track our trek

we spent two nights in swakopmund, namibia's adventure capitol, at a hostel where we could sleep in beds for a change. the first adventure stop of the trip, there were tons of optional activities to try, like sandboarding, paragliding, skydiving, parasailing, and quadbiking. dp signed up for paragliding...(i declined b/c i didn't think i could master steering on my own, and a little out of laziness as i wasn't interested in climbing up more 50m dunes repeatedly!) after some shopping around, i decided to go all the way and try skydiving! unfortunately, activity day started out rainy, so the paragliding trip was cancelled...dp and the others decided to try their hand at sandboarding instead...standing up you get boots, and it's much like snowboarding...laying down, you slide on your belly on a flexible board...off the 50m dune, they claim you can reach speeds of up to 80km/hr!! yikes...dp got out there like a pro, but he took a nasty spill during the standing up part, flipped a few times head over heels, and landed on his back, convinced he'd broken his ribs! (he had broken ribs in college, so he knew what it felt like.) he was a trooper though...he caught his breath and switched to laying down...had great fun in spite of the pain!
by afternoon, the 4 of us who'd signed up for skydiving were ready to go. unfortunately, mike from canada had had a guide and a quadbike flip over on him in the morning, so he also had a set of broken ribs & opted not to harness up for skydiving...(who knew jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet would turn out to be the safest adventure sport of the day??) we met our tandem dive masters, suited up, and jumped in the tiny plane. as we took off, i prayed for a safe landing, then wondered if you forfeit your right to a safe landing if you voluntarily throw yourself out of a plane? jokes... the jump was incredible...35 seconds of free fall, then 5 minutes to reach the ground. the air rushes past and is really loud during the fall, but once the chute opens, it is silent while you drift down...we did a few turns and roller coaster stunts on the way down...i loved it!! and i've got the cheesy dvd from derick's wristcam to provide many moments of entertainment in the future!