Have Itch, Will Travel

It was another race, this time against the setting sun. We climbed Elim Dune steadily, slowly, though our hearts beat fast with the effort. "You realise we're doing exactly what Gabriel told us not to do?" puffed Rob when we stopped for a breath. Our guide, waiting at the foot of dune, warned us that we had started too late to reach the summit for sunset, and that to pursue the top would result in disappointment after disappointment. It was practically a dare, and we set out in earnest. Gabriel was right, though, because each time we reached the "summit", we discovered a point still higher. "There!" I could see a handful of people in the distance, sitting and taking selfies. Surely that was the summit! We made a quick assessment of the sun's position and ventured on, finally reaching the summit just before the sun disappeared. We watched it with a sense of accomplishment, and then turned around. We had come a long way. It was now a race against th...

Cold, dry sand poured into my shoe, cramping my toes as they filled the spaces between with every step. My quick breaths were coming out in little puffs, keeping time with the uphill march. In the shadow of my face, the dense mist formed dew drops on my eyebrow and eyelashes. I was half frozen, and half glowing with warmth. My peripheries were numb, as was my shaded right half. But internally, I was on fire, my lungs and legs burning as they pushed against the soft sand only to gain an inch. I turned my focus from my disappearing feet and looked ahead at the line of hikers ascending Dune 45 in single file, as if balancing on the edge of the dune. We were all steady in pace, occasionally glancing at the lightening sky. Soon, the sun would break from behind the mountain and chase away the fog we were rapidly rising from. We were racing the sun to the summit. This was the way of Namibia . You were either racing or chasing, or endlessly waiting. "We must be fast with breakfast,...

This was my first visit to Europe. I was keen to witness the great cities with architecture of the old civilisations and the intricate façades of the monarchist periods. Bosnia and Herzegovina provided that first real taste, then Hungary and Romania. By the time we arrived in Poland, the excitement had turned to numbness and the remainder of our Europe leg seemed more of "in-passing" stopovers. Big cities were still just big cities, despite their beauty. We had enjoyed some of the best, in our opinion, and were no longer interested in the mediocre or sameness. Instead, we looked for unique experiences, finding Poland's WW2 history far more moving than Krakow's ancient skyline, Prague's Technology Museum thrilled us more than its over-touristed Old Town and Castle, and Berlin's enormous Tiergarten park was the highlight of our visit there. We needed to leave the cities of the First World and get back to nature. Our next stop was to be Namibia.