I felt sad to be leaving and, at the same time, looking forward to our big night out as a group. Dinner reservations had been made at a popular pub/restaurant in Swakopmund, called Kucki's. But first, we were gathering for drinks at a bar on the beach, the Tiger Reef. During this time, Dave gave a very sincere, moving speech about the impact we all had on the project and on him. He gave us all an EHRA badge as a souvenir. He also expressed his deep commitment to conservation and to the work EHRA does.
We arrived at Kucki's and got settled in our seats. Much to the dismay of most of us at the table, there was a band playing upstairs and the singer was singing in German....which in and of itself isn't so bad, except that it was really loud and the quality of the music was somewhat lacking.
Part way through my meal, I realized that the "singer" was singing "Sometimes When We Touch" in German...then he did the chorus in really poor "lounge singer" English. It is very hard to convey how awful/hilarious it was...after a few more German songs, the band started playing (destroying, is more like it) "Hurts So Good" by John Mellencamp. Okay, seriously, what is GOING ON up there??!!?? I had to see for myself.
I recruited Lizanne and a couple other brave souls and up the stairs we went. What we discovered is almost too horrible to for words: a lone guy (not a band, as we had imagined) wearing a baggy t-shirt and a baseball cap. He was visibly intoxicated, singing along with a karaoke machine (and he was the official entertainment). When we got to the top of the stairs, he was "working the room" in his best lounge singer style, and some of the patrons were holding up lighters and swaying. At that point he may have been singing a Bryan Adams love ballad, I can't remember. Needless to say, there was not one single black person in the room (or in the restaurant, for that matter), and I can pretty much guarantee they were all German. One of the volunteers referred to the scene as "this is what the master race has come to". Another member of our group said "I went up there, had a shot of Jaegermeister and I had to run back downstairs. I couldn't take it. If I didn't know any better I would have thought I was in Nazi Germany in 1934 at a rally".
At one point, the "singer" turned to me, held the microphone to his crotch (pointing outwards) and did the old lounge singer move with his other hand, i.e. shooting gun motion with his thumb and index finger. I thought I was going to die - I'm sure I looked like a deer in the headlights. At this point I knew this situation called for some video footage! I ran back down and got my camera. So, here it is below. You can't really see much, but it has the audio and conveys the general atmosphere/scenario. He is singing "Great Balls of Fire" and if you look closely, near the end of the video, you can see him making rude gestures in his pelvic area (but this time, not with the microphone).
After a few more drinks and some dancing, it was time to go to another establishment. I vaguely recall singing along to "To Love Somebody" by the Bee Gees in a very mocking, over the top sort of way. After some discussion and negotiation, most of us end up at a Cuban club, which is good because it was not at all a touristy place. It was pretty much all locals and the music was okay. We danced a bit and had to contend with yet another drunken freak who was trying to dance with us and, not a word of a lie, was grabbing his crotch and making rude gestures. I'm not making this stuff up, folks. It really did happen. My conclusion was that he was on bug spray. One thirty in the morning: Time to go home...
Saturday, time to go shopping for gifts...I love spending money! I also booked a massage and a pedicure for myself for Saturday afternoon. That was blissful! My feet were in such bad shape that the esthetician asked me if I was sure I was only in the desert for 2 weeks. That night a few of us went out to a really nice restaurant which included wine tasting. The food was fabulous and I tasted some very nice wines. Luckily our group included Stefan, who knows a lot about wine, so his expertise made the wine tasting experience that much more interesting and enjoyable. I finished the evening with a couple glasses of delicious port.
That evening and again on Sunday, we were having to say good-bye to several of our group members. It was sad, as we had all spent so much time together in such close living conditions that we all felt like we knew had known each other for months.
Monday morning, Lizanne and I picked up our rented vehicle and off we went to a place called Sossusvlei, where we would see the tallest sand dunes in the world!
Here we are just before leaving on our road trip
Since Sossusvlei is a 5 to 6 hour drive, it is a good idea to stop for a break. The best (only) place is a little outpost, aptly named "Solitaire". It isn't really a town, as such. There is a lodge, a restaurant, a general store and a bakery which is rumoured to have "the best" apple streudel in Namibia (?). It was probably the best I ever had! Solitaire was an interesting place. There were a series of old cars, creatively displayed with cacti and sand, etc. It was very artistic and quite visually stunning. Here are some photos.
We arrived in Sossusvlei in the late afternoon and got a campsite right next to the entrance to the park. We drove out to see the dunes and got oriented so that, when we arrived before dawn the next morning, we would know where we were going.
One of many wild ostriches we saw on our journey
The seemingly endless flat road we (Lizanne) drove on for hours
There were many trees that had these gigantic nests in them, which fascinated me. I imagined they were inhabited by great, prehistoric desert birds of some sort. But, it turns out they are made by a large group of very tiny birds. You can't see it in the photo, but these nests have numerous tiny holes from which the birds enter and exit. 
The "thing to do" here is to climb to the top of a sand dune early in the morning and watch the sunrise. So, we hauled our carcasses out of bed (which was the truck) at 5:30 and drove to the dunes. It was truly a beautiful area and the dunes were spectacular - the tallest in the world!
The whole trip was costly (car rental and mileage) and time consuming (many many hours of driving, all done by Lizanne), but in the end it was worth it, because who knows when I will get to that area again, if ever...it's not every day that you get the chance to climb the tallest sand dunes in the world!
I couldn't believe my time in Africa was essentially over. My spirit didn't want to leave but my skin, I knew, would be very happy. It had reached its limit in terms of exposure to sun and heat. All that was left was a long drive to Windhoek to shower and organize my bags at the hostel were Lizanne would be staying the night, and then off to the airport. Lizanne was kind enough to drive me, so that I didn't have to negotiate traffic, directions, driving on the left hand side of the road and maneuvering a vehicle which was difficult to drive under the best of circumstances. It was also nice to be able to say a "proper" good-bye. It was very sad to part ways, after all we had experienced in the past 6 weeks. The fact that I would not be returning to Victoria in the foreseeable future didn't make it any easier! There were hugs and tears and "I love you's". Off I went, to begin the second part of my journey, on a different continent, to spend time with close friends and discover new places.
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