Namibia 1

So, I have failed on keeping up my blog... but I am going to do my best to post more in the next few weeks because we have an updated internet system! so I can now upload more than one picture every 3 hours or so.
I decided to start with some pictures from our Spring Break trip to Namibia.
We had 10 days in Namibia. We started by taking a bus to Namibia (20 hrs!!) where we met a tour which took us to the sand dunes in Soussesvlei, where we spent three days. Most of it was just enjoying the scenery but we also climbed a lot of sand dunes, visited a petrified forest, and saw some of the most gorgeous sunrises and sunsets I have seen, mostly from on top of dunes. After that, we drove ourselves to Etosha National Park where we safaried (verb?) for three days. Finally, we went to the seaside town of Swakupmond, where we 4x4ed on the dunes, went to the beach, and relaxed after our busy vacation. We hopped a flight back home, and were back in Cape Town about 18 hours earlier than the bus.

Namibia was the land of 2000 pictures and it is a little overwhelming to try and post them all at once. Hence, I have labeled this post Namibia 1. It is mostly pictures of our group, and a few of scenery. The next posts will be scenery and animals!
So, a quick summary of the photos, hopefully in the order in which they appear!

The first three are from the drive to Soussesvlei. The first shows Springbok, the national animal of South Africa, which are a dime a dozen in Namibia as well. The next is a huge bird nest (for those of you who know about my fear of birds, I have almost gotten over it since being in Cape Town!) where up to 100 or 200 birds can live. Net is a zebra skull we saw on the side of the road, that had been cleaned off by vultures. Although a little gross, it was a pretty cool find. The pictures are out of order, but the next is a gas station we stopped at on the bus ride from Cape Town to Namibia, followed by a picture of Farley, Stacey and I in Etosha National Park at the watering hole near our campsite. The next picture is back to Sossesvlei, where along the drive we happened to drive over the Tropic of Capricorn and decided to take a picture. The next is back in time again, waiting to board the bus in Cape Town. Then, it jumps to Etosa for a few pictures. First is the group on safari, the second is the flat tire we got on the Mercedes they gave us to drive through the game park, and finally, a picture of the first elephant we saw (we were very very excited after seeing a million giraffe and zebra). Finally, the last is along the drive to Soussesvlei again, when Milner (our tour guide) let me drive the huge safari truck.

OK, sorry for the disorder and confusion, I promise the next posts regarding Namibia will be much more coherent. I will make sure to scroll through my pictures in a chronological fashion!