Today and yesterday were boring days, except we celebrated a major milestone today: we’re one third through this trip!

Yesterday we recovered from the grueling energy wasted at Sossusvlei. After sleeping in and having a breakfast of bread, eggs, fruit, tea, and hot chocolate, we lounged around the building, doing schoolwork, reading, imagining flying eggs (don’t ask!), and eating avocado, cheese, and crackers.

In the late afternoon, we got off our butts and hiked up one of the smaller mountains. It took us about an hour and a half both ways, but we often stopped to wait for everyone to catch up, or for Ethan to throw rocks at things and miss. We stopped at the top to admire the view, and Ethan tried to kill a lizard to feed it to the meerkat.

(After all, the best way to one’s heart is through their stomach, right?)

Ethan failed, and we all trooped down the mountain to Wilheim, Hannetjie, and Wilheim’s longtime friend, Olf (he said his name was like wolf, but with no W). They were easily speaking Afrikaans, but when we arrived for a dinner of pizza, something quiche-like, salad, tomatoes, potatoes, and vanilla ice cream with kiwi, all spoke English (which we liked!).

Olf appears to work more at Barchan Dunes than at his job as a doctor in Windhoek. He and Wilheim told jokes, explained Namib-German customs, and made the meal generally delightful.

This morning after breakfast, we set off for Kalahari Farmstall, a farm with geese, cows, goats, and sheep 17 kilometers from the South African border crossing, Mata Mata, into Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

We had apple pie for dessert.

Ciao!