Love and Happiness: Namibia, Africa

This is where I spent the last 5 years of my schooling, i.e. teenage years.

It is here that I grew to love the outdoor life, camping (sans tent) under the starlit skies (I've not seen skies quite like it since), beautiful sunsets, wildlife spotting (we spent many a school holiday in Etosha National Park), collecting crystals that were in abundance, the magnificent landscape of this vast unpopulated country (stark at times, but stunning). Other memories - welwitschias, petrified forest, amazing sand dunes, blue blue sky, an abundance of space and wildlife.

Erongo Mountains - "the volcanic Erongo mountain range rise 2,320m above sea level. This roughly circular massif, dominates the flat plains west of Omaruru and gives the Erongo region its name. The Erongo Mountains are flanked by the Namib Desert to the west and a mixed, woodland savannah to the east. The mountain is an eroded relic of a volcano that was active some 140-150 million years ago. It collapsed in on its magma chamber, allowing the basin to fill with slow-cooling igneous material. The resulting hard granite-like core, that withstood the erosion, washed away the surrounding rock."

Brandberg Mountains - "A notable landmark for early Namibian explorers was a soaring mass of granite, known as The Brandberg. The 'fire mountain', is so called because of the effect created by the setting sun on its western face, which causes the granite massif to resemble a burning slag-heap glowing red. The Damara name for the mountain is Dâures, which means 'burning mountain', whilst the Herero name, 'Omukuruvaro' means 'mountain of the Gods'."

Me (wearing Mickey Mouse) and my sister

Khoi cave paintings

Me in the middle

Our campsite

Fast forward...

We booked a river rafting holiday of approximately four days one Christmas. We drove from Cape Town to their main camp on the Orange River in Namibia. It took a day to get there (approximately 1,000 kms).

Our son, who was only 4 years old at the time, stayed with my mum, but we took our daughter with us and were in the company of my father, brother and his wife and a few of their friends. We celebrated Ashlee's birthday on the river. Best birthday present ever!

We had a fab time sleeping under the stars and spent all our time in swimming costumes. It is one of the best holidays I've had.

I think the scariest part for me was riding the rapids. We had to go one at a time and our guide stood on top of a large rock in front of us guiding us with hand signals. The water was flowing so fast that when we got to the other side our kayak was filled to the brim with water. We didn't sink but we had to do a lot of fast water bailing!

Orange River - "The Orange River (Afrikaans/Dutch: Oranjerivier), Gariep River, Groote River or Senqu River is the longest river in South Africa. It rises in the Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. The river forms part of the international borders between South Africa and Namibia and between South Africa and Lesotho, as well as several provincial borders within South Africa."