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[RC] Africa - Walvis Bay Namibia - John Teeter(From Steph)Now I feel like I'm in Africa. The plane landed at the Walvis Bay airport - a dusty little spot in the center of an amazingly vast desert. After the plane left Capetown we followed the coastline north, white breakers along a windy coast , bays and spits of land, miles of beach line. As we flew north, the landscape got drier and drier and drier and drier. Rugged mountains to the east, mile and miles of red sand, whipped into dunes and various desert scapes. Desolate, it looked beautiful from above. At the airport I was met by Schalk Pieraas (might have the name wrong, but will get it right eventually) - the son of a rancher from east Namibia - the entire family is here, 6 horses in all - for both the senior and junior team championships (stiff competition between South Africa and Namibia!). I understand that Botswana has an endurance program too, but they didn't make it to this ride. Before I got out the door of the airport, I was snagged by customs. My huge suitcase aroused their suspicions. I'm bringing a saddle with me - a Specialized Saddle. Dave is helping sponsor my trip here and I'm lugging the saddle around with me for show - and in case anybody wants to buy one. After having to pay (a lot) for extra weight from Paris to Capetown, I'm already wondering if it was a good idea to bring it... and now the saddle is sitting in the Customs office of Walvis Bay - "no worry lady, come see us in the morning, we'll have it for you then" . I'm a little worried, the whole thing seemed a bit 'Africa' - but we'll see! I'll probably have to pay duty on it, and then if I don't sell it they'll refund the money, but something else about a tax... Schalk talked to the guys, got directions and number for picking up the saddle, we'll see. He loaded my stuff in his Land Cruiser (what else?) and we took a little tour of the stable area - where the horses are staying on arrival from. A little dusty - definitely desert - looked an awful lot like Abu Dhabi in the days before they built the Endurance Villages - like the little camel stables. Horses looked tough and sturdy, not to big. And they use their horses for ranch as well as endurance. I suspect they're pretty tough. I'm staying in the little hotel like place - small cement villas, a little reception area (with interenet, here I am...). I took a few pictures, but it's going to be a challenge to send stuff over the phone line. I'll work them way down so they're low res, and then when I can I'll do a more with a real gallery. this is going to be an adventure I think. Schalk mentioned something about 'going out on the dunes to drink a sun downer.." , or something like that! The africanz language (sp?) is interesting, and so are the accents. Schalk just spent a year in South Dakota, working on a ranch, learning things to take back to his family ranch. I guess his brother is in Washington state (Sue and Dennis Summers said they had a Namibian visitor - probably his brother!) - small world. anyway - I'm going offline for a bit - will try to keep posting. and maybe some photos. later- Steph
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