upward climb before I can descend! I am feeling a bit shaky – from low blood pressure or altitude intolerance – or perhaps I’m just not fit enough for dune climbing!

The descent is lovely. We make our way to Deadvlei where the trees have been dead for almost a thousand years. There is underground water so there is a grove of green trees there too. We wonder around and take creative photos and then make our way back to the vehicle.

Looking across to one of the dunes

A short drive to Sossusvlei and we disembark once again where we find a beautifully laid breakfast table set up by Sammy who then presents us with cereal, fruit salad, yoghurt, cold meats, boiled eggs and fresh bread. Wow. The Cape Sparrows think it was for them and twitter away in the trees until we give in and feed them a few crumbs.

Our return trip takes us past all the amazing dunes and we marvel at the shapes and contrasting colours. We stop to photograph Dune 45 so named because it is 45 km from Sossus Dune Lodge.

By now it is hot and we all take off the outer layers. Back at the lodge I have a shower and change into shorts.

I put on cargo pants and take a fleece to fly over the dunes in the afternoon. We have to go to another lodge just outside the park to get our over-dune flight. We pay our fare, receive proper tickets and fill in an indemnity form at the Adventure Activity desk and then are taken to the airfield by one of the staff who also explains where we would go and what signals the pilot would give to indicate what he sees below. Unfortunately the plane is not equipped with earphones! Loubser is our pilot and we are his fifth trip of the day. I am feeling only a tad nervous having recently been up in a light aircraft with Abri and survived! This plane is a little bigger but not as comfortable as Abri’s. But I can open a tiny square in my window to take photographs which makes a big difference. I will let the photos tell the story.