Namibia!

Hello from Namibia! I cant even begin to describe how amazing this trip is so far and its only been 4 days. The group is a perfect size and everyone is here for the same reason: to learn, appreciate and just have an amazing experience. Our tour guide Hennie is the best part of the trip. He is so passionate about the land and nature and life in general. He knows everything about EVERYTHING in Africa... you ask him what this bird is or that tree is and he will give you all the details you need and more. Im so impressed... we all are. The first day Hennie, me and Carla (a woman from Holland, 54 years old and this is her 3rd trip with Hennie) drove 7 hours to the Orange River (border of S.Africa and Namibia). We met up with the rest of the group there (a couple from Holland and 2 of Hennies friends (a couple) who are assisting. We set up camp and had a beautiful first night under the stars (but in tents) and a 5 star meal (all the meals are amazing so far). The next day we crossed the border... and what a process! They had to check everything in our truck, backpacks, bags, tents, coolers, etc... It took about an hour and a half to unload, scan and load again. They even brought in a drug sniffing dog... crazy. We drove to Fish River Canyon, had lunch and continued on (we didnt even know where we were going... sometimes they like to surprise us). We end up at a great little lodge and i had my first shower. I want to tell all the details about everything but i dont want to bore you. I just want to tell you about last night and today so bare with me (i promise it gets good!). We camped out under the stars in the desert. It was absolutely magical. We watched the sun set, built a fire, made dinner, drank wine, listened to music (thanks to my ipod and speaker), star gazed (I learned where the Scorpio constellation is) and slept right outside, no tents. It was freezing during the night but when i woke up and saw the orange line around the earth that the sun was creating I almost cried. I forgot about my freezing nose and toes and just laid there in absolute awe. It was an unforgettable moment. Now, get ready for the big story. Today we drove about 4 hours to Windhoek (where I am now) and the scenery was amazing and we saw mountain zebras, kudu (antelope), springbok (antelope), huge eagles, groups of herding cows and baboons... all so amazing to see. Anyways, on the ride I started to get a serious urge to, well... go to the loo, if you know what i mean. I was sitting upfront with Hennie and told him about my little problem. He tells me I should take my first bush kak (bush=wilderness, kak=poo). After alot of hesitation the pain in my stomach got pretty bad so off I go into the dry bush land. He tells me the only thing I have to be careful of is burning the tissues when I am done (that how we get rid of our toilet paper) and not to light a bush on fire. So after i go, i go to burn the tissues. I light them on fire and as i do this a huge wind comes along and blows the fire into the bushes. In about 5 seconds a a HUGE fire started... just everything up in flames! I was screaming for Hennie and ran to the top and there was just nothing we could do about it. Now, the wind was blowing the fire towards the road so Hennie said it will stop eventually but if it was blowing the other way it would have lit acres and acres of land on fire. It was all so surreal and i couldnt believe it was all my fault. Luckily, someone was on my side today and not much harm was done. SO, lesson learned... no more bush kak for me.
Anyways, I am in Namibia and doing so great. I am so happy we still have 2 more weeks. Soon we will be in Swakopmund where we can do some extreme activities (quad biking, sky diving, rafting). Im sure you can guess at least one of the activities im signing up to do :oP
I will update at the next computer I get to. We are in a beautiful little hotel today and will be meeting the Italian couple who are joining us for the rest of our trip. The next few nights more camping in the desert, my favorite. To be continued...