PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

Preparations, Camping and Delicious Delicacies

Week 127 of the photographic documentary of my daily life

This week certainly has flown by. I didn’t even blink, and we’re almost halfway into January already. We were busy. With work, equipment, and the car.

However, we had our ups and downs this week while I tried to focus on the positive things and remain excited about the upcoming trip. Sometimes there are things in life you can’t anticipate but then just have to deal with it.

So here we go. This was my week in photos.

We’d been in town for over a month and still hadn’t been on the ocean together. The ocean wasn’t flat, but we decided this morning to give it a go.

We pumped up the paddle board and kayak and hit the water. As soon as we were out of the protected bay, we could feel and see the waves, and they were certainly bigger than expected.

We couldn’t do anything else but paddle straight out in order to face the waves with the tip of our board/kayak. The waves weren’t breaking, but it was exhausting to stay on the board.

Once David’s shoulders were burning from the paddling, and I thought my legs wouldn’t keep me upright anymore, we turned around.

There was no time to take pictures until we were back in the bay. We weren’t for long on the water but had an intense workout.

After putting the boards back in the car and driving home, David was asking what our plan was for the day. I mentioned a few things we still wanted or had to do before leaving for the big trip but nothing was tied for the day.

Without hesitating, we quickly decided to head to the river for the afternoon and sleepover in the desert.

We both needed some time away from town and people and thought testing out the camping setup is certainly necessary. And before lunch even, we sat in the car heading out of town.

If I talk about a river and you have water in mind, you are very wrong. The riverbeds in the desert are dry most of the year(s) and are a great playground.

The Swakop River is where I fell in love with Namibia and the lifestyle we lived here and possibly where we fell in love with each other.

Plenty of history and plenty to do or not. We mostly sat in the shade, listening to birds and the lack of sounds from civilization.

We selected the spot where three steenboks (small antelopes) were grazing on some green bushes. These animals do live in this area, but you don’t always get to see them, so I was more than excited about it.

During sunset, I wanted David to fly the drone, but he focused on making food. Instead, he told me to just do it myself. I never did fly the drone before and did enjoy it, to my surprise.

The next morning after packing up, I wanted to do another round from the sky filming as we were driving through the riverbed. Many drones have such a feature as tracking a moving object, but since we have the first generation of this drone, I had to manually fly it. It was challenging but fun.

I’m sure you will get to see these kinds of pictures more often in the future.

On Saturday we went to a birthday party. A 21st birthday. Yes, this is what I love about this skydiving community. Age doesn’t matter. 2–3 generations easily party and socialize together. And it’s normal.

Oh, plus one more generation. A whole group of dogs, of course. They are part of every party in Swakopmund. And as you can see, my friend’s dog Zak was more than excited about heading out.

After sleeping in on Sunday, I met a friend on the beach, and we went for a long stroll along the coastline. The weather was great. The sun was out and the sky was clear and blue.

Late in the afternoon, we sat down at the waterfront for sushi and white wine. While watching people walk by at the promenade.

It was a wonderful day.

On Monday, we were busy with paperwork and preparations for the trip when the office called asking if we could come out for some jumps.

Off we went, into the car and up to the airport. Half an hour later, we were zooming around each other, and I got to take this pretty picture of David with the dunes, the bay and the city of Swakopmund.

And Tuesday, we had a girl’s night. We came together to catch up on stories, laughter and good food.

Yes, the girls can make a fire too and throw some meat on the grill, but before that, we had fresh oysters as a starter and crayfish fresh from the ocean.

It’s weird if you think we live in the desert and have all that fresh seafood, but this city nestled between the sand dunes and the Atlantic Ocean has the best of both landscape features.

Time is running by when you’re having fun, they say. But for us, it wasn’t about having fun but running through town trying to fix up the last few things in town and getting stuff we need for our long road trip.

The day ended, and I hadn’t taken a picture yet. After dinner, I got a glance of the sky and quickly ran up the stairs to get this late photograph. The sun had long set, but the colors remained above the horizon.

“Cherish your excitement while you have it.” — Lucy Varna

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:

Jumping Into the New Year With Daily Sunsets

Week 126 of the photographic documentary of my daily life

medium.com

A Week of Christmas, Sunsets and Beachdays

Week 125 of the photographic documentary of my daily life