After lunch we decided to try to get some adventuring in. Deldry and Charlie had suggested ATVing so we looked up and contacted a tour company that was on the way to the famous Dune 7. The drive to the dunes was intense. As we turned off the main road and behind the Dunes, the coastal fog crawled over the hills and towards the road.
15 minutes past, 20 minutes past...30 minutes past...
Kaitlin: Taryn, I don't think we're headed the right way.
Taryn: But this is the way she said. Plus, the sign said Dune 7. Let's keep going.
K: But...there's...nothing...here...
T: Up to you, you're the driver.
At this point I'm weighing all the factors...time, gas, effort to backtracking, possibility of getting a flat tire while turning around off the road...snakes...lions...
K: I'm turning around.
[Makes a u-turn...drives for five minutes...]
If we drove 30 minutes in...and now 30 out...then ATVs...gas...this...much...tearing myself between time and adventure...
K: F*ck it, let's just go all the way. I'm turning around...again.
T: hahahhahhhahhah
K: HAHAHAHAHAHHAh
Sometimes you just have to trust your gut. We ended up making it to Dune 7 in the next fifteen minutes. We drove up to a tour company near the Dune 7 parking lot. Not the one we were looking for, but they had a lot full of ATVs and they did tours so at the end of the day...did we get what we wanted? See below.
We asked to do a practice run. CJ, our guide promised that we'll do a practice run before we leave the lot. "Ok, here we go!"
There was no practice run. CJ threw up a few hand signals on the flat ground and before we knew it we were surrounded by sand as far as the eye could see. The tour company takes ATVs around this area all the time, but because of the wind all tracks are quickly erased and the dunes are left looking like nothing has ever set foot there before. It's quite an amazing feeling to be immersed in so much nature - rolling hills of sand, the purest wind chill, the clearest skies. Your mind just runs on forever to the droning buzz of the ATV. We weren't allowed to take our phones or cameras out during the ride for safety reasons, but CJ let us stop a couple times for some photos.
To fully experience the dunes, we even threw in a friendly competition.
About an hour later, the sun was setting and we started to head back to base. Halfway back we stopped at one last dune, the dune CJ takes all his guests sandboarding on. Sandboarding is like snowboarding and sliding down grass hills with cardboards. Basically fun. We were planning to go the next day with a different company. However, just like the time we decided to skip Guatape, some things just fall into place as the day goes by.
Taryn and I gave each other the look and we knew what was up. With shades of orange, yellow, lilac and deep and bright blues dancing above the furthest sand dune...everything was perfect. How could we NOT sandboard into the sunset?!?!? We threw down our bags. LETS DO IT NOW! CJ ran back to get the boards and down the dunes we slid.
We did both standup and lying down. Note: Goofy stance boards do not exist so you either suck it up and ride regular or just do the lying down one. I tried to ride regular...it was not good haha.
A few other crew members from base came out to join us. One of them being the cutest four year old with the brightest blue eyes. I can't recall his name but he was a curious, haole kid whole only spoke Afrikaans...I can't help but wonder where his light skin and African speaking background will take him in life. The things you find out here are just so interesting....
Driving home was an adventure in itself. As you can imagine there were no streetlights and the road we took, which we later discovered was actually a back road, was not paved and didn't have any lines or reflectors. So for 45 minutes I was hunched over my steering wheel squinting like a 90 year grandma asking myself, "Where is the road???"" every 30 seconds.
Back at the hotel we cleaned an infinite amount of sand from our hair, shoes, ears, nose, everywhere (wouldn't be surprised if there is still some in my backpack). Then we caught a cab to Anchors, on the Jetty for some seafood and wine.
Angelfish Burger and Rose
Our cab driver's name was Chico. After he dropped us off he also offered to pick us up after dinner so that we wouldn't have to ask the restaurant to call another cab. We said thanks and got our money out to pay the fare. He refused and said we could pay him after he picked us up. Yet another example of how trusting Nambians can be.
After dinner, we went straight back to the hotel to download and upload the day. Somehow no matter how hard we tried, we never got to sleep before midnight. Luckily, we planned to get our caffine fix in the next morning by trying some local coffee at Slowtown Coffee Roasters.