PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
Between Sky and Earth — Life in the Desert
Week 137 of the photographic documentary of my daily life
It's once again one of the more turbulent weeks in my life and not just because I've been racing toward earth at 200 kph but also because I had so much going on.
It is always the same. Whenever we return to Namibia and friends ask us how long we stay, they’ll respond by saying there’s plenty of time to do stuff together as we stay multiple months.
Until. Bäm.
Within the blink of an eye, the time is gone, and all that's left is one week.
One week in which every single person we know wants to see you, do something and that, exclusively with you. There you go. That’s been my week. Having fun with friends and falling from the sky in the between.
I can’t even tell you how my week started. All I remember seeing these pictures was that we had a pretty sunset watched from home.
The next day I was busy in town sorting out things for the car and catching up with friends that I missed taking a picture. Until that night when I had to make a meal with what was at home.
Chicken breast, butternut, mushrooms and some corn. It doesn't sound fancy, but I tell you what - it was delicious! And healthy.
Saturday was a big day at the airport as we had an event organized dedicated to the upcoming skydivers to practice and learn new skills. It included a safety meeting on the ground and a skills camp in the air.
I’m not going into details, but I’ve got this picture for you. This is what it looks like when we go up in the plane. It’s pretty. The Namib Desert.
When all the fun and the work jumps were done, we still had one show jump to do. A show jump is a skydive we do to land somewhere and perform a show.
People book skydivers to land in stadiums, parks, weddings or venues in the desert. Like the one below. A sunset jump into the moon landscape. The day could not have ended better, right?
The following day, I was up and running again, meeting two friends of mine. We drove up the dry riverbed of the Swakop and chatted the afternoon away.
On our drive back, we didn’t just once but twice had antelopes crossing the road just in front of us. We were all speechless.
This isn't a nature park. And this isn't a lush green valley. This is the desert. The harsh Namib Desert. Yes, different species of antelopes do live out here but in small numbers. It is very rare to see them. Just to explain to you how special this was.
And another day, another day back in the sky. We jumped, and we had fun together. The girl below used to be a student of mine. And now, she’s a camera flyer filming me, who’s taking a tandem passenger on her first-ever skydive.
This picture is taken by a camera mounted to my hand. And while it all sounds very complicated, just enjoy the scenic view below. Isn't it pretty?
This is Namibia.
That afternoon, I met with another friend of mine, and as we had our little party and celebrations to do, she had very unique glasses to drink out of.
Of course, they were yellow.
And while I haven't even thought of packing our bags yet, I just jumped the following day to another get-together. It was girl's night, and the girls do it fancy.
Look at what delicious starter one of my friends had come up with.
We tried to keep this last day free, but it was everything else but free. 24 hours before our return flight to Germany, we hadn't even looked at our bags yet.
But then it was time. And as always, 30 minutes later, everything was packed. Yes, if you travel as much as we do and move your belongings every half a year from one continent to another, you do get practice in it.
The evening we saved to spend with the in-laws. We went out for dinner and I enjoyed a tasty seafood meal. I love it all. Fresh oysters and a grilled platter.
Now, I'm exhausted.
This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.
Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian / Shell / Ivy / Lisa / Lynne
And these are the previous weekly photo essays:
Join my email list here if you would like to read more photo essays or sign up for the Medium membership to receive unlimited access to my and other writers’ stories out here (I will receive a commission fee in return).
WordPress | Shutterstock | Instagram | YouTube | Mailchimp | Amazon