| « Previous | Home | Next » | sandboarding 16 November, 2007 |
 photo: david lindley while we were in swakopmund we had the chance to take part in a number of activities and what really caught my eye was sandboarding. so, one morning we met up and were ferried to a dusty car park at the base of some stunning dunes near the town and issued with our equipment: knee pads, elbow pads, helmet and a 4 foot by 2 foot sheet of hardboard that had been waxed on one side. thus armed, we started the long trudge up into the dunes, cursing and gasping for breath all the while! eventually we got to the top of a dune with a short and gentle slope on one side. we were told we were going to have a practice on the 'nursery' slope before going onto the slopes proper. 'that doesn't look too bad' we muttered dubiously to each other as the guide prepared to make his decent...which he then did down the neighbouring (and far longer and steeper) slope! 'we're not doing that are we?' we quailed. but we did. and what a buzz!!! you lay on the board and pull the front up a little to make sure you don't get a face full of sand and then you're off, hurtling down the slope at more than 40 kph. all too soon it's over though and then the downside...the trudge back up the hill in soft sand. after 6 descents the last climb almost killed me! worth it for the buzz. the slopes got steeper and longer until the final big one: the guides re-waxed our boards for extra speed and we hurtled hard and fast at 80pkh...so good we all asked to do it again! and if that last climb wasn't such a tough one, who knows, we might have gone on! it was one of the highlights of my trip. such adrenaline, such fun!! olympus pen-ee s | |
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Posted by davidlindley Archived under: most commented, namibia, olympus pen-ee, people |
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