An Easter I'll never forget!

Though I could not be home to spend my favorite holiday with family and friends, it still did not disappoint! This weekend was such an amazing adventure and I couldn’t have had a better time!

We all left on Friday at 5am. I managed to fit all of my belongings for the weekend into one backpack (impressive, for me, thank you!) plus my sleeping bag and mat to sleep on top of and some snacks/drinks for the weekend.

Friday was spent driving up to the Namibian border, which we finally reached by the afternoon. As soon as we got out of the van, we could feel the dry desert heat, and boy was it hot! Right then I was a little nervous for what was in store for the rest of the weekend, but the weather turned out pretty nice the rest of the time!

After we got through border control we were at the base camp in no time. We would spend the first night there and get on the river early Saturday morning, arriving back at the base camp Monday afternoon and staying there another night until an early departure for Cape Town on Tuesday.

Once we got to the base camp we put down our bags and headed off for a swim in the river! I wasn’t sure how I liked it…but I jumped right in and went under, and the strangest thing happened: there was no salt in the water! Now…if you had asked me before, I would have told you that rivers are usually fresh water, and I would have claimed that I had swam in fresh water. However, it came to my attention that I have never actually swam in fresh water because my mind was seriously blown that I could swim in water that didn’t taste like salt OR chlorine….and you can drink it! I loved it and really enjoyed my swim that day, deciding that I’ll have to do more swimming back in Cape Town.

After our swim we changed we had dinner, set up our sleeping bags in a circle on the grass (no tents!) and went to bed. Boy, were we surprised how cold the desert can get at night!

The next morning…bright and early we were up and packing the boats! There were two people to a raft, which were each loaded with coolers of food and drinks for the weekend and dry bags with all of the clothes and belongings we would need for three days! After learning how to paddle and some safety tips we were off! Luckily I was paired with Christine, a very fit and athletic housemate of mine, who is perhaps the strongest of the groups-males included! So we were right at the front of the group from the start and managed to stay there for just about the whole weekend! We made a great team and I have to say I did my fair share of paddling down the river! We had a really great time.

Each day on the river we would stop somewhere and go on shore to eat lunch. The first day we had a sandy spot, the second day a grassy one, and the third day we were on some huge rocks…so we got a chance to try out all the terrain! The food was fantastic, not just the lunches but the dinners as well! I’m a little embarrassed now by how I eat in my house after seeing how our guides can cook wonderful meals like that for us while we’re camping on the banks of a river! Very impressive. We had sandwiches, salads, some traditional South African dishes, lots of meat, vegetarian sausauge, delicious homemade vegetarian chick pea burgers! French toast for breakfast! Eggs..toast…even chocolate marshmallows eggs for easter! We were definitely well fed…and we needed to be. Paddling down that river for 6 hours a day was hard work!

The best part of rafting was definitely the rapids. We went through quite a few, though nothing huge…only category 3s. But they were a lot of fun, and we even got to swim through one! Even for a strong swimmer it is tougher than you’d think…but I managed just fine!

Sleeping and living outside for three days really wasn’t all that tough. It got cool at nights but that’s the only complaint I really had at all…and the fires we made took good care of that. The nature was so beautiful and seemed so untouched by humans that it really was a wonderful experience. The only wildlife around were baboons, cows, and goats and really cool birds. There were fish in the water but nothing major, and apparently there are leopards in the mountains but you’d never know it or see any.  

I’ll post as many pictures as possible, though like always, it won’t do it any justice. The entire trip was absolutely beautiful. Every time I got sick of paddling I would look up and it would take my breath away…the view alone was worth all the work, not to mention all the fun we had! It truly was an amazing weekend…and I can’t help but be proud of myself. It was a challenge, but I had even more fun than I expected…and I think I might actually consider camping in the future!!

Hope everyone at home had as wonderful of an Easter as I did!