Namibia and South Africa

Visiting my girlfriend (now wife) during her Peace Corps trip

by Dan

travel 🌴|

Christine, my wife, did a Peace Corps tour from 2015 to 2017 in Namibia (right above South Africa). I was able to make it over for about a month of travel where we:

  • Hung out in temporary home town of Outjo
  • Travelled to South Africa to trek the Drakensburg mountain range
  • Relaxed on the beaches and sand dunes of Swakopmund

The Highlights

Christine chasing students for fun Christine did a 2.5 year journey in the Peace Corps, working at Outjo hospital and volunteering as a health worker. As part of her position, she taught health to children at the local high school - this is them playing tag.

Hang drying What is one of the worst things I have ever done on a Sunday? Hand washing and hang drying clothes. You fill the tub with soapy water, hand scrub every inch of your clothes, then hang dry and watch them to make sure no one takes anything. That alone would have made me fail the Peace Corps early on 🤣, but Christine persevered.

Friends Christine introduced me to many friends and mentors in Outjo who were incredibly warm and welcoming. These caring few helped her through those tough couple of years.

Brai Brai, the synonymous South African word for BBQ. We bought a bunch of food from the local grocer and invited nurses and workers from the Outjo hospital Christine worked at to come have dinner and a Brai with us!

Cheetah in Namibia Namibia is famous for its national parks and animal reserves. We went on a mini safari in our rental car and saw incredible wildlife of all kinds. The two most intense were this pack of cheetahs who hissed at us for getting a little too close and a false charging elephant.

Biltong Speaking of food, Biltong kicks ass. It's essentially beef jerky, but of all kinds of meats, textures, and seasonings. It was everywhere in a very meat-dominated society.

Off to South Africa A couple days of hanging in Outjo, and it was time for Christine and I to travel over to South Africa where we had booked a guide to help us trek the Drakensburg mountain range over several days. The Drakensburg was the inspiration for Tolkein's Misty Mountains!

Hobbit homes Drakensburg Our starting point for the South African trek was beautiful. Felt like we were staying in Hobbit homes before traversing our way to Morder.

South African travel guide Our guide, Garth, was pretty much South African Indiana Jones mixed with Clint Eastwood. Cool, calm, collected and in a cowboy hat.

Beginning our hike The ladder of doom Trekking is hard work Looking into the clouds from the mountaintops Hiking down The journey was perilous. With heavy packs, we traversed some crazy rock faces, climbed steep ladders and trugded for miles and miles to keep up an appropriate pace.

Top of the mountain We made it! I believe it was a 5 day trip in total - and afterwards we were so ready to chill out in the beaches at Swakopmund on the west coast.

Swakopmund Swakopmund was way more touristy and populated than any other place we visited our entire trip. It had coffee shops, bars, fancy restaurants and more. It was also home to world famous dunes that go right up to the ocean.

Christine in the dunes This was our last stop. A month long journey between Namibia, South Africa, then back to Namibia. It would be another year before Christine completed her Peace Corps journey and we re-united in Boston. I am so glad we were able to make the most of this memorable trip.