Yoga Nomads get their start...

We got to sleep in today... 7:30 AM! We're not leaving until later in the afternoon and some of the crew are going canoeing after breakfast.
Team Leopard is on washing up today so we get to clean up after breakfast. Brad is on Team Warthog and they are in charge of loading and unloading the truck. They don't rotate duties so he'll be doing that the entire trip.

The paddlers get driven up river to load into their canoes and paddle back down to the campsite. The rest of us just hang out and relax. They should be back around noon or so.
I took an excellent hot shower in a grass thatched hut where the I could see out over the volleyball court.

I decided a couple of days of sitting was getting to me so I decided to do some yoga. It turned into an impromptu yoga class on the grass with some of the team who had decided to hang around and relax. Anna, Tony, Nadine, Helen, and Michel all joined in. Everyone did great and Tony was laughing through the whole thing. Tony (our driver) is from Nairobi, Kenya and has 3 kids with the oldest only 6 years. He was so stiff... too much time behind the wheel!

I may have done too many chaturanga since my right shoulder started to act a bit funky.

The paddlers arrived around lunch time and we had hot dogs and tomato soup. A quick wash up and pack and we're off driving to the border. The Namibia side is right across the river... we could have swam there!

We drove the short distance to the border and started the process. First, you have to exit South Africa through their border checkpoint, then you have to enter Namibia. The time in between... I guess you are no where. At the Namibian side we had to fill out forms and stand in line to get checked in. It wasn't as slow as it could have been but it definitely was not speedy.

Our next camp in in Hobas. It has great scenery with mountains and plains that stretch out forever. We spotted some of our first wildlife - ostrich and little antelopes!!

We stopped along the roadway to look at some of the plantlife. Steph showed us a Quiver tree. Its from the aloe family and it has a fibrous core. The Bushmen used use the hollowed out branches to hold their arrows - thus the name Quiver. There are also many, many pencil bushes. Apparantly only rhinos can eat these and live. Steph tells us not to touch, smell, burn, eat or even get too close to these bushes. They are used to create strichnine poison. The Bushmen used to use it to tip their arrows for when they were hunting.

When we arrive at Hobas we whip up the tents and take off for Fish River Canyon to watch the sunset. The truck drops us at one of the lookout points and we walk back to the entrance for about 20 minutes along the ridgeline. Fishriver Canyon is the second largest canyon in the world (next to the Grand Canyon) and to say it was impressive is an understatement. Now I'll have to see the Grand Canyon so I can compare.

As we strolled back to the truck we took some great shots of the sunset. When we arrived, Steph had laid out a feast of crackers, cheese, smoked mussels, crisps, sweets, champagne... Once the sun dropped the wind picked up and it got chilly quite quickly.

We headed back to camp ot get our bags out and set up our bads. We weren't very hungry after all that so we had soup for dinner with bread and tea. The campfire was warm and toasty so I really didn't want to drag myself away to do the washing up... but I did. Tony was teaching me how to say things in Swahili: cool bananas = poakichizi kamandizi, thank you very much = asantasana.

The toilet is around 100 yards from our camp and it's cold. We went to bed around 9:30 since we have an early wake up tomorrow since we have a long drive. I go to bed with my silk sleep sheet, cotton sleep sheet, sleeping bag, fleece blanket, long johns, pjs, fleece hat and wool socks and I'm still cold! The camp we're in shuts the generators down at 10 pm so I had these visions of me having to get up in the middle of the night and not be able to find the toilets (or my way back to the tent). Luckily they leave the toilet lights on. Whew!!!

At one point in the night I thought I heard a wild animal in camp but it was only someone snoring. I could hear the jackals in the distance but I don't think they came into camp.