Namibia

Namibia definitely had its ups and downs. It’s a beautiful country and the people were really nice and welcoming. The first day I spent in Walvis Bay, the port city we arrived in. We all immediately felt the difference between Salvador and this port city. We had lunch at a nice place called Bonaroma and it was really good and the Namibian dollar went a long way. The second day I went to Swakopmund, a Germany town outside of Walvis Bay. It was a cute little town that reminded me of Solvang in Santa Barbara. We walked around and went into some little shops

The third day I went on a Seal & Dolphin Encounter with Semester at Sea and that was nice except it was FREEZING cold on the little boat we went on. We didn’t see any dolphins but we did get to see a seal very up close. It actually came on our boat! We had oysters, finger foods, and white wine on the boat so that was fancy. I tried an oyster but I tried chewing it and then spit out overboard. The fourth day I went on a hot air balloon ride! It was really nice and a cool experience to have.

But the fifth day is what ruined everything. I wasn’t going to go quad biking because I had already spent a lot of money on the hot air balloon ride but everyone I talked to told me that they did it and how much fun it was so I really wanted to try it. I met a group of people who was going to go this last day so we all went to this company on the way to Swakopmund. We went on the bikes and they quickly told us how to use them. They stupidly didn’t make us put on helmets and I don’t remember them even offering them. Anyway so about an hour into the biking, I hit a dip and flipped over and the bike fell on top of me. I quickly got up and seemed to be okay, just some chest pain and a headache from the impact. We ended our tour soon afterwards and they took me back to the ship in their company car. I felt okay and good enough to go back out into town to pick up a few things I needed. I got back to the ship and had bad neck pains. I visited the doctor and he said everything seemed to be okay and that the pain would be worse tomorrow. It’s now tomorrow, and yes, it is worse. But it seems to be more soreness than pain so I hope it goes away soon. I look back and know that I’m lucky to be alive. I learned my lesson to be extra careful and not to try to do everything.