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Sandboarding makes post-COVID comeback in Namibia

STORY: Sandboarding is making a comeback in Namibia.And that's after the global health crisis sent the southern African country's tourist numbers - previously around a million a year - tumbling.Tourists like media professional Aylin Yazan have been heading for the seaside town of Swakopmund - lying between the Atlantic Ocean and the 31,000 square mile Namib desert."It was my first time doing this body surf in the sand. I tried snowboarding before in Doha. It was not as much fun."Sandboarding involves sliding down dunes on a board, either standing or lying down, at speeds of up to 50 mph.It's an extreme sport set against miles of mesmerizing landscape.But for sandboarding guide Devon Waters, a longtime Swakopmund resident, it also offers an escape from life on the streets."...because, like, we're working every day. So it keeps me off the streets, puts bread on the table from me and my family. Like, like, we get a lot of tourists so if you work here, we get, like, get tips from people if you give them a good service, always.”The boom has been bolstered by a near doubling of cruise liners docking at the nearby Walvis Bay last year.The port town has also seen an increase in traffic from shippers diverting their cargoes away from the insecurity on the Red Sea and chronic congestion at ports in neighboring South Africa.
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