Been There, Dune That

(Reis) Step, Step, 1, 2. I’m counting the steps on the treacherous journey up Big Daddy. Big Daddy is one of the biggest dunes in Namibia at 1256 ft from the base! Sadly, it isn’t the biggest but it sure is the most dramatic. As youíve probably noticed, that is a pretty long walk. Especially for a 10 year old, like me. So there I was, trudging along, one foot in front of the other, slowly creeping up the mountainous peak. From a distance, I probably looked like a miniscule bug compared to towering Big Daddy. I felt like a slave endlessly walking, on the ever shifting sand. Step, Step, Trudge, Trudge. The sand feels like a treadmill, making 2 steps feel like five and 5 steps make the distance of 1. Plod, Plod. Yadda, Yadda, you know what comes next. Walking, walking, but then, the fun part, coming down!

1…2…3… GO!!!!!!!!!

I bound down the sand slope. I feel like a kangaroo, but I don’t think there are many of those in the middle of the Namib Desert. it’s a jumping race between me and my siblings. I’m far behind, but then, miraculously, I pull ahead! In the end I had won and Andrew, hilariously, got disqualified. I roll down the slope with great glee. “Wow,” I think to myself, “This doesn’t happen every day.” I go sliding and tumbling down joyously, realizing how lucky I really am.