Namibia: The Skeleton Coast

Other Posts: Trip Overview, Little Kulala Lodge, Sossusvlei and Deadvlei, Sesriem Canyon And Scenic Flight, Swakopmund Sandboarding, Walvis Bay Dune & Sea Tour, Doro Nawas Camp, Damarland Sites, Damaraland Living Village Song, Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp

When setting our trip itinerary we knew this event was going to be the highlight: visiting the Skeleton Coast. Holly had read some novels about the area and has always been intrigued by the shipwreck-lined shoreline.

Per Wikipedia: The Bushmen of the Namibian interior called the region "The Land God Made in Anger", while Portugues sailors once referred to it as "The Gates of Hell".

Papa G (our guide) told us our 70k ride would be between 4-5 hours, depending on the sites along the way. We were teamed up with the NY newlyweds and a couple from Germany that were a few years older than us and whom had visited Namibia before.
One of the more amazing aspects of the trip was the change in scenery along the way. We went from mountain-filled backgrounds to sand-filled deserts and foliage began to disappear.

We lucked into some early sightings: a few giraffes, an elephant (Charlie - named after a guide), jackal, and the ever-present oryx.

At points the terrain shifts to resemble something from NASA lunar lander film.

We moved into a sandy area with a couple of dunes and wound up getting the jeep stuck. Everybody out! Little did we know that around the corner was a lioness enjoying some morning shade.

We approached the top of a dune and got another "everybody out" call from Papa G. Instead of driving down the dune (been there, done that) Papa G had us slide down on our butts. We were able to make the dune roar, which is always cool. Papa G ran back up and brought the jeep down to us.

We made it to the coast! The sea was rough! The shore at our stopping point was lined with smooth stones. Nearby was a small pond where flamingos and commerants were hanging out.

The not-so good-looking green foam

Now it was time for the smells. Specifically Cape Fur Seals smell. We've seen lots of seals in one place before, but nothing compared to this. We ended up spending about an hour watching a colony of about 10,000 seals. Many of them were pups. We were within 20 ft of one giving birth. We were hoping to witness the miracle of birth, but it was going to be a while.

We could not help ourselves here

If this wasn't exciting enough, a jackal starts to lurk around. He's looking for food and seal babies are easy-pickings around here. We watched in anticipation as he wandered from baby-to-baby sniffing them. Papa G assured us he would only take a dead one. Phew! We have since come to learn PAPA G LIED! We watched a Natgeo show on Namibia and the jackals do kill and eat the seal pups. In the end the jackal just left the area.

We had one more stop before lunch: The Skeleton Coast Museum. What a weird place this was! Inside a trailer was a display of crap that washed ashore, a map of the wrecks, skulls and bones from animals (and humans), lion fetuses in jars, a bug display, and other random items. There was an "honor" souvenir box. If we brought cash Dave would have bought a friend he pulled for Secret Santa a wallet made of seal fur for $10. Count your blessings Rich.

Finally it was time for lunch. Unbeknownst to us, the camp sent a second jeep to setup our picnic by the sea. Papa G helped the other guide make the final preparations for our lunch. We enjoyed a variety of meats, cheeses, salads, breads, and fried chicken along with some beer and wine. While the guides cleaned up (we were not allowed to help much) we explored the wreck of the Suiderkus.

This baby seal was isolated from the rest of the seals. Hope he made it.

Luck was with us today and we were able to fly back to camp. It was a 20 minute flight. When we arrived at camp we had time to decompress and then gathered at 5:30 to watch The Vanishing Kings documentary. That night all the dining tables were pushed together and the entire camp ate together. This was the night the CNN crew arrived. They would experience the coast tour the next day and film it for an episode of Inside Africa. We've inserted that segment below and watching it is truly reliving the vacation. It's one thing to see the camp staff in a video (since they are always there) but to see the same tourists really puts you back there. We can peg the night of the staff singing as the day we left based on the guests present on the couches. Please check out their video since it will be better than whatever Dave throws together (sorry for the ad before the video - blame CNN).

The next post from Namibia (we know you are getting tired of them) will be from an epic day of game viewing at Hoanib; including almost getting lost.

Charity of the Month: Avon Walk for Breast Cancer - Deb Wills

Charity of the Month is a way Team Tizzel is helping to support some very worthy organizations. As part of this program, we will dedicate a post to a charity that we will sponsor through the month by donating Holly's training run money.

March: In March we sponsored St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital / St. Jude Heros to support our friend Michael and to honor his family member AJ #slyestrong6. We will donate $125 to St. Jude's Heros to help advance research for childhood diseases.

April's Charity:

Avon's Breast Cancer Walk: Walker Deb Wills - Washington, DC

This is where it all started. Teamtizzel.com owes its creation to our friend Deb Wills and Team All Ears. Remember this flashback from 2011?

Being part of Team All Ears was one of the most rewarding experiences of our lives. For the five years we were involved with TAE we helped raise over $330,000 to fight breast cancer. All of the guests in Holly's race videos (running partners) are from TAE. We've made some excellent friends from the group and keep-up with many teammates through Facebook. We are never alone when visiting Disney Parks.

Deb is celebrating 30 years of beating breast cancer. We are proud to support Avon in her honor, in honor of friends and family that have faced the disease, and in honor of Dave's mom whom lost her battle in 1989.

From Deb's fundraising site:

This year I humbly celebrate 30 years as a survivor! Not bad for someone who was given a 50/50 chance at 5 years. I am so blessed.

To all who have donated thank you SO much. To those of you who want to and haven't yet, please do so today!

Since 2001, with your continued support, I have raised over $675,000 in this fight! Together we CAN and DO make a difference.

Join the fight and make a donation to help save lives!

Learn more about Deb at her awesome everything-Disney website AllEars.net.

2016 Cowtown (Fort Worth) Marathon Race Report and Video

Holly runs the 2016 Cowtown Marathon in-and-around Fort Worth, Texas with our friend Stan:

Cowtown was going to be my first full marathon of the year. I was excited to be running this one with my friends Michael and Stan. Unfortunately Michael had to pull out of the race due to an injury and Stan barely made it to the starting line due to battling the stomach flu early in the week. I’m not sure how he did it but he did! We got in to Ft. Worth 3 hours late on Friday night due to mechanical issues but found time for a late beer and snack at Flying Saucer beer bar.

We went to the expo the next morning which was a good sized expo with a lot of vendors. After the expo we went over to the Stockyards and walked around quite a bit. We had a nice lunch at Riscky's BBQ. Of course we stopped at a brewery (The Collective Brewing Project) on the way back to the hotel. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to sit outside. We had a great dinner at Vivo 53 and went to bed early.

Dave drove us over to the start area and we were way too early. We ended up sitting in a McDonalds to stay out of the cold and got to use their bathroom. Bonus! We then headed over to the start corrals and Pam and Dave headed over to watch near the start line. Race start was well organized with the corrals going off every 4 minutes.

Soon enough it was our turn and we were off! I did my 20 mile run a month before due to our beach vacation so I wasn’t sure how I would hold up. I also was running faster during my training runs so I wasn’t sure what pace to go out at. I chose poorly! We went out way too fast and paid the price later in the race. I felt really good for the first half and felt like I was not putting out much effort. Stan was trying to get me to slow down and I kept saying, I know, but I didn’t slow down. I also was not doing a good job of eating my gels at regular intervals. This resulted in me totally bonking at mile 20. It was a long 6 miles after that but we did finish.

Now let’s talk about the good stuff. It was a nice course. We ran through the Stockyards and through some nice neighborhoods. We had some great crowd support and even a few beer stops along the way. One guy said to me "that’s beer not water" and I said "thank goodness!" We had one couple that was cheering with Dave and Pam at the halfway point and they were great. We kept seeing them along the course and they would always yell "Illinois". We loved seeing them and they gave us a HUGE cheer at the finish. Dave and Pam were great as always and were very encouraging when I was completely done at the end. I was so nauseous and Pam would just keep asking what I needed. They are both the best! Stan was a great running partner and we were both so delirious at the end that we couldn’t even recognize the Indiana Jones theme song that a guy was playing on the course.

The finish was a highlight because I finally got to meet my dear friend Becca In-person. She was there to cheer us in at the finish. The finish area was great with ice cream, beer and chicken noodle soup. The soup was much needed and it made me feel instantly better. You also got nice finisher swag: a disposable jacket, great medal, and a finisher shirt. This was a well-run race and I would definitely recommend it.

Dave's Comments
Mechanical issues really screwed up my bar-hopping plans. I had been to Fort Worth for work 14 or so years ago and remembered it having lots of fun little places. Still seems like there are some fun places in Ft. Worth, but we only had time to visit Flying Saucer that night.

We visited the Stockyards after going to the race expo. We unfortunately missed the running of the cows, but arrived early enough for hassle-free parking. The crowds were building as the day went on. We enjoyed our time in a few of the shops browsing things we weren't in the market for: cowboy hats, belt buckles, and leather goods. For some reason I was compelled to pay $5 to sit on a steer.

Siri didn't do a good job directing us to the Beer Collective so we punished her by staying a round longer than initially planned. It was in the high 60's/low 70's with full sunshine. Too nice a day to waste inside so we wasted it on a picnic table in the loading dock area.

On Sunday I had my first Sausage Egg McMuffin. I am new to eating eggs. Yolks disgust me (they need to be 100% cooked solid). Think about what eggs really are and where they come out of? Anyway, it was alright. The staged start of the race was just soooooo long. Pam and I just wanted to get the chasing started. We were happy to find that it did not take long to get from the start to mile 3, mile 3 to mile 6.5 (the yards), and the yards to town (mile ten). We parked near Billy Bob's in the Stockyards and had to cut through the rodeo corrals to get to the course. Lots of watching your step in that area. The rest of the course was easy enough to navigate.

With the start and finish included we were able to catch them 13 times on the course. We finished up the Fort Worth experience by having lunch at Flying Saucer in the beer garden.

Here's the video: