Jet Airliner

Before I left for America, I embarked with several friends on a trip through northern parts of Namibia in a rented bakkie (truck). The first day started in Rehoboth and ended in Ruacana Falls on the border with Angola. This is where we found out our map was not entirely accurate. It stated that Rehoboth was 900km from Ruacana, its closer to 1100km. After a full day of driving we camped for the night and relaxed. The next day we went down to the falls and looked at the trickle of water that barely peaked through the rocks. It was a bit disappointing. Since it’s been dry season so long there’s almost no water in the falls. However, the mountain man of the group had a good idea and we went bouldering on all the rocks that would be covered in water and inaccessible come rainy season. After Ruacana we traveled to Epupa falls. This drive was spectacular, through mountain terrain, dried river beds, and near traditional Himba villages. Here the falls did not disappoint. Though they are along the same river, Epupa Falls is not as seasonal as Ruacana.
From Epupa we traveled south through some crazy mountainous terrain to Sesfontein (6 springs) and Fort Sesfontein. Now, something I’ve learned, driving is not the same everywhere you go. Imagine driving down a mountain, 7 people and gear for a week, on a dirt road, without anti-lock brakes. Luck for the group I learned on the fly and only lost control a handful of times and never in a serious way. Sometimes we slid a little. We saw the fort (now a hotel) but were unable to stay due to the expense. We drove on the next day to Twyfulfontein (doubtful springs), organ pipes, and the burnt mountain. We spent the night at a campsite that had a nice little restaurant and bar. The cool thing about this place is that they also had lots of bats. On more than one occasion we thought we might get attacked. I already had plenty of rabies shots so I wasn’t too worried. Finally we went to Brandberg, Namibia’s tallest mountain. Though this is a beautiful area, the guide (who was required) was a complete jackass and attempted to spoon feed us bullshit about the history of the place. Here one of our spare tires was stolen from our truck. It put a damper on the end of what was an amazing trip. We went back to Rehoboth, dropping people off along the way, and it was good to be back in my flat relaxing.
Two days later I boarded a plane and took the 30 hour journey back to Gainesville Florida. The plane ride was awesome. I wore my Peace Corps polo shirt and met a lot of cool people, some were former PCVs and others who just finished service or were still in Peace Corps. The 17 hours from Johannesburg to Atlanta was close to miserable, the over the counter, natural, organic, sleep aid did nothing whatsoever. In fact in my 30 hours of travel I slept maybe four. Once back in Gainesville I called people, hung out with my family, and made plans for later in the week. I never really believed much about jet lag, but that me hard for the next few days. I would go to sleep around 5pm and wake around 2am. It was strange but eventually worked out. I had a lot of fun seeing people and hanging out with family. I traveled back to Namibia starting three days ago and finally made it back to Rehoboth. Tomorrow I’m going to make enchiladas. Also, Air Namibia is not a fun airline. By far, the worst food of the trip and all the seat belts say “Air France”.