This is my Namibia – Winter 2017
June 15, 2017
The making of Stand Together
June 19, 2017
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Text and Photographs Nina van Schalkwyk[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
DASH, DASH, DASH
It’s not every day that your boyfriend decides to whisk you away on a romantic weekend getaway to Africa Safari Lodge, with a special picked up from Today. I was lucky enough to have the chance to do just that. So, on Friday after work, we set off into the sunset.
Of course, it wasn’t exactly as simple as that. First, I had to drop off my two little dachshunds (“sausage” dogs for all you non-dog people) at the kennels, which meant driving up a gravel road into the bundus. I’m no rally driver, but sometimes I like to think I am, to the great discomfort of my two doggies in the backseat. Well, I reined in my crazy-driver tendencies and managed to make it around the bends and up the steep hillside to the little plot that was to house my babies for the weekend.
At this point, I was already late. The boyfriend and I had arranged to meet at three sharp, and the clock’s long hand was getting ever closer to the top of the hour. I dashed home in time to throw my stuff in a bag and welcome him in. It’s a miracle that I didn’t forget anything.
AND WE’RE OFF!
Finally.
Snacks at hand, iPhone plugged in, podcasts on repeat.
Africa Safari Lodge is located south of Windhoek, 293 km to be exact, through the towns of Rehoboth and Mariental. Since many people commute between Rehoboth and Windhoek, we hit a little traffic on our way out. What should have been a somewhat quick drive (relative to Namibia), ended up lasting into the night.
Eventually, we passed through Mariental. The end was in sight. Well, the lodge wasn’t in sight, but a large sign showing the lodge’s rhino, was and we took it as a sign to turn left.
Now, at this point BF let me know that the lodge is located quite close to the main road, so we could expect to be seeing it soon, but we didn’t. We drove down the gravel in almost complete darkness, past some farmhouse that we knew couldn’t be the lodge. Sure enough, it wasn’t, because after about 20 kilometers on the gravel road we realized that we must have taken the wrong turn (cue the scary music!) and headed back the way we had come.
Lo and behold, as soon as we bumped up onto the tar road again, we could see the billboard clearly. The lodge was up ahead. Yes, not left. Up ahead.
FINALLY
There’s nothing sweeter after a long day of trekking to your destination than finally reaching it. You see the twinkling of the lights, the friendly smile of the first person to greet you, and then the welcome drinks—all so comforting, just because.
After parking our car we walked through a huge archway that hid a fantastic view that I would only be able to appreciate in the light of the morning, however, we weren’t fussed. We set our things down in our room, which stood on the edge of a long walkway that traced the outline of a half-moon. We were just in time for dinner.
Over a delicious bottle of wine and two plates of succulent steaks, we clinked to the adventure of the day, and the many more to come.
Keep your eyes on the page for more in the Nina’s Namibia series.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
