 |
| The tour - part 1 (days 1 to 9) |
Skateboarding is not death!
13 years ago
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Finally an online album!!!
Ok, I finally found some time (not really... it was a good way of procrastinating, though :)) to put some more pictures from the Tour online. It's 149 photographs, to be exact, from the days 1 to 9. Hope you'll enjoy them! And feel free to leave comments, so that I know if all the time was worth doing it :) Just click on the picture below and you'll get to the wonderful world of Africa :)
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Campaign made by the French
This is actually very good. They have two versions - this is the straight one. If you want to see the homosexual one, just let me know, I'll post it here.
December 1...
... is a very important day. It's Marketka's birthday (yeah, she's already 4! times flies, seriously...) which means that a very special child was born on that day and we're happy she's here with us! So this wonderful child was born... but... many other died and die every single day... December 1 is also the World AIDS Day. I've been thinking if these international days of whatever are actually good for anything. I don't think so, to be honest, but it inspired me to post this anyway because HIV/AIDS is the real global humanitarian crisis. And that's serious... I've decided to put here some HIV/AIDS awareness campaign videos, I don't care if you like them (though I think they're good) because it isn't the point. Seriously...there's one simple thing that we can do to see children happy as Marketka is. Of course, it won't save everyone because there's too much s*it in the world for which kids suffer so much - wars, poverty... but this is sooooo simple and it actually works!!! Be careful! Be smart! And protect yourself (and thus protect the other people too...) And please, dear Europeans, Americans and other citizens of the so-called First World - don't be mistaken, it's our problem, too. And it's getting far too serious. You think it's an African disease? Ok... But then - why did the numbers of HIV positive Europeans more than doubled from 1998 to 2005? Because it's our problem as well! And we're getting into a lot of trouble! I'm probably a little moved by the ads we saw yesterday at the "Nights of Adeaters" :), so many of them were about the fight against HIV. But I still want to share with you.
Hope you're having a good day! And that you all wish happy birthday to Marketka ;)
Hope you're having a good day! And that you all wish happy birthday to Marketka ;)
Monday, November 26, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Post for Jill (and others who don't speak Czech :))
Dear Jill, I owe you an explanation (countable or uncountable? :). The post that was in Czech only - this one - is about a project organized by one Czech radio. I know your Czech is absolutely fluent now :) but in case...
It's a Christmas project - kids without parents, i.e. kids from the children homes, or how they're called in English, write a letter (not to Santa Claus, as you know we don't believe in him, to us, probably the most atheist nation in the world, Little Jesus (Ježíšek) brings Christmas gifts :) That's wonderful irony, isn't it? Does that mean that God likes us more because we don't make so much fuss about him/her :)) haha... ok, that was enough for the Czech Christmas intro :)) and then their wishes (the kids' wishes, if you already got lost in this huge amount of words :)) are posted on the radio website. You can register there, choose a child based on whatever criteria you prefer (name, age, gift, disability), buy the gift the child wants, send it to the radio and the kids will actually get them for Christmas. I like the idea a lot so I put it on my blog so that more people would join it. I already did. It makes me believe, at least for a little while, that I'm not such a bad person (and believe me I need it, especially after my two days at school, when I think I'm a complete idiot, I can at least think "well, I might be an idiot, but at least I'm not a bad person :)). So that's it... I don't want to discriminate you, my dear native speakers of English language who haven't had time to learn the wonderful language from Central Europe - Czech :))
Have a nice pre-Christmas time! :)
PS: We can actually make a little Czech language blog course, haha. :)
It's a Christmas project - kids without parents, i.e. kids from the children homes, or how they're called in English, write a letter (not to Santa Claus, as you know we don't believe in him, to us, probably the most atheist nation in the world, Little Jesus (Ježíšek) brings Christmas gifts :) That's wonderful irony, isn't it? Does that mean that God likes us more because we don't make so much fuss about him/her :)) haha... ok, that was enough for the Czech Christmas intro :)) and then their wishes (the kids' wishes, if you already got lost in this huge amount of words :)) are posted on the radio website. You can register there, choose a child based on whatever criteria you prefer (name, age, gift, disability), buy the gift the child wants, send it to the radio and the kids will actually get them for Christmas. I like the idea a lot so I put it on my blog so that more people would join it. I already did. It makes me believe, at least for a little while, that I'm not such a bad person (and believe me I need it, especially after my two days at school, when I think I'm a complete idiot, I can at least think "well, I might be an idiot, but at least I'm not a bad person :)). So that's it... I don't want to discriminate you, my dear native speakers of English language who haven't had time to learn the wonderful language from Central Europe - Czech :))
Have a nice pre-Christmas time! :)
PS: We can actually make a little Czech language blog course, haha. :)
THE TOUR: Day 9 - Himba Tribes
The next post is coming. I suppose it's going to be of a low language quality as I started to hate writing a couple of days ago... :))
So Day 9... Waking up at 6 am, after a night under the Namibian sky without any tent. :) That was nice. Very nice. We left the camp site at 7, stopping at a gas station on the way (with funny toilets... I must say I felt sick... Jan, the driver, said later: "The first two hours of driving were so exciting!" That explains why I was sick. But at least Jan had fun for which I'm happy now :)). We also stopped somewhere where local women were selling hand-made dolls. I liked them so much and still regret I didn't buy any. (And they had lovely colourful dresses. One of the ladies told me she really liked my clothes because of the colours I was wearing: orange trousers, the ones Jill likes so much, haha, and green T-shirt... but still... their clothes were so much better :))
And we saw our first giraffes!
Our final stop for Day 9 was the Himba Camp. Himba is a local Namibian tribe that is, from what the guide there told us, not among the government's favourite ones. I think he said something about them having fought against the government that's in power now. But I must admit I should study the history of Namibia much more to be able to tell you something.
First of all, we went to see a house that was built kind of in a rock by some French film makers who made there a movie whose name nobody knew because it was in French. :) The house was amazing! It was without windows, therefore open and therefore when it rains and you stay there, you get completely wet. But it was amazing! It's actually a 'hotel' now but they let the people who stay in the camp site to go in and see it all, so we did.
Then we went to visit the Himba tribe which was very interesting but also weird a little. You know how it feels - you know it's good to go there, learn something about a completely different culture, you know that they actually earn money this way and that they need the money... But you still feel that it's not right, you're looking at them as if they were animals in a zoo, they're looking at you, you'll never find out what they think (I actually believe that they don't care at all because their life style seems to be like that), you'd like to talk to them but you can't because you don't speak their language. And because you can't talk to them you can't really learn so much about them. We went, anyway.
So I'm going to tell you something more about the red-looking people. :) They are so different from us! They put ocher on their bodies (that's why their skin looks rather red than black) which protects their skin from the sun and which also substitutes a razor :) They seriously have no hair on their bodies at all! Isn't that amazing? There's so much that our Euro-Atlantic civilization can learn from these people, that some Europeans/American would call undeveloped.
As there's not enough water in their region, they don't use any water at all for hygienic purposes. They put some herbs (they use them as a personal perfume - every person uses different herbs) together, put them on fire, or something like that, and thus they get a kind of sauna - they put the burning herbs into a ceramic pot, sit on it and as they are sweating, they're actually getting clean. If it doesn't make sense, I can't help you (or maybe I can, just ask :)). But it really works! I mean - they really don't smell bad or anything! :) Ok, this all takes several hours. It's like a ritual. They need to sit on the pot for one hour, but to prepare it also takes time. That's why they wake up every day at 4 am. When they're done with their hygiene, they wash their clothes pretty much the same way.
The last thing I remember about the tribe is that there's also some kind of ritual for boys to become men. One part of it is to "lose" (probably in a rather more violent way :)) four teeth - one is the tooth of beauty (they don't need to be beautiful, probably), another one is for being able to speak their language well and the rest I don't remember... (Jill, Susan, help! :)).
We learnt all this from a guy who's definitely not Himba by origin :) and who was a bit weird. Ha said he lived there and tried to help them and I think he actually had a child with one the women.
We could also buy some bracelets and stuff like that which they're supposed to make there. So we did. And then we left earlier than the rest of our group because it was getting too weird to be there.
Then we washed our clothes using a biodegradable washing soap. :) And took shower in cold water because it took some time to warm the water and we didn't want to wait. It wouldn't be that bad if they weren't outside showers and it wasn't windy... :)
Oh, I'd forget to complain almost! :) I stepped on a little twig which was, however, big enough to got stuck in my foot. It was very painful and bloody, I guess I had at least 1 centimeter of it in my foot. I think I said some words that one shouldn't say in public (but almost nobody could understand me anyway :)) - and no, Jill, I didn't say "Drz hubu" as it wouldn't make any sense :)). And I was limping (I have no idea if this is really the word I want to use, but probably it is :)) for like three more days. Oh yeah... The lesson learned was - don't enter the tent without your shoes on. :) Ha, I guess I should stop now, this post is spinning out of my control. :)
And sure, the photos will come later. And I'm really sorry for my English. Unfortunately, I can't promise it'll get better. :)
So Day 9... Waking up at 6 am, after a night under the Namibian sky without any tent. :) That was nice. Very nice. We left the camp site at 7, stopping at a gas station on the way (with funny toilets... I must say I felt sick... Jan, the driver, said later: "The first two hours of driving were so exciting!" That explains why I was sick. But at least Jan had fun for which I'm happy now :)). We also stopped somewhere where local women were selling hand-made dolls. I liked them so much and still regret I didn't buy any. (And they had lovely colourful dresses. One of the ladies told me she really liked my clothes because of the colours I was wearing: orange trousers, the ones Jill likes so much, haha, and green T-shirt... but still... their clothes were so much better :))
And we saw our first giraffes!
Our final stop for Day 9 was the Himba Camp. Himba is a local Namibian tribe that is, from what the guide there told us, not among the government's favourite ones. I think he said something about them having fought against the government that's in power now. But I must admit I should study the history of Namibia much more to be able to tell you something.
First of all, we went to see a house that was built kind of in a rock by some French film makers who made there a movie whose name nobody knew because it was in French. :) The house was amazing! It was without windows, therefore open and therefore when it rains and you stay there, you get completely wet. But it was amazing! It's actually a 'hotel' now but they let the people who stay in the camp site to go in and see it all, so we did.
Then we went to visit the Himba tribe which was very interesting but also weird a little. You know how it feels - you know it's good to go there, learn something about a completely different culture, you know that they actually earn money this way and that they need the money... But you still feel that it's not right, you're looking at them as if they were animals in a zoo, they're looking at you, you'll never find out what they think (I actually believe that they don't care at all because their life style seems to be like that), you'd like to talk to them but you can't because you don't speak their language. And because you can't talk to them you can't really learn so much about them. We went, anyway.
So I'm going to tell you something more about the red-looking people. :) They are so different from us! They put ocher on their bodies (that's why their skin looks rather red than black) which protects their skin from the sun and which also substitutes a razor :) They seriously have no hair on their bodies at all! Isn't that amazing? There's so much that our Euro-Atlantic civilization can learn from these people, that some Europeans/American would call undeveloped.
As there's not enough water in their region, they don't use any water at all for hygienic purposes. They put some herbs (they use them as a personal perfume - every person uses different herbs) together, put them on fire, or something like that, and thus they get a kind of sauna - they put the burning herbs into a ceramic pot, sit on it and as they are sweating, they're actually getting clean. If it doesn't make sense, I can't help you (or maybe I can, just ask :)). But it really works! I mean - they really don't smell bad or anything! :) Ok, this all takes several hours. It's like a ritual. They need to sit on the pot for one hour, but to prepare it also takes time. That's why they wake up every day at 4 am. When they're done with their hygiene, they wash their clothes pretty much the same way.
The last thing I remember about the tribe is that there's also some kind of ritual for boys to become men. One part of it is to "lose" (probably in a rather more violent way :)) four teeth - one is the tooth of beauty (they don't need to be beautiful, probably), another one is for being able to speak their language well and the rest I don't remember... (Jill, Susan, help! :)).
We learnt all this from a guy who's definitely not Himba by origin :) and who was a bit weird. Ha said he lived there and tried to help them and I think he actually had a child with one the women.
We could also buy some bracelets and stuff like that which they're supposed to make there. So we did. And then we left earlier than the rest of our group because it was getting too weird to be there.
Then we washed our clothes using a biodegradable washing soap. :) And took shower in cold water because it took some time to warm the water and we didn't want to wait. It wouldn't be that bad if they weren't outside showers and it wasn't windy... :)
Oh, I'd forget to complain almost! :) I stepped on a little twig which was, however, big enough to got stuck in my foot. It was very painful and bloody, I guess I had at least 1 centimeter of it in my foot. I think I said some words that one shouldn't say in public (but almost nobody could understand me anyway :)) - and no, Jill, I didn't say "Drz hubu" as it wouldn't make any sense :)). And I was limping (I have no idea if this is really the word I want to use, but probably it is :)) for like three more days. Oh yeah... The lesson learned was - don't enter the tent without your shoes on. :) Ha, I guess I should stop now, this post is spinning out of my control. :)
And sure, the photos will come later. And I'm really sorry for my English. Unfortunately, I can't promise it'll get better. :)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
THE TOUR: Day 8 - Spitzkoppe (pictures)
Swakopmund
Welcome to Spitzkoppe!
going up...
I was there! :)
This is not photoshopped!!! :)
Amazing, isn't it?
San rock art.
View from the top.
The rock art? :)
The group.
Are we crazy? I guess... But it wasn't my idea... Me... claustrophobic... :)
Going down...
The only toilet at Spitzkoppe camp site.
Magical Spitzkoppe
The Swiss and a very cool pic :)
Sunday, November 11, 2007
THE TOUR: Day 8 - Spitzkoppe - the place I'll never forget...
This was one of my favourite days because Spitzkoppe was one of my favourite places. Amazing, awesome, magic...
But from the beginning. We were leaving Swakop not earlier than 10:30 but I woke up at 7:30 (as I said before - it's very hard for me to sleep in a room for 10 people). After breakfast, we went to do some shopping (mainly for water as there was not going to be any water at the next camp site) and went to the seaside for a walk. And we walked and walked and took some pictures and then got on Harrison, which was cleaned (i.e. without sand :)), and left Swakop for good.
We got to the camp around lunch time and had lunch. The camp site was wonderful - there was nothing (and no people), just the rocks around. Well, there was a "toilet" but nobody was really using it as it really smelled. There were plenty of bushes, though, so it was ok. :)
I guess I should tell you something about Spitzkoppe. Some people say that it looks similar to the Australian Uluru (Ayers Rock) but I cannot tell because I've never been to Australia. :) In any case, it's amazing. Imagine you're in Namibia for a week and see nothing, nothing, nothing (but this nothing is beautiful), sand, sand, sand, a weird tree from time to time, and then in the middle of the nothing, there are suddenly red rocks. I loved that place!
After lunch, we went to see the San rock art (the San were one of the local African tribes) - pictures on the rocks that the San people drew there during some rituals. Spitzkoppe was actually a sacred place for them so they went there only to perform these rituals (otherwise they were scared), during which they used some drugs and then they were drawing pictures that don't make much sense. :)
We had to go up quite a steep rock, but it was worth it. And then some of us joined Jan who had a special trail somewhere... That was lots of fun, really, and we got much higher so that we could see much more (of the nothing? :))
After we got back to the camp, we didn't stay there for too long as it was time for another beautiful African sunset and so we went to another rock from which it was nice to watch it. We spent some time there and then got back to the camp and did all these usual things like having dinner, not having shower and so on...
But this is not all!!! This time (and it was the only time for me) we slept outside! The guides told us it was probably the best place to do so, also safe (though they didn't forget to tell us some scary stories. One was that hyenas ate a boy in front of his mother. Too late to save him... And the other was rather funny - there was a black cat in the camp site. I really wondered how it got there, but it was there, trying to get some food and stuff. The guides said it had been there for some time already and that last time it jumped at somebody sleeping outside right at the moment when the guy opened his eyes. Funny now, I guess I wouldn't find it funny if I was that guy :) Oh, and I would forget - they also said that you can hear voices coming from the rocks at night.)
So we did sleep outside and I loved it! You're watching the stars and you actually don't want to fall asleep as there were so many of them, plus so many shooting stars... Wow... How I miss Spitzkoppe now... So I'm not going to write anything more. And if you want to know more... go there and see it yourself!!! :)
But from the beginning. We were leaving Swakop not earlier than 10:30 but I woke up at 7:30 (as I said before - it's very hard for me to sleep in a room for 10 people). After breakfast, we went to do some shopping (mainly for water as there was not going to be any water at the next camp site) and went to the seaside for a walk. And we walked and walked and took some pictures and then got on Harrison, which was cleaned (i.e. without sand :)), and left Swakop for good.
We got to the camp around lunch time and had lunch. The camp site was wonderful - there was nothing (and no people), just the rocks around. Well, there was a "toilet" but nobody was really using it as it really smelled. There were plenty of bushes, though, so it was ok. :)
I guess I should tell you something about Spitzkoppe. Some people say that it looks similar to the Australian Uluru (Ayers Rock) but I cannot tell because I've never been to Australia. :) In any case, it's amazing. Imagine you're in Namibia for a week and see nothing, nothing, nothing (but this nothing is beautiful), sand, sand, sand, a weird tree from time to time, and then in the middle of the nothing, there are suddenly red rocks. I loved that place!
After lunch, we went to see the San rock art (the San were one of the local African tribes) - pictures on the rocks that the San people drew there during some rituals. Spitzkoppe was actually a sacred place for them so they went there only to perform these rituals (otherwise they were scared), during which they used some drugs and then they were drawing pictures that don't make much sense. :)
We had to go up quite a steep rock, but it was worth it. And then some of us joined Jan who had a special trail somewhere... That was lots of fun, really, and we got much higher so that we could see much more (of the nothing? :))
After we got back to the camp, we didn't stay there for too long as it was time for another beautiful African sunset and so we went to another rock from which it was nice to watch it. We spent some time there and then got back to the camp and did all these usual things like having dinner, not having shower and so on...
But this is not all!!! This time (and it was the only time for me) we slept outside! The guides told us it was probably the best place to do so, also safe (though they didn't forget to tell us some scary stories. One was that hyenas ate a boy in front of his mother. Too late to save him... And the other was rather funny - there was a black cat in the camp site. I really wondered how it got there, but it was there, trying to get some food and stuff. The guides said it had been there for some time already and that last time it jumped at somebody sleeping outside right at the moment when the guy opened his eyes. Funny now, I guess I wouldn't find it funny if I was that guy :) Oh, and I would forget - they also said that you can hear voices coming from the rocks at night.)
So we did sleep outside and I loved it! You're watching the stars and you actually don't want to fall asleep as there were so many of them, plus so many shooting stars... Wow... How I miss Spitzkoppe now... So I'm not going to write anything more. And if you want to know more... go there and see it yourself!!! :)
PS: Photos coming soon. ;)
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Free Rice
Click on this link: FreeRice, play a game in which you can learn some new vocab :) and feed hungry people! That electronic world of ours is sometimes simply unbelievable, isn't it?
Friday, November 09, 2007
Daruj hračku (Český rozhlas) - Czech only...
Moji milí čtenáři,je za námi už zase skoro rok a já s radostí zjistila, že akce Českého rozhlasu Daruj hračku se koná i letos!!! Někteří z vás ji znají, někteří ne, jedná se o akci, při níž lidé posílají vánoční dárky dětem z dětských domovů z celé ČR. Všechny informace získáte na těchto stránkách:Daruj hračku (Český rozhlas)
Podstata je prostá... Na stránkách si najdete seznam dětí (podle jména, věku, dětského domova...) a podíváte si, co by si které dítě přálo letos dostat. Dárek, který se rozhodnete obstarat, si zarezervujete, obstaráte a pošlete na adresu na stránkách uvedenou. Nerezervujte si hračky, pokud nejste stoprocentně přesvědčení, že je budete kupovat a posílat! Systém je sice nastavený tak, že pokud do nějakého časového limitu od doby rezervace rozhlas dárek neobdrží, vaši rezervaci zruší, ale nedělejte prostě nic, čím byste děti připravili o možnost získat vánoční dárek.
Takže vás chci touto cestou poprosit, abyste akci podpořili. Když už ne darováním hračky, ať už z jakéhokoli důvodu, tak aspoň šířením zprávy dál. Momentálně je dětí úplně bez hračky 1061. Nebylo by super, kdyby jich bylo v prosinci o 1061 míň? ;)
Takže vás chci touto cestou poprosit, abyste akci podpořili. Když už ne darováním hračky, ať už z jakéhokoli důvodu, tak aspoň šířením zprávy dál. Momentálně je dětí úplně bez hračky 1061. Nebylo by super, kdyby jich bylo v prosinci o 1061 míň? ;)
Thursday, November 08, 2007
And so it seems I got the visa
Well, if you think I should be sure by now, you're right. I had the appointment at the embassy today and therefore I know. The guy said: "You're going to get the visa next week." He meant: "You're going to get your passport with the visa issued next week." :) I'm just kidding. The appointment was funny. I was there earlier but still had to wait for longer than I liked. First, you have to go to a desk number 1 or 2, where you give them the form, your passport etc. Then finger prints. Then finger prints again, but finally, already, you wouldn't believe it was going to happen :), you get to talk to the consular, the god-like creature who decides about your future (exaggerating, of course :)).
The consular was not Czech, so I guess he was American, right? (I really don't know what you have to be to work as a consular at the US embassy.) He spoke Czech, but not 100% so I couldn't understand him sometimes. Our conversation was thus very funny as we were both talking about different things. I know, I could have started in English to make it easier for him, but I decided not to as I don't agree with the US visa policy towards the Czech citizens. :) That's how brave I am. :)
To be honest, I was quite sure I'd get the visa because they wouldn't have any reason not to give it to me. But you never know when the policy is "I like you, you get it, I don't like you, you don't get it". And actually when he was asking me for the third time the same question and started to look very suspicious, I didn't know what to think.
To sum it up: I'm gonna receive my passport with the visa next week. It actually seemed to me that he was so desperate and tired from talking to me, when we didn't understand what the other one was saying, that he decided to get rid of me by giving me the visa. :) And that's my US embassy experience.
The consular was not Czech, so I guess he was American, right? (I really don't know what you have to be to work as a consular at the US embassy.) He spoke Czech, but not 100% so I couldn't understand him sometimes. Our conversation was thus very funny as we were both talking about different things. I know, I could have started in English to make it easier for him, but I decided not to as I don't agree with the US visa policy towards the Czech citizens. :) That's how brave I am. :)
To be honest, I was quite sure I'd get the visa because they wouldn't have any reason not to give it to me. But you never know when the policy is "I like you, you get it, I don't like you, you don't get it". And actually when he was asking me for the third time the same question and started to look very suspicious, I didn't know what to think.
To sum it up: I'm gonna receive my passport with the visa next week. It actually seemed to me that he was so desperate and tired from talking to me, when we didn't understand what the other one was saying, that he decided to get rid of me by giving me the visa. :) And that's my US embassy experience.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Where the Hell is Matt?
I want to do that!!! I know it wouldn't be original but it looks like so much fun :)))
Friday, November 02, 2007
THE TOUR: Day 7 - Swakopmund
Day 7, which was 7/7/2007 :), was full of activities. We woke up relatively late, went to the town to try the slowest Internet ever and then, from 9:30 waited for a van which was supposed to take us to the dunes where we tried.... SANDBOARDING!!!
Well, I can write here whatever but if you don't try, you can't really know what I'm talking about. :) Ok, sandboarding is very similar to snowboarding, except it's on sand and you don't have to wear winter clothes. It's actually exactly the opposite - you should wear summer clothes because going up the dune with the board and in snowboarding boots is very very demanding. :)
The people who taught us to sandboard were great, friendly, helpful. Of course, you can't learn it in one day, but I tried. I was really good compared to other beginners, if you want to know. :) But I didn't manage to turn to the left, I always fell down... Which wasn't that bad because it doesn't hurt in the sand. So this was stand-up sandboarding, for the hardcore people :)))
But because we paid more, we could also try the lie-down sandboarding which was lots of fun too. You simply lie down on a piece of plywood (if it's the right English name) and go down the dune with your head first. Lots of fun! The speed is up to 75 km/h. And it hurts. And we - because we were the hardcore one - didn't get the elbow pads and stuff like that which the not-cool guys (i.e. those who did only lie-down :)) had. But we did enjoy it anyway :)
Around noon, I think, we finished and got some food. And bought T-shirts but they are really nice. :) And went back to the backpackers to take a quick shower and get ready for another sand activity - QUAD BIKING.
They say it's "the most fun in Namibia with your clothes on". I don't know if I liked this or sandboarding better because it was so different. But it was so much fun too (though I wouldn't like to get lost in the dunes...) However, the fun was very much based on the group you were in. And ours was good. Until this stupid girl didn't force herself to be the first one (after the guide). I was the first one almost all the time, second was Emma, a girl from our tour, and we really had fun cause we were fast. But this girl sucked and was slow and annoying... The advice is - don't try to be first when you suck. :)))
Oh, and the good thing about both activities was that in both cases, we were the biggest group of the day which meant that we got videos from both for free! Yeaaah!!! :)
PS: Some photos coming soon...
Well, I can write here whatever but if you don't try, you can't really know what I'm talking about. :) Ok, sandboarding is very similar to snowboarding, except it's on sand and you don't have to wear winter clothes. It's actually exactly the opposite - you should wear summer clothes because going up the dune with the board and in snowboarding boots is very very demanding. :)
The people who taught us to sandboard were great, friendly, helpful. Of course, you can't learn it in one day, but I tried. I was really good compared to other beginners, if you want to know. :) But I didn't manage to turn to the left, I always fell down... Which wasn't that bad because it doesn't hurt in the sand. So this was stand-up sandboarding, for the hardcore people :)))
But because we paid more, we could also try the lie-down sandboarding which was lots of fun too. You simply lie down on a piece of plywood (if it's the right English name) and go down the dune with your head first. Lots of fun! The speed is up to 75 km/h. And it hurts. And we - because we were the hardcore one - didn't get the elbow pads and stuff like that which the not-cool guys (i.e. those who did only lie-down :)) had. But we did enjoy it anyway :)
Around noon, I think, we finished and got some food. And bought T-shirts but they are really nice. :) And went back to the backpackers to take a quick shower and get ready for another sand activity - QUAD BIKING.
They say it's "the most fun in Namibia with your clothes on". I don't know if I liked this or sandboarding better because it was so different. But it was so much fun too (though I wouldn't like to get lost in the dunes...) However, the fun was very much based on the group you were in. And ours was good. Until this stupid girl didn't force herself to be the first one (after the guide). I was the first one almost all the time, second was Emma, a girl from our tour, and we really had fun cause we were fast. But this girl sucked and was slow and annoying... The advice is - don't try to be first when you suck. :)))
Oh, and the good thing about both activities was that in both cases, we were the biggest group of the day which meant that we got videos from both for free! Yeaaah!!! :)
PS: Some photos coming soon...
Thursday, November 01, 2007
On the Radio - once more...
And I promise it's the last time. But I just love the lyrics so I put a part of it here... Isn't it beautifully written?
This is how it works
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until their dying breath
No, this is how it works
You peer inside yourself
You take the things you like
And try to love the things you took
And then you take that love you made
And stick it into some
Someone else's heart
Pumping someone else's blood
And walking arm in arm
You hope it don't get harmed
But even if it does
You'll just do it all again
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until their dying breath
No, this is how it works
You peer inside yourself
You take the things you like
And try to love the things you took
And then you take that love you made
And stick it into some
Someone else's heart
Pumping someone else's blood
And walking arm in arm
You hope it don't get harmed
But even if it does
You'll just do it all again
THE TOUR: Day 6 - Swakopmund
Day 6 was a day of early morning, the tent-shaking came at 6:30. After breakfast, we headed off in the direction of Swakopmund which was to be the first town we were going to see after... 6 days. :) (And I can tell you - I preferred the outside-of-civilization life.)
So, I think we didn't do much this day. We spent the whole morning in the truck, I think I slept most of the time (thus I had no idea where we lost the sun and found the clouds...). Oh, yes, and we stopped at the Tropic of Capricorn to take a group picture. I don't think I liked that ("Ok, guys, that's the Tropic of Capricorn, you can get out and take a picture..."). But we did take a picture and it was actually quite fun. You know how it is with group pictures. You give all the cameras to one person. There were about 25 of us. Lots of fun, really... It seemed that Wessel had some never-to-run-out-of-cameras pockets... And then, the guides, Wessel, Jan and Helen, asked us to take a picture of them. To show them how it feels, we all took our cameras and started to take pictures of them. Oh well, if you say picture time then comes a real one. :)
Then we stopped somewhere, in a town which was actually the first town we saw, it wasn't Swakop to take a stroll along the sea which really smelt... The reason why it smelt was that there were plenty of flamingos. And those flamingos (they told us something interesting about them, I'm pretty sure... but don't remember it) did literally everything in the sea... Literally... (One of the Dutch girls went into the sea to take a better pictures of the flamingos, her feet were sooo disgusting afterwards...) I remember there were supposed to be toilets. And they were there but out of order. That's always the best joke when you're travelling :) Oh, and yes, I remember I fell asleep on the truck and then woke up and realized it wasn't sunny anymore. That wasn't very pleasant, pretty much like the flamingos smell. But neither lasted for a long time. :) And then, when the Germans were done with their flamingo excursion, which took them forever, we finally left for Swakop.
The main activity for the day was to stop at the adventure center in Swakop and book and pay for some optional activities for the day after. I'm not going to tell you know what we did... You'll have to wait :)
Then we moved to the Dunes Lodge where we were going to spend two nights. Two nights without the tents, at a backpackers. I missed the tents, seriously. My mattress in the tent was so much more comfortable than the one in the bed. Plus - there were 10 people in the room, whereas in the tent, we were only two... Well, we had to survive... :) (Also, the room was very damp which was very annoying...) The backpackers had a bar, an inside pool (dangerous for a local dog who almost drowned there) and it was not too bad, it just wasn't the tent. :)
In Swakop, we did some shopping (tissues and this kind of stuff necessary for survival) and also tried the Internet, which sucked, it was probably the slowest connection ever, but the local people seemed fine with paying for it.
Then we went for a walk with Jill. We went to the sea and walked around and somehow we got to a local crafts market, which we kinda regretted later. Of course, we were being stopped by people trying to sell whatever all the time. And of course, they didn't believe us when we said we didn't have any money (and we really didn't). I didn't like that. And there was this guy, he told us his name (it meant "small town" in translation, I think) and talked to us. Then said he'd give us a gift. Jill said no. She told me the reason later - Marie told her that when they say they're gonna give you something as a gift, they'll ask you for money anyway after you take it. I didn't know that, so I didn't say no. He gave me this thing about which he claimed it was an elephant. I could see that with lots of imagination. Anyway, I think, and most people do, that it is really a hammerhead shark. You can see it if you want to. :) And he didn't want any money from me! However, he wanted to know at what backpackers we were staying and our room numbers... Ehm... That he would camp (?!) there... Ehm... We said we didn't know. :) And sure - we'll see you out tonight! We were kinda running away then...
And the last activity of the day was going out, as a group, for dinner. To a restaurant called Cape to Cairo, which is a chain restaurant that you probably can find at different places in Africa. It wasn't bad. There were more than 25 of us, though, and it was a big trouble for the waiters. Everything took forever, they didn't have anything... I must say I rather felt sorry for them than was angry. What was worse - our new fellow-travellers. To make us all happy, they were Germans and they were far far far worse than those we had already (ok - nothing against Germans in general... it's just those we had on the tour, they were unbelievable). Well, Wessel wanted us to be nice to them so that they'd feel welcomed. We tried but I must say, for myself, that it was freaking hard.
I don't remember what we ate but remember that most of the people went out later. But we were so tired, plus we had to wake up early in the morning, that we decided to be the losers and went to bed instead. Well, I'd say nothing better than a good night sleep. But it wasn't the case at the backpackers. There was no good sleep at all. First - the mattresses were very uncomfortable. Second, people were coming back throughout the night... ten people in one room means not only no privacy, but also no silence, and sometimes no dark, things I need to be able to sleep. Third, we had to wake up in the morning into a room full of sleeping people. How I missed our tent!
Then we stopped somewhere, in a town which was actually the first town we saw, it wasn't Swakop to take a stroll along the sea which really smelt... The reason why it smelt was that there were plenty of flamingos. And those flamingos (they told us something interesting about them, I'm pretty sure... but don't remember it) did literally everything in the sea... Literally... (One of the Dutch girls went into the sea to take a better pictures of the flamingos, her feet were sooo disgusting afterwards...) I remember there were supposed to be toilets. And they were there but out of order. That's always the best joke when you're travelling :) Oh, and yes, I remember I fell asleep on the truck and then woke up and realized it wasn't sunny anymore. That wasn't very pleasant, pretty much like the flamingos smell. But neither lasted for a long time. :) And then, when the Germans were done with their flamingo excursion, which took them forever, we finally left for Swakop.
The main activity for the day was to stop at the adventure center in Swakop and book and pay for some optional activities for the day after. I'm not going to tell you know what we did... You'll have to wait :)
Then we moved to the Dunes Lodge where we were going to spend two nights. Two nights without the tents, at a backpackers. I missed the tents, seriously. My mattress in the tent was so much more comfortable than the one in the bed. Plus - there were 10 people in the room, whereas in the tent, we were only two... Well, we had to survive... :) (Also, the room was very damp which was very annoying...) The backpackers had a bar, an inside pool (dangerous for a local dog who almost drowned there) and it was not too bad, it just wasn't the tent. :)
In Swakop, we did some shopping (tissues and this kind of stuff necessary for survival) and also tried the Internet, which sucked, it was probably the slowest connection ever, but the local people seemed fine with paying for it.
Then we went for a walk with Jill. We went to the sea and walked around and somehow we got to a local crafts market, which we kinda regretted later. Of course, we were being stopped by people trying to sell whatever all the time. And of course, they didn't believe us when we said we didn't have any money (and we really didn't). I didn't like that. And there was this guy, he told us his name (it meant "small town" in translation, I think) and talked to us. Then said he'd give us a gift. Jill said no. She told me the reason later - Marie told her that when they say they're gonna give you something as a gift, they'll ask you for money anyway after you take it. I didn't know that, so I didn't say no. He gave me this thing about which he claimed it was an elephant. I could see that with lots of imagination. Anyway, I think, and most people do, that it is really a hammerhead shark. You can see it if you want to. :) And he didn't want any money from me! However, he wanted to know at what backpackers we were staying and our room numbers... Ehm... That he would camp (?!) there... Ehm... We said we didn't know. :) And sure - we'll see you out tonight! We were kinda running away then...
And the last activity of the day was going out, as a group, for dinner. To a restaurant called Cape to Cairo, which is a chain restaurant that you probably can find at different places in Africa. It wasn't bad. There were more than 25 of us, though, and it was a big trouble for the waiters. Everything took forever, they didn't have anything... I must say I rather felt sorry for them than was angry. What was worse - our new fellow-travellers. To make us all happy, they were Germans and they were far far far worse than those we had already (ok - nothing against Germans in general... it's just those we had on the tour, they were unbelievable). Well, Wessel wanted us to be nice to them so that they'd feel welcomed. We tried but I must say, for myself, that it was freaking hard.
I don't remember what we ate but remember that most of the people went out later. But we were so tired, plus we had to wake up early in the morning, that we decided to be the losers and went to bed instead. Well, I'd say nothing better than a good night sleep. But it wasn't the case at the backpackers. There was no good sleep at all. First - the mattresses were very uncomfortable. Second, people were coming back throughout the night... ten people in one room means not only no privacy, but also no silence, and sometimes no dark, things I need to be able to sleep. Third, we had to wake up in the morning into a room full of sleeping people. How I missed our tent!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Regina Spektor - Summer In The City (live)
Another one, enjoy... Her live performances are even better! I love her. :)
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Thermal spa in Hungary
My really good friend (and boss :)) is celebrating her birthday today. And we had a pre-birthday party yesterday in Hungary. We decided to go, there were 4 of us, to thermal spa in Györ. We went there with FTL which was a mistake. The departure time was 5:30 am. Craziness... Well, I left the house at 5:25 and it was good as the bus was, of course, late. When we finally got on the bus (we were freezing outside for almost 30 minutes), we were happy as we got the best seats - the four seats which are almost in the back of the bus, but those that are really in the back were free... So each of us had 2,25 seats :).
We slept all the way to Brno and farther. The first stop was just before the borders with Slovakia and was far too long (although said to be just a hygiene stop). Then we went directly to Györ.
Well, the first problem actually appeared even before Saturday. We were told that, for whatever reason, we were neither going to stop at a market (which was said on a leaflet), or to the city (also promised). We got to the spa, waited forever to get some chips (not for eating :)) to be able to get inside and then went for a walk. We were told the bus drivers would be at the parking lot from 11 until 12 to open the bus for us so that we could get our things and go to the spa.
Here comes the right time, I believe, to tell you something about our guide and her organizational (and other) skills. She was useless. Completely. First, she looked nice. Until she took the microphone and started telling us all the "important" information. That Slovakia is in the EU and stuff like that. She repeated everything at least ten times and after doing that, she said: "But I'll repeat this later so that you know..." Ehm... We, especially Oeniska :), were quite rude sometimes, probably because we believed it would stop her. Nothing stopped her. So she was talking, talking, talking and all the words she said gave us no information we needed.
So you wouldn't be surprised that when we came to the bus, at 11:00, there was nobody there. No bus drivers to open the bus. It was very cold outside. And we wanted to go into the hot water. Well, at about 11:40, a bus driver who wasn't ours opened the bus for us. I don't think it's normal... We could have stolen anything from there...
But we finally got inside the spa and were happy for that. For a while... Because we got only one locker for two people which is very very strange if you can imagine how much space things like towels and bathrobes take... Annoying, seriously.
The spa itself was nice. It was crowded, though. So there was, for example, a room called relaxing. The atmosphere there was similar, I believe, to a soccer match - it was so loud that they could close people in there and torture them by keeping them inside!
We enjoyed the whirpool, the little waterfalls and especially the part of one of the pools with counter-current. That was really lots of fun. We were the fastest there, being a "train", really having fun like little kids. I loved that! And as this was very tiring, physically, we decided to get some money (HUF :)) and go to the bar. We wanted to have shakes. We had wanted them until we saw how the not-nice waitress takes the ice in her bare hands and starts making the shakes out of it... Gross... So we ordered coffee... And got some - two of the glasses were half-empty. So we tried to catch the "lady's" attention and complain, politely. When we thought she was finally listening to us, we told her that we'd like to have all the glasses full. It seemed she didn't listen to us at all, at the end, she didn't say anything, she just left... So we didn't know what was going on. And then she came, after about 5 minutes, with hot milk which she poured inside our glasses. Without a single word. Czech waitresses, shop assistents and all the people "serving" us we sometimes complain about are wonderful compared to that! (As my mom said later - "So nothing has changed since we went there during the socialist era..." Really, we shouldn't complain here :))
When the time came to leave, we had the chance to find out how bad the showers were...
We got on the bus again and headed to Paprika Czarda for dinner. Our dear guide was talking again... She said things like: "We should be there before 6. Well, I'll tell you when we get there if we managed." What the hell is wrong with you?! we were thinking...
The dinner was good, except... Our bus was full of primary-school teachers and sometimes it was just annoying (ok, my mom is a teacher... when I told her this story, she said "And that's why I never go on a trip organized for teachers" :)). There was this one lady, a teacher, who started smoking in the restaurant exactly at the same time when we started eating. So we asked her, politely, to stop. She said: "What? Are you talking to me?" Do you think she stopped? Of course not. I wonder if a teacher like that really have the courage to tell pupils they shouldn't smoke.
The food was very good, though. And we still had our bottle of champagne. We were supposed to leave at 7 pm. But we were the last ones who got food, the last ones who finished, the last ones who paid... And we were angry at that stupid teacher so we decided to open the bottle before getting on the bus which meant, and we knew it, that everyone was going to wait for us. It was kinda fun to come back, late, with cups full of champagne. :)
So that was it, we drank our champagne and then watched Vratne lahve on the bus. During the movie, our amazing guide didn't forget to tell us that "on the right side, there's Bratislava castle...". Of course without pausing the movie...
We got home at around 11 pm. Tired. To sum up, it was fun because we made it fun. And it also taught us that we should never again go on an organized trip like that. Next time, we're taking a car. But we'll make sure one of us will be always talking, giving us "interesting facts" about anything we see on the way... :)
Ok, I really liked that ladies trip and I think we should do that more often. But - and you should follow this advice - never again with FTL!!! :)
PS: Girls - L & M & D/O - if you read it, thanks for the day which was great thanks to all the fun we had! And happy birthday, my dearest boss! :) You're the best!
We slept all the way to Brno and farther. The first stop was just before the borders with Slovakia and was far too long (although said to be just a hygiene stop). Then we went directly to Györ.
Well, the first problem actually appeared even before Saturday. We were told that, for whatever reason, we were neither going to stop at a market (which was said on a leaflet), or to the city (also promised). We got to the spa, waited forever to get some chips (not for eating :)) to be able to get inside and then went for a walk. We were told the bus drivers would be at the parking lot from 11 until 12 to open the bus for us so that we could get our things and go to the spa.
Here comes the right time, I believe, to tell you something about our guide and her organizational (and other) skills. She was useless. Completely. First, she looked nice. Until she took the microphone and started telling us all the "important" information. That Slovakia is in the EU and stuff like that. She repeated everything at least ten times and after doing that, she said: "But I'll repeat this later so that you know..." Ehm... We, especially Oeniska :), were quite rude sometimes, probably because we believed it would stop her. Nothing stopped her. So she was talking, talking, talking and all the words she said gave us no information we needed.
So you wouldn't be surprised that when we came to the bus, at 11:00, there was nobody there. No bus drivers to open the bus. It was very cold outside. And we wanted to go into the hot water. Well, at about 11:40, a bus driver who wasn't ours opened the bus for us. I don't think it's normal... We could have stolen anything from there...
But we finally got inside the spa and were happy for that. For a while... Because we got only one locker for two people which is very very strange if you can imagine how much space things like towels and bathrobes take... Annoying, seriously.
The spa itself was nice. It was crowded, though. So there was, for example, a room called relaxing. The atmosphere there was similar, I believe, to a soccer match - it was so loud that they could close people in there and torture them by keeping them inside!
We enjoyed the whirpool, the little waterfalls and especially the part of one of the pools with counter-current. That was really lots of fun. We were the fastest there, being a "train", really having fun like little kids. I loved that! And as this was very tiring, physically, we decided to get some money (HUF :)) and go to the bar. We wanted to have shakes. We had wanted them until we saw how the not-nice waitress takes the ice in her bare hands and starts making the shakes out of it... Gross... So we ordered coffee... And got some - two of the glasses were half-empty. So we tried to catch the "lady's" attention and complain, politely. When we thought she was finally listening to us, we told her that we'd like to have all the glasses full. It seemed she didn't listen to us at all, at the end, she didn't say anything, she just left... So we didn't know what was going on. And then she came, after about 5 minutes, with hot milk which she poured inside our glasses. Without a single word. Czech waitresses, shop assistents and all the people "serving" us we sometimes complain about are wonderful compared to that! (As my mom said later - "So nothing has changed since we went there during the socialist era..." Really, we shouldn't complain here :))
When the time came to leave, we had the chance to find out how bad the showers were...
We got on the bus again and headed to Paprika Czarda for dinner. Our dear guide was talking again... She said things like: "We should be there before 6. Well, I'll tell you when we get there if we managed." What the hell is wrong with you?! we were thinking...
The dinner was good, except... Our bus was full of primary-school teachers and sometimes it was just annoying (ok, my mom is a teacher... when I told her this story, she said "And that's why I never go on a trip organized for teachers" :)). There was this one lady, a teacher, who started smoking in the restaurant exactly at the same time when we started eating. So we asked her, politely, to stop. She said: "What? Are you talking to me?" Do you think she stopped? Of course not. I wonder if a teacher like that really have the courage to tell pupils they shouldn't smoke.
The food was very good, though. And we still had our bottle of champagne. We were supposed to leave at 7 pm. But we were the last ones who got food, the last ones who finished, the last ones who paid... And we were angry at that stupid teacher so we decided to open the bottle before getting on the bus which meant, and we knew it, that everyone was going to wait for us. It was kinda fun to come back, late, with cups full of champagne. :)
So that was it, we drank our champagne and then watched Vratne lahve on the bus. During the movie, our amazing guide didn't forget to tell us that "on the right side, there's Bratislava castle...". Of course without pausing the movie...
We got home at around 11 pm. Tired. To sum up, it was fun because we made it fun. And it also taught us that we should never again go on an organized trip like that. Next time, we're taking a car. But we'll make sure one of us will be always talking, giving us "interesting facts" about anything we see on the way... :)
Ok, I really liked that ladies trip and I think we should do that more often. But - and you should follow this advice - never again with FTL!!! :)
PS: Girls - L & M & D/O - if you read it, thanks for the day which was great thanks to all the fun we had! And happy birthday, my dearest boss! :) You're the best!
Regina Spektor - Fidelity
This video is amazing. It's the first of Regina Spektor's songs I heard. And I must say I wasn't sure if I liked it. Well, I loved the video. Then I listened to more of her songs and they are all so different. And I can tell you. She is amazing. So I decided to post here some of her songs so that you can decide for yourselves if you like them. And if you do, you can enjoy them. So enjoy - at least the video, it's really worth seeing.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
October 17 was declared the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty by the UN General Assembly. That was yesterday. I didn't know that until I heard somebody saying that on TV. They also said this: there is one billion of people living on less than 1$ a day. Every 3 seconds somewhere in the world a child dies from malnutrition. Which means that from the time you started reading this very short post until now, approximately 6 children died. They also said that the world (meaning probably the so-called West) is able to do something with it. But nothing is really happening.
Why do I write this here? Just to remind you, and myself, that the places where we live (and as far as I know, people who read this are either Czech or American... am I wrong?) could be called the world paradise. So if you can't do anything else to make the world better, just be aware of this fact - your life is probably much much easier (or at least more comfortable) than life of majority of the world population. Be aware of it and, if just for today, smile at everyone the whole day (even at people who don't smile back) as you have a reason to be happy. Or if not happy, at least content... Have a nice day, my rich friends!
PS: And I'm not saying you can't have problems. Everyone can and everyone's problems are relevant for that particular person. And that's all alright. But honestly - don't you think, sometimes, that we are concerned about things that aren't really that serious when there are people watching their kids die without being able to help them? Just because they were born at "a wrong place"?
Why do I write this here? Just to remind you, and myself, that the places where we live (and as far as I know, people who read this are either Czech or American... am I wrong?) could be called the world paradise. So if you can't do anything else to make the world better, just be aware of this fact - your life is probably much much easier (or at least more comfortable) than life of majority of the world population. Be aware of it and, if just for today, smile at everyone the whole day (even at people who don't smile back) as you have a reason to be happy. Or if not happy, at least content... Have a nice day, my rich friends!
PS: And I'm not saying you can't have problems. Everyone can and everyone's problems are relevant for that particular person. And that's all alright. But honestly - don't you think, sometimes, that we are concerned about things that aren't really that serious when there are people watching their kids die without being able to help them? Just because they were born at "a wrong place"?
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
THE TOUR: Day 5 - Sossuvlei Dunes - Namib-Naukluft National Park
Ok, here comes a very early morning. Wessel was shaking our tents at 5 am so that we could be the first at the gate which opens at 5:45. We were not. However, the truck that was in front of us all the time obviously didn't have a very experienced driver and thus missed the turn to Dune 45. We were first at the dune! :) And very excited!I took my shoes off and started to run to the top of the dune. Oh, I didn't say why we went there. To watch the sunset. Ok, back to the running part. It didn't last too long. I got exhausted after about 5 minutes. Try to run up a dune and you won't ask why. It was the hardest exercise I've ever done! Not only it's hard to walk up in sand, it was also very windy and I felt as if my lungs were full of sand too...
When we finally got up, I don't think anyone cared about the sunset... We just wanted to breathe!!! But then, of course, after a while, we recovered and could enjoy the African beauty. And so can you...
Then it was time to go down which was really fun. We ran down the steeper side of the dune, it was kind of an adrenaline activity. Followed by breakfast. And this was the first time Wessel promised we'd get a big one - eggs and bacon and... it didn't happen. He said the stove wasn't working but nobody believed him. We got food, though, as always. :)
The next stop was Sossuvlei where we could pay for a "Guided Walk with Local Expert" and we did. And regretted it later. We were told that there was going to be the guy Susan talked about - a white bushman, who is very famous, who is very cool and knows everything about the area. But he wasn't there and our guide was simply boring and a little weird.
I'll tell you something about Sossuvlei now. The word means something like "where the water ends". The place is, basically, dunes. But from time to time, they have water there which creates the places where the water ends - it can't get over the dunes. And, from time to time, there are two dunes that are, after some time and thanks to wind, I guess, kinda connected together. When this happens, the new big dune stops the water and what happens next is this: the area that was left behind the dune without water is not Sossuvlei anymore, but now it's called Deadvlei (because it's dead :)). New Sossuvlei is created where the water ended. Does it make sense? :) And here you have some pictures of Deadvlei:
What else did we learn? We saw the dessert rose, tried (at least some of us) to eat some plants that could save your life if you got lost in the dunes, learnt how to track a lizzard (and that you could actually eat it... yummy :)). And it was very hot.
When we were done with this, we went back to the campsite which we left in the morning, packed our stuff and went to a campsite called Solitaire. There was a pool with freaking cold water. Which, I think, we tried. And also, they had amazing strudel in the bar (I wanted to be friendly so I asked the guy who worked there "Hoe gaan dit met jou?" and he started to talk in Afrikaans to me, in reply... Well, I told him I don't understand and he didn't want to believe me. :) That's what happens when you want to be friendly :))
Before the dinner, we watched another African sunset. One sunset a day, that was our motto. :)
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