*~Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses~*

To me, this is a very confusing statement. However, after much thought, I must agree.

I look to myself for an example. I regard my love for animals as a strength (a personality strength), and therefore I care very deeply for all animals, especially stray or injured ones. This can also be one of my weaknesses, because I may decide to take in many stray animals, because of my love for them. This is definitely a good thing, but on the other hand, it may result in me taking in an excess amount of animals (one day when I have my own house), and more than my house can handle.

Storm - a friend's very 'small' Great Dane who I love very much :))

That is why I believe in making this weakness an opportunity.  I'll do this by investing in a large piece of land one day and building a home for all unloved and unwanted animals. I will then be able to give them the lives and love they deserve. I believe that we can turn our weaknesses, which stem from our strengths, into opportunities! :)

*~Namibia - Part 4 - Henties Bay and Swakopmund~*

Once we left the Spitzkoppe, we headed off to Henties Bay. This was about a 2 hour drive. On arrival in Henties Bay, I was surprised to see that the entire town consisted of salt roads. The condition of the roads is quite amazing (surprisingly good), however, I was shocked to see that some guy had a Golf GTI, which is just insanity because most of the roads around the town are either salt or dust roads...

Checking the view of the beach by '4x4'ing' on the beach in Henties :) 

We stayed over in Henties for 2 evenings by a self-catering flat with a stunning view of the ocean. Once we were settled in, we headed for the Spar and bought a few groceries. We spent the evening braaing by friends who have a holiday house in Henties. The following morning we left for a day in Swakopmund. On the way, we passed a town called: Wlotzkasbaken which reminded me a 'tornado' town. Each house is spread out quite far away from the other and each have their own water tank. It's quite strange to see...

Wlotzkasbaken - a few km outside of Swakopmund

Swakopmund is stunning. I was never sure what to expect, but I expected a lot less than what I saw :) We headed to Dare Dunes for the quad biking. It was truly an amazing experience. At first I was a bit nervous as I had never driven a quad bike before, but I soon got used to the feeling. We drove over the gigantic sand dunes and went along the 'rollarcoaster', as the tour guide called it. I felt like Aladdin on a magic carpet ride :) The view was amazing and we were really in the middle of the desert (or so it felt). All I could see was sand and more sand. This is where the 'quad-bug' bit me ;)

The four of us in our quadbiking gear :)

The most amazing view!

Sand, sand and more sand!

Once we finished the quad biking adventure, we went for lunch at Brauhouse for some very yummy food... When we finished lunch, we headed for the craft market. We then went to the sand dunes where we went sand boarding. This was a first for me, and my first ride down was quite painful. I came screaming down (literally and figuratively), and at the bottom, ended off with a 360 degree spin (on the board). It was really funny. I only went once more after that, because the only negative part about it (except for an entire sand castle in your eyes, ears and mouth), is the walk up the dune. I definitely got my fair share of exercise that afternoon ;)

Kylan (the pro) flying down the dune! Unfortunately I don't have a pic of me :(

After a fun-filled day, we returned to Henties, where we started packing up and got ready for our next destination...

*~Namibia - Part 3 - The Spitzkoppe~*

Spitzkoppe was our next destination. It is situated approximately 250km from Windhoek, which was a long drive for us that day... It is just off the B2 road on the way to Swakopmund. From the B2, you can clearly see the odd shaped heads of rock. It truly takes your breath away! On arrival to the Spitzkoppe campsite, we were greeted by the very friendly community who runs the entire campsite. Years ago, the NACOBTA (Namibian Community Based Tourism Association) gave back this land to the Damara community to run. The Spitzkoppe were formed many years ago due to volcanic erosion's.  

Spitzkoppe: view from the B2

Once we had paid for our stay, we headed off to look for a campsite to spend the night. This campsite was the most natural and untouched piece of land that I had seen in a long time. There are no toilets and showers, which made it an interesting stay for me ;), but I truly had an amazing experience here. Once we found the perfect camping site, we headed back to the reception area for a 'game drive' with one of the head tour guides, David. I found it so interesting that even though their skin is black of colour, that they spoke Afrikaans above English. Their first language is Damara, which is a kind of mixture between Xhosa and Sesothu - David explained...

The sun setting on the Spitzkoppe

We drove around this amazing piece of land, visiting different rocks with different names and meanings. He took us to a rock which had rock paintings on from thousands of years ago which were done by his ancestors. He told us that the rhino picture was a symbol to the other tribes who also passed along the area which told them that there was water nearby. The direction in which the rhino was facing, meant the direction in which the water was. Similarly, the next rock which we visited, had a very long snake on, which was a warning to other tribes passing that danger was near.

David, our tour guide, telling us about the history of the rock paintings...

We then went on to a private piece of land where some wild animals were grazing. David told us that the movie 10 000 B.C was shot there and that their community took part in the filming and some were even featured on the film itself. The film crew spent one month shooting there and brought wild animals with them. They then left some of the animals there for David and his community. The sad thing to me was how little they were paid. This community does not have much, and yet American film industries take advantage of this knowledge. Each person who worked on the set got paid R650 a week and this is normally the average of a person working on set per day. Yet, they were happy to have been part of such an amazing experience, but it still upset me (I didn't tell him this though).

The famous 'rock arch'.

After our tour, we headed back to our camp where we started with our dinner for the evening... Because of the absence of street lights and city lights, we were honoured to have the most amazing view of the milky way. I don't think I have ever seen the sky as clear and the stars as bright! While enjoying nature, a couple of bugs decided to intrude on our property for the evening. The 'vet-gat kriek's were enjoying the steep rock which was our shelter for the evening, and every time they got too close to the edge, fell onto us. This was when Kylan (my boyfriend) started his new profession of being my 'bug bodyguard' for the rest of the trip. ;)

Our campsite, the next morning. Enjoying our cup of coffee :)

With the absence of water, I used some facial wet wipes to wash my face and brushed my teeth with a bottle of Valpre water. :p I was then ready for bed! I felt pretty safe in my zipped up tent and had the most amazing sleep among nature! :)

The road to our camp site, beautiful :)

Try a cliche...

We all know the phrase: 'Oh, that's so cliche', but if we're honest with ourselves, we all use cliche's from time to time, if not every day. A cliche can be described as a stereotypical expression or sentence/ phrase, which usually expresses a popular/ common thought or idea, and which has lost its originality, ingenuity and impact by long overuse. So now that we all have an understanding of what a cliche is, here are a couple of cliche's which we often use:

• Absence makes the heart grow fonder
• The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree
• Actions speak louder than words
• All's fair in love and war
• An apple a day keeps the doctor away
• Another day another dollar
• Baby blues
• Barking up the wrong tree
• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
• Get your ducks in a row
• Go figure
• To make or break
• Thick as a brick
• Take a breather
• Money can't buy you happiness

And my all-time favourite at this moment in time: "MY BRAIN IS FRIED" #smed11 :)

To me, a cliche may seem cliche, but it also creates a sense of understanding among us human beings. Sometimes a cliche helps us say what we want to say without mumbelling on with too many words. A cliche is short and sweet, so I say, 'why not try a cliche?' :)

*~Namib Part 2 - the tale continues~*

Welcome back to the Adventures of Amy and Namibia :) Last time I left off where we were heading for our next destination, Windhoek...

This trip consisted of approximately 550-600km. Between our last destination and Windhoek, we stopped at a number of places. One of the things that I noticed throughout our trip in Namibia was the massive amount of bird nests in every second tree (at least). These are not your average nests, they are gigantic. Really incredible. Of course, these nests meant that there were birds living in them. I was so amazed at the the large amount of birds that would sit in the middle of the road (to absorb some heat), and it upset me when they didn't fly off early enough and we hit them... Being an animal lover this really upset me... Even though it was out of our control.

Stampriet was one of the town's which we drove past. The first thing that came in to my mind was: 'A one-horse town', and with that we saw a very young boy (no older than 12 years) riding on a horse with NO saddle. That is pretty tough. Here dogs chased the tyres of our bakkie, so just goes to show that the dogs are not used to many cars.

On arrival in Windhoek, we checked in to our Lodge - Arebbusch. It is situated just outside of Windhoek. Here we had a chance to have a nice warm shower, and even though we had good bathroom facilities at our previous campsite, nothing comes close to a proper in-doors shower with a bedroom and warm bed :) I enjoyed the camping, but sometimes its just nice to to have 4 walls surrounding you. :)

After our showers, we headed off to the very famous - Joe's Beerhouse. Where this trip should have taken us a maximum of 15 minutes to get there, we took one hour. This was due to the flooded roads and a GPS who had no idea of how to get there except for the one route_the flooded route. It was quite an adventure. With Cat Stevens playing on repeat in the background and 4 people trying to decide on an alternative route, it was pretty funny. In the end, we drove through the closed flooded road, as the river running through the street was not as strong as we had thought. (What a waste of time it was :) )

For those of you who are not familiar with Joe's Beerhouse, think of Moyo (at Spier), but just 100x bigger and better. There is an amazing vibe! It is located outside, but with a roof covering certain areas. There are many bars and lots of seating available, with big fires situated around the the entire restaurant. One thing about Namibian food is that they specialise in Pork, as German is one of the main cultures which are visible and Pork is very much a German speciality. Their main speciality at the restaurant is Eisbein. It is huge, so instead I settled for the most delicious Pork Schnitzel :) Overall, it is just an amazing experience.

One section of the restaurant where the big fires are situated...

The gigantic Eisbein!!

We then returned to our lodge where we enjoyed a warm nights sleep. The following day we headed off for our next destination: Spitzkoppe. A campsite with the most incredible views! Think of the Lion King, when Rafiki raises the new-born Simba to the animal kingdom ;)

*~Feelings follow behaviour~*

The Oxford dictionary defines 'feelings' as: 'an emotional state or reaction'. 'Behaviour' is defined as: 'the way in which someone or something behaves.' It is obvious to say that feelings follow behaviour, it all depends on the situation.

Often, feelings first appear and as a result we take action and this action is the behaviour. Whether it be a sad, happy or angry feeling, we tend to act on our emotions (feelings).

But getting back to the statement: "Feelings follow behaviour". We often behave in a certain way, whether we are aware of the way we are behaving or not and with that comes feelings. If aware of the way that we have behaved, we may have a feeling of regret or a feeling of satisfaction with the way that we have behaved...

I am someone who thinks very carefully about the way I am going to behave as well as after I have behaved in a certain way. I believe that it is good to always think about something before you act on it, as well as to consider your feelings after you have done something. There isn't really much more to say... If we didn't feel anything about the way we behave, we wouldn't be human.   

Namibia_World of inspiration!

Two weeks ago I joined my boyfriend and his family on an amazing adventure to Namibia for 10 days. This trip consisted of many many long hours of driving, however the destinations made it all worth while. This was my first experience of Namibia and I thoroughly enjoyed it! We visited a number of places and if I have to tell you about all of them in this one blog, it will be never ending. Therefore, I am going to split my trip experience over the next few weeks of blogging... I hope you enjoy :)

Seven hours after we had departed from Paarl, we arrived at the South African and then Namibian boarder post. Just a little bit of info for you, if you thought South African service delivery was bad, Namibia is slightly worse... South Africa's boarder post was fast and efficient, where we spent approximately 10 minutes... Namibia's side took approximately 1 hour... Once we passed the Namibian boarder, I was left with no cellphone reception. At first I was slightly anxious at the thought of not having any connection to the technological world for 10 days, but let me tell you, it made the world of difference and I now hate my phone. :) 

We continued our drive to our first destination which was 6 hours of looong gravel roads. One of our stops along the way was in Keetmanshoop, where we decided to fill up on fuel and find some bread to buy. This was the start of my heartache for this part of the country... We, in South Africa are so lucky to have bread and fresh fruit and veggies available to us. The one shop in Keetmanshoop that was open only had frozen bread and fruit and veggies which looked like they had been in a food fight. I found that a lot of the small towns in Namibia had this problem. At the garage, I saw a stray dog, who had already given birth to pups, sniffing around for food. Tears filled my eyes, and I immediately ran to the garage store and bought her a russian sausage (which was all they had). My boyfriend and his parents just smiled and laughed at me. (It did look kind of strange I suppose :) ) 

 My heartache...

The long and dusty road, beautiful isn't it :)

After the long and bumpy drive, we arrived at the Khalahari Lodge. It is a farm just outside of Mata Mata. There we spent two nights camping. The bathroom facilities were really good and we had a good time there. The only thing that troubled me, were all the insects who thoroughly enjoyed camping with us. :) The spiders form webs across trees and are massive! On our first night, we had just finished braa'ing when the rain came pouring down... We had no choice but to rush to the bathroom and kitchen facilities room, where we enjoyed our meal. It was quite a laugh. The rain then stopped and we headed for our tents to call it a night...

 Spot the spiders :/

Massive Centipede

The following day, we headed 18km from our campsite to the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. Here I had my first encounter with a number of cute ground squirrels and a very strange and large insect called the "Vetgat kriek". I'll get to them later though... We went on a game drive and saw a wide variety of animals. It was stunning. We then returned to our campsite and spent the evening braai'ing and chatting to the owners of the farm over a couple of drinks.

 Adorable ground squirrels!

Springboks so close to the car...

The next morning the owner of the farm took us on a drive around his farm. It amazed me how much land he had which consisted of hectares and hectares of open field. He told us about a Namibian vegetable which is found in the cracks of the soil, usually underneath the grass plants. It's called a 'Naba'. I have tried researching it, but there is no record of it online. It is round and grows as big as your hand. It looks similar to a potato, but tastes like a mushroom. There, we spent an hour or two on a 'Naba-hunt' (seeing as it was Easter Sunday ;) ). We only found 3, as the jackals had gotten to them before we could.

"Naba-hunt"

"Naba's"

On return to our campsite, we packed up, said our goodbyes and headed to our next destination... Windhoek. More about that next week! :)

It is better to practice a little than talk a lot!

I have always been someone who is very in touch with their emotions and have believed that if something is troubling you, say it! However, a lot of the time we say things that would've been better left unsaid...

Ever since I was small, I have had a problem with sharing too many of my feelings and emotions, too quickly. Specifically when it is someone who is hurting or offending me or the people closest to me. I have always found it hard to rather keep quiet, and a lot of the time it has made things worse as sometimes things do not get said in the correct way and misunderstandings occur.

With time, I came to realise that the things I say can sometimes cause the situation to worsen. Today I know that it is better to practice a little self control than to say a lot. I can always share my feelings, but there is way to say things that sometimes help the people upsetting you, to really understand what they are doing.