Setting up exercise routines under the Namibian sun

Keeping up your workout routine (or establishing one like we’re trying to once again do) in Namibia is not that easy. You only have a few hours in the morning during which you’re able to do any kind of activity, partake on guided tours, see sights etc. and after that for about seven hours the only thing you’re able to perform is a) sit in an air-conditioned car and move from one place to another + occasionally open the window and take a pic, b) sit in an air conditioned bar and have a cool beer, or c) just sit somewhere in the shade. After 5 pm it slowly starts to get tolerable again, and then you’re up for some cooking, pitching the tent and enjoying the sunset which occurs around 7 pm, after which it’s pitch black (except when there’s a full moon). Some nights you might enjoy the evening by hanging out with some new friends from the campsite, and around 9 pm everybody’s asleep. So, not so much room for exercising… We decided though that we can’t just sit in a car for four weeks and as you might have guessed it, we started to take advantage of the first hours of the day – between 6 and 9 am, when the sun has just risen, it’s nice and cool to go for a morning run (don’t get me wrong, during these two weeks spent here when writing this, we have been running three times. But still, it’s more than at home ;)

At Namtib Biosphere Reserve there was a great opportunity to start our new, active vacationing. A 4 km hike around the area. Boy was that tough.

 

Well actually it was very nice, and after that we were happy to spend the next five hours in the car until we stopped at Betta Camp Site for some gasoline (for the car) and burgers (for us). Yummy.

Don't forget where you parked your car

The next night we spent at a pleasant Hammerstein Lodge, trying to get some work done by using their (at that moment non-existent) Wi-Fi. Luckily we had our own prepaid with data, it worked smoothly every 15 minutes or so. Buying an MTC prepaid has been one of the best investments we've done here! All the bookings and communication in general is easier by phone as replying to emails has been so and so. We chose the Aweh O-Yeah package, which you can customise to fit your own needs in terms of the amount of data, minutes and SMS. What's different to a regular prepaid is that your bundles are valid only for seven days and the unused balance is discarded by the end of the week. It's also good to bear in mind that you're unable to top-up your current package in the middle of the week, so choose wisely. 

After work we were happy to spend some time at the pool, and got to our tent-bed early. We didn’t get too much sleep though, since it was freezing at night. In some parts of Namibia, you can really feel the desert climate – crazy hot during the day and not so much during the night. Well, luckily we had each other and our summer sleeping bags (+ woolly hats, just in case).

This little Gemsbok was keeping us company at our Hammerstein campsite. These antelopes can survive for months on the scant water they derive from the plants they eat.

The next day it was time to head towards the famous dunes of Sossusvlei. While still in Windhoek we had pre-booked one night from the Sesriem Camp Site, since it is the only campsite located inside the park gates, thus giving the guests a one-hour head start in the morning at 5 am to start driving towards Sossusvlei, 65 km from Sesriem. Everyone staying outside the park gates will be let in at 6.15 when the sun rises, so by pre-booking we wanted to guarantee our spot in the 5 am lineup to the dunes. However, when we got in, it came clear that we had already made our booking to a fully booked campsite, and were thus given a leftover camping spot with no electricity. This was otherwise totally fine, but our fridge didn’t quite like it. Luckily we had a nice German couple staying next to us, and we able to borrow their electrical outlet for the night. So no rotten food, yay.

It was again one of those crazy hot 45℃ days you could only sit at the camp site bar and do nothing. Although we did do something – planned our itinerary and booked the stays for Etosha. The Etosha National Park is the number one place where it’s still crowded in November, and we were already quite late with our bookings. An interesting thing happened though: Etosha is administered by NWR (Namibia Wildlife Resorts), as are numerous other campsites and lodges around the country, including the Sesriem Camp. We called to make the reservations for three nights inside the national park, but were disappointed to hear that at Okaukuejo all the campsites were already fully booked. After doing the other bookings over the phone (or so we thought), we were told to send an e-mail instead to confirm them. So we went to the website and there was an online booking site you can use to book and pay for your accommodation. We started checking the wanted dates and campsites, and ahoy, there magically still was room in the fully booked campsite at Okaukuejo. We figured after we’d paid for the stay, they need to let us in. Well, to be seen.

Be careful not to spend too much time in the sun.

For the evening we had a lovely hike up one of the dunes close to the campsite, the Emil Dune, where we went to catch the sunset. The climb to the dyne was longer than expected and every time we thought we had reached the top, there was a higher point looming behind. Watching the sun set in the distance, it was a lovely way to end the day. And as you can see, our sport vacation just kept going on: a one-hour hike up the dune, two beers on the top and 45-minute “run” back down to get to the camp before they close the gates at eight. It was about time to start preparing dinner after that.