Mokoros, Speedboats, Motor boats and more

Hello everyone

Can't believe how time has been flying! We're getting really close to the end of this adventure.

Day 18/Aug 17

After breakfast we were taken directly from Guma Lodge by motor boat to an island. Waiting for us were several young men who were to be our guides for the better part of the day. Each of them hosted two of us in a traditional dug-out canoe called a mokoro, and they acted as our "polers". Shawna and I sat back, and our guide, Matthew, stood at the back of our boat with a 10 foot pole and steered us through the marsh.

In the Okavango Delta the surroundings change quite a bit. Instead of the dry, dusty desert that we were used to, we experienced more lush, green vegetation. Steering through the marsh, the reeds would part in front of us like curtains. It was silent except the sounds of nature. It was truly magical and a highlight for me. I absolutely loved every minute of it.

We were given instructions like, "please do not move much in the canoe" so that we wouldn't tip our guide, but Matthew had it covered. He had excellent balance and control - they all did. He told us stories in his broken English about hippopotamus and early fishermen. He made us necklaces and bracelets out of lilies. He pointed out trees, flowers, birds. It was fantastic. He'd also take shortcuts and go through places that the other boats didn't go. We were the last boat and so did not hold anyone up; if we stayed back to view something significant, he'd quickly catch up with powerful strokes and (we think), car engine noises. It was so fun. Matthew has been a poler since he was 5 years old.

Colin tried to bribe Matthew to dump us in the river but Matthew refused to break his perfect record of never tipping the boat. We were happy about that. :P Once we reached the Mokoro Island, we had a tour. We followed some elephants and watched them feed - from a safe distance, since it felt rather vulnerable to be without our vehicle! Some people in our group need to be told that when you pull back branches to walk, you don't let them go and hit the person behind you in the face. I learned to keep my distance from people who didn't know that rule, as Shawna tried to stifle her laughter. We learned about the baobab tree. We sat on the banks and ate a great lunch. Colin gave all of our leftover food to the polers.

Our mokoro ride back was much hotter but once we got into the motor boat the wind was great. We relaxed at the camp, and Carol & Vyv even let me use the shower in their cabin. I had confessed to them that I could barely step into our outdoor washrooms having discovered some huge spiders and funnel nests in there. They truly are wonderful people. :)

There were monkeys at Guma Lodge but we didn't get to see them. We scouted around camp but all we ran into was a couple of steers. Try facing off with a steer on a walkway - let me tell you, it's a formidable standoff.

We sat by the campfire until dinner time. Dinner came, and back to the campfire we went. While relaxing we heard a noise from across the water. It was like a baritone animal doing a half-laugh, half-snort. It echoed across the river. What on earth was this?? A hippo of course. :)

Day 19/Aug 18th

Today was a rushed morning as we all tried to get everything done in time to leave. We had to head to the border which made things more stressful again. We just wanted to get there - you never know how a border crossing is going to go. People in our group were starting to get irritable with each other and comments were getting blunter. Shawna and I stayed out of it.

Got through the Botswana border okay, went back down to Namibia. We stopped at a gas station for food. It was a little crazy and disorganized. We stopped for lunch at the side of the road and ate as quickly as possible. On to our next camp we go! We quickly set-up at Camp Kwando and headed into the truck for a late afternoon game drive. We saw baboons! They ran around and hid from us. We saw hippos! They sank underwater when they saw us coming. We didn't care. It was still cool. African animals in the wild - awesome!

Back to camp. We hung out at reception with Carol & Vyv and enjoyed a drink. I have had so much ginger ale on this trip it isn't funny. :) The lounge had wi-fi which was a nice treat, but not good for writing long messages. A nice visit with our Australian friends and dinner at the camp (roasted chicken and coleslaw) rounded out our night. Time for bed.

Day 20/Aug 19th

As we got up this morning we enjoyed our breakfast around the fire, which unfortunately was shared with another campsite. This was unfortunate because a member of the other campsite came out in his underwear to yell at us for being too loud. Oops. Most of us tried to be quieter but a few people in our group didn't seem to mind disturbing the peace... sigh.

We stopped for groceries and snacks at a real grocery store and Shawna & I managed to get some chips and dried fruit. Then we crossed the border and left Namibia for the last time. In no man's land, we pulled over and had a roadside lunch. As we were finishing our meal, we heard the most lovely sweet singing. About 5 young men were walking down the road singing together in harmony. It was beautiful. Colin ushered them over and gave them all of our leftover food (they would have confiscated much of it at the border anyways, he says - but we think he was probably just being kind). As we drove past they were snacking on the newfound goods.

At the Botswana border we were made to exit the vehicle, bring all pairs of shoes with us, clean them off, and walk up the road to the Immigration office. Just then we remembered that we'd left an apple in the truck (which was being searched) and worried that Colin would get in trouble for it. Turns out it wasn't even looked at.

We arrived at camp and at first, were disappointed. The camp was changed at the last minute and was not the camp we were supposed to be at. THIS one was basically a construction site. Shawna & I set up our tent (for the last time, yay!) as we listened to some of the others loudly complain. Turns out, it was pretty nice once you got past the construction part, and some people ate some crow. :P

Our group rushed to head out to our last excursion in Botswana: an early evening river cruise. This turned out to be a super highlight! Our guide, Vincent, took us around for 3 hours and we saw amazing animals and some that we hadn't yet seen. Crocodiles, Hippos, Buffalos, Elephants, Giraffes, Birds, Baboons, Lizards, it just went on and on. It wasn't a game "drive" but it was the best animal-sighting experience so far. Vincent was happy, extremely knowledgeable, and gave us a fantastic experience. Loved it!!

Back to the Lodge and dinner was ready. We had a great day. It was early but we headed off to bed in preparation for tomorrow's early rise and border crossing; this time, into Zimbabwe.


Until then,
xo
E!

Close calls, border crossings and puppy trauma

Hello all!

Last I wrote we were being bombarded (not physically, thank goodness) by animals. There were still more animal experiences to come...

Day 15/Aug 14

Today Shawna and I got up and packed up our tent perfectly, and fast. So fast that we were sitting an enjoying our tea and breakfast while we watched the others stumble out of their tents. Okay, we might have been a little smug. But we were so proud of ourselves since usually we were on the tail-end of the morning routine and not the other way around.

Speaking of camp routines, many of them center around food. Colin does the cooking mostly, and we assist when we can, but mostly, we help set up for the meals and we do all the dishes. We kind of do dishes in turns, since we only need about 3 people and there are 10 of us. I don't mind doing dishes at all but if you know me I am pretty picky about getting things properly clean. So you can imagine my dismay at watching other people do dishes poorly. Like, handing over a dish covered in soap to the dish-dryer, is not acceptable. Why aren't we rinsing, people?! I don't want to eat soap! And it made the tea towels filthy. I volunteered to do the washing every time it was my turn, so I know that I was eating off clean dishes one-third of the time. Sigh. T.I.A.

We had a mini-game drive to do today before we headed out of Etosha. I found it irritating/fascinating that other people on the tour would say things like "ya, ya, ya, we've already seen a giraffe/elephant/wildebeeste." We are in AFRICA, people! It didn't lose any novelty for me. I could watch them all day. I was constantly marveling at the power of these animals, and the precariousness of their lives. Thank goodness that Shawna and I were on the same page. :)

We still hadn't seen a leopard or a buffalo. We were told that leopards were really difficult to locate in the wild because they are solitary hunters, and Etosha didn't play host to buffalo. But, we were assured that although there are no guarantees, we'd see much more wildlife and definitely species that we hadn't seen yet. With that, we left Etosha.

As we were speeding down the highway at say, 90km/hr, we approached an intersection where some idiot driver decided to make a right turn in front of us (equivalent to our left turns at home) and we almost hit him. Colin couldn't swerve too much or the trailer would jackknife us and we'd be toast. Shawna was in the front seat for the whole show. I think it rattled everyone pretty good. Even when you are doing everything right, accidents can happen... we were lucky that day.

Sitting in the LandCruiser is not a really enjoyable experience anyways, considering we travel by road for hours and hours at a time. We sit on our behinds, and when we get a chance to stop at a gas station, well, it's gas station food. And gas station restrooms. We eat a lot of junk food. We don't get a lot of exercise. We are having the time of our lives mentally, emotionally, spiritually even! But physically I feel icky all the time. We stopped at a small store today and to save time, Colin got us pre-made sandwiches. Mine had about half a cup of mayonnaise in it, no exaggeration. It was not very good. But when you have nothing else to eat...

The German family who travel with us are picky eaters because they have to be; 3 out of 4 of them have Celiac disease. But they also do this weird thing where they hold the food item up their heart with their right hand, and hold their left hand straight out to the side. Someone else tries to push their left arm down while they try to resist. If they cannot resist the push, the food is bad and they won't eat it. If they can resist the push, the food is good enough to eat. What??!! Has anyone ever heard of this? Sounds a little cockamamie to me.

As we drive to our next destination we see so many roadside huts that are made into little villages with wooden fences all around them. We see women balancing big tubs or heavy bags on their heads with babies strapped to their backs. Everyone is in really bright-coloured clothing and adults sit around in the shade visiting while kids play soccer and wield sticks.

We stopped in a town called Rundu before heading to Kaisosi River Lodge. Shawna and I were excited because we had decided to upgrade to an actual room! No setting up tents for 2 nights! What a way to treat ourselves! Right? Well, it was okay. The woman at reception was really unhelpful and seemed to know nothing about the establishment she worked for. The room was okay, although the bathroom didn't come with soap, which we found to be particularly inconvenient.

Our whole group had dinner together at the restaurant, and we called it a night. We relaxed in our beds (a.k.a. not tents) and fell asleep to the sounds of the Kaisosi river!

Day 16/Aug 15th

Colin made us breakfast & lunch today and we prepared for our day of leisure. I suppose that if we had been really smart we would have gone jogging or done some calisthenics, but who are we kidding. We relaxed, and it seemed to be much-needed. All that sitting on our tushes really wore us out!

We managed to catch a ride into Rundu with Colin who was replenishing our groceries, and headed to a local internet cafe. It was a rather nice establishment, but we didn't get much time there before it closed. Alas, it would have been nice to catch up on all the stories/writing, but we do what we can when we can. :)

At this point I had taken about 1000 photos and switched to a new memory card. I think I may actually run out of space! There's so much here that is photography-worthy. I'll be sure to send links to photos once I get home. There's GOT to be one or two good ones, right?

Kaisosi River Lodge is home to 2 resident peacocks, which I don't believe are endemic to the area. They were, unfortunately, the best part of that place. That night we had dinner at the restaurant again, and spent some time watching the local news afterwards in the lounge. I realized that I really have no idea what's going on at home. Normally I don't watch the news, but being "plugged-in" means that I am usually in the know. I hope that everything is okay.

Tomorrow, we are back at it. Get ready for go-go-go.

Day 17/Aug 16th

They screwed up our bill upon check-out (of course) and we were delayed leaving, which makes everyone a little stressed. We've learned that being early or ahead of schedule is fantastic, and being late or behind schedule means we put up our tent in the dark or eat dinner in the dark. And dark also means cold. So, we want to be on time. :)

We were also slowed down by many goats on the road, who don't seem very respectful of our schedule. :P We'd honk at them but animals are unpredictable and we'd have to slow down long enough to make sure that they weren't going to suddenly change direction.

Today was an important day - a border crossing. We'd leave Namibia, and enter Botswana. Everything was going more or less as planned, until another wrench was thrown our way. At the Namibian border we discovered a fairly flat tire. Good thing Colin used to work as a mechanic. Out comes the jack, the spare, and we ate lunch while he worked to save time. Fried egg sandwiches which we fed much of to a sweet & gentle dog who accepted all donations happily. I never want a fried egg sandwich again, thankyouverymuch.

In order to get to our next site, the Guma Lagoon Camp, we had to 4x4 through sand dunes and rivers. It was sketchy at times but fun - I guess that's the essence of 4x4ing. :) We arrived at the camp and immediately wished we had saved our upgrade money for THIS place which seemed much nicer and well-organized compared to Kaisosi. Ah well. Shawna and I started setting up our tent while the others trotted off to their luxury cabins.

In the middle of the tent set-up, we heard a distressing cry from the resident puppy who was whining and cowering over in the grass just behind us. The owner was cursing and yelling, trying to get ahold of the dog. Turns out the puppy had found a fishing fly in the bushes and thought it a toy. It had become embedded in his lower lip. :( I heard the owner and another staff member trying to figure out how to get it out and I ran over to help, trying to fight back tears all the while. I had to hold the dog down while they pulled it out. Poor puppy!! I was so traumatized but an hour or so later the puppy was running around wagging his tail and totally oblivious to what he'd put me through. The owner thanked me for my help and we noted how there wasn't even any visible mark. He seemed to be totally fine. I should probably not be a vet for my next career. I'd need constant therapy.

We relaxed until dinner which Colin made for us and we ate in the dining room. A bonus about Guma Lodge is that we were able to use their kitchen to cook and their dishes & cutlery. And they had a staff that did all the cleaning, so no dishes for us to do! Yay! We sat around the campfire and even roasted marshmallows. How heavenly.

Tomorrow was going to be a fantastic day.

Until then,
xo
E!

Lions and rhinos and giraffes, oh my!

Hello all!

Last I wrote, we were at the Porcupine Camp. One of the great things about that camp was the outdoor showers. I had never showered by the light of the moon, looking up at the stars before! It was magical! Loved it! But, onto the next day...

Day 12/Aug 11th

There is pretty much no recycling from what we've seen. Occasionally we see a place that recycles glass or metal, but that's pretty rare and nobody seems to recycle plastic, which of course is everywhere. Plastic sucks.

We started our day by visiting a Himba village. The village is comprised of all women and children - boys aged 12 or 13 get sent to tend animals with the men, who don't spend their time at the village at all. The women do everything by themselves. They live simply, build their own shelters, grow food, take care of the children. They only cover the lower-half of their bodies and apparently they love to style their hair which looks like a form of dreadlock with clay infused into it. They encouraged us to take photos (this felt a little strange at first, it seemed so invasive), and the Himba women and children loved to see themselves on the screen. They'd actually give you a "thumbs up" sign if they liked the photo; otherwise they would ask you to re-take it so that they could pose again. The best part was when Carole & Vyv filmed the kids jumping around and goofing off for the camera, and then played it back for them. The kids all crowded around Vyv and he laughed as they shrieked with joy at seeing themselves. So cute. We were asked not to give anything to them - no handouts of any kind, but we could buy their crafts once they set-up a market. Most of us girls got a bracelet.

Then we headed to Outjo to stop in town for groceries and lunch. We tried the internet cafe in town but it was down. Soon we were off on the road again. We saw huge nests in the trees and telephone poles, and we found out that they are made by birds called social weavers, and there are sometimes a ton of them in one nest. Colin says that if it rains or gets damp, the weight of the huge nest can break the tree. There are also termite mounds everywhere.

Then we entered Etosha National Park, and our African experience was about to get a whole lot more African. Almost right away we had to stop our vehicle for a giraffe crossing. A giraffe crossing!! Those animals are so amazing and majestic. I could watch them and watch them and watch them. They are mostly skittish but we had one who just stood in the middle of the road and stared us down, as if he was saying, "you wanna go? you wanna piece of me? let's go!" We waited him out. We want no trouble.

Right on the heels of that amazing experience we drove past lions who had made a fresh kill. They weren't too close to us but you could see the sunlight glint off the blood of the dead animal they were relishing. It really reinforced for us early on the rule, "Do Not Leave Your Vehicle." Then, as we approached our camp, which is in a gated area inside the park, we had an elephant crossing. Elephants are easily my favourite African animal and I was over the moon. It was SO COOL! Can't wait to see more - and we did.

The camp set up a viewing platform at the edge of the camp (protected by barbed wire) where they had floodlights trained on the waterhole. So much action happens there at night! And there's quite a pecking order. We saw a ton of animals at the waterhole. And since the waterhole wasn't too far from our tent, and sound travels like crazy, we heard the rumblings of wild creatures all evening and as we tried to sleep. There were also jackals throughout the site and we were warned to put our shoes inside the tent or they'd be stolen by the furry little guys. They were just scavenging around, but always ran away from people. Size of a small/medium dog? Nothing worrisome anyways. We were looking forward to going "hunting" the next day. :)

Day 13/Aug 12th

We got up early and did a game drive for several hours as this can be one of the best times to see animals before it gets too hot. We saw springboks, more varied birds I've ever seen in my life, wildebeests, ostriches, ground squirrels, zebras, antelopes... none of the big game yet but it would show up.

The big 5 are as follows: Elephant, Leopard, Lion, Buffalo and Rhino. We wanted to see them all of course, and we'd already seen the Elephant and Lion. We saw Leopard if you counted Lisa the Leopard from the Conservation Center (which we didn't, really), and we still had to see Buffalo and Rhino.

I really wish I'd brought binoculars. Dumb dumb dumb.

We had lunch at the campsite, and headed to the pool where Shawna took a dip and I read my book poolside. However there were a zillion kids and before long we wanted to get out of there. So we took Carol & Vyv up on their offer to join them for drinks before dinner and had a good visit in their chalet (as they were not camping in tents at all, they were doing the full luxury package which, believe me, we wish we'd done too! Then we wouldn't have lost a tent pole - d'oh!). We went to the resort buffet for dinner, which was decent, although not much variety. Shawna and I both tried kudu meat. Not my fave.

After dinner we headed to the waterhole where quite the drama unfolded. First, two elephants clashed/crashed into each other and started a bit of a fight. Woo! The drama! Then they seemed to engage in a threat display which actually looked more like a dance where one would advance and the other would withdraw, and then the other would advance and the first one would withdraw. They went back and forth like this over and over. Quite comical. :)

Then we noticed a disturbance on the side of the waterhole and our guide, Colin, directed our attention to two female lions that were trying to attack a porcupine. Unsuccessfully. They'd approach, and the porcupine would spin around and shake his booty at them. It was loud enough to be heard across the waterhole. As predators, lions cannot afford to get injured and so they are very cautious when stalking prey. After a few failed attempts, they gave up. Lucky porcupine!

We went to sleep that night to the noises of a big male lion. Our campsite was fenced and protected, but there was national park all around us and animals everywhere. His nighttime song was kind of like a deep, catlike, staccato groan. Yeah, that's it. Sweet dreams!

Day 14/Aug 13

We started with breakfast at the campsite, before quickly packing up and heading for the other end of this huge National Park. Etosha had failed to disappoint so far, what more could we possibly be in for?

First stop was to play paparazzi to a big male lion that was lounging in the sun. Nothing quite like seeing that orange mane of hair frame his big head. Soon he caught wind of us and took off at a snail's pace, and we trekked on to see what was happening at another waterhole.

Young lions sat at the edge of the waterhole and sized up the action. Zebras and springboks and gnus all around. One lion was off like a shot, but the unwilling victims were hasty and he didn't stand a chance. It tried again, stalking, and they moved away. The prey certainly don't make the predator's job easy. Colin said that the lions were too young and were just "practice" hunting and that they would not catch anything yet. They still had to learn to work as part of a pride.

A few more stops had us viewing springbok, kudus, zebras, giraffes, and so many birds that I actually started looking up the names. I'm not normally a birder but they are SO diverse here in Africa that they're irresistible.

We stopped for lunch in Halili, a halfway point through Etosha National Park. Then we headed on to our next campsite at the other end, called Namutomi. Just before Namutomi we saw some amazing sights. First, we saw a Black Rhino right by the side of the road. We pulled up next to him, and he was totally unconcerned. Just kept eating his leaves and bushes and foliage. He posed rather nicely for several photos. :)

Then as we started down the last stretch before the campsite, we saw two giraffes standing opposite each other so that their necks made an "X" when we looked at them from a distance. It looked even romantic. However, when we got closer we saw that they were anything but amorous. Suddenly one of the big necks swung around and the giraffe used his head to hit the other one in the neck. Quickly, the other one returned the same blow. They were fighting!

Colin explained his theory: a little ways off in a distance was a smaller, presumably female, giraffe. He said that they were fighting over her. His theory seemed plausible when she started running straight at the two of them as if to break up the fighting... but then, she just ran straight past them as they turned to look at her, goggle-eyed. Sure enough, the fight was over, and they followed her into the bush. Colin made some comment about how all women act like that but we didn't let him get away with that one. :P

As we passed other tour groups we'd get the scoop on what wildlife was out there and we got a primo scoop - a cheetah mother and her two cubs were just up ahead! We hightailed it down to the best viewing spot and were just able to make out the mom and babies having an early dinner. Cheetahs have to consume their prey quickly because they often get bullied out of their kill by larger predators like hyena and lion.

We set up our tent and tried to help with dinner but remembered that Colin works better when you leave him alone since sometimes he doesn't know what he wants to cook until he's already doing it - which makes it a difficult scenario when you want to delegate. We'd love to get internet but availability is basically non-existent in these National Parks.

Until next time...
xo
E!

Losing and Gaining

Hello everyone!

Internet has been sketchy for a while so we haven't had an opportunity to write until now. A LOT has happened. When I left you last, we were still in Swakopmund.

Day 9/Aug 8th

Shawna and I loved walking around town; we tried many different foods including biltong (kindof like beef jerky) and gelato (ummm, it was a miss). We did some shopping (most of the window-variety), enjoyed cafes, tea, and relaxed. A lot of this tour is go-go-go, so it was really nice to just chill out for a while.

That evening we had dinner at a restaurant with the whole group, and it was the best bonding we had done yet. We laughed and told stories, got to know each other and tried each other's dishes. Carol made Shawna and I try ostrich and gemsbok meat (both taste like beef), and I ordered a Camembert appetizer not realizing that it would be the entire wheel of cheese. I also had klipdrift and coke, which was recommended to me to try, but I had no idea what it actually was. I later found out that klipdrift is a type of brandy. :) Overall we had a pretty good time.

I couldn't finish my entire entree, however, and so we had it wrapped up and Colin took me and Shawna in search of someone who might like the leftovers. That kid outside the restaurant the night before was still on my mind, and if there were hungry people here, I wasn't about to throw out food. Before long we found someone, and he seemed grateful - also, Colin did it in such a way that it didn't seem like a handout, or pitiable, it just seemed like two buddies sharing good fortune.

It was still early and so the three of us decided to check out Gunter Krantz, a bar in downtown Swakopmund. We got in there and it was pretty deserted. Loud music, pool tables and foosball. We decided to play a few games of pool, both of which Colin won - although Shawna and I were doing really well against him in one game until I scratched on the 8-ball. Oops. Then we played some foosball with some local guys, who were really just humouring us since we were rather pathetic, but each of us teamed up with one of them and the teams were pretty even. Still, I am embarrassingly bad at foosball. The guys were gracious and friendly and not unnerving in any way. It was fun! But after a few games, we gave our thanks, collected Colin and headed back to our hotel for our last non-tent accommodation for a good long while.

Day 10/Aug 9th

We had breakfast at the hotel, which was included with our room, and headed out. Our first stop was the Cape Cross Seal Colony. As soon as we stepped out of the vehicle we were bombarded with the stench of the sea and thousands of sea animals. In fact, there are around 100,000 seals at that site at any particular time. They were so funny! Babies suckling, small arguments, half of them sleeping and half of them barking. Quite the chaos.

We stopped for lunch at the worst place thus far: the side of the highway, beside a garbage can that was overflowing with plastic. No restrooms - although there was a large rock that we could all take turns standing behind. Flying bugs everywhere. Bad sandwiches - fried bread, greasy egg, BLECH. Get me out of here!

Then we drove for another billion hours and we reached the valley of Brandberg Mountain and went on a tour to the famous "White Lady" rock painting. Colin mixed up his times and said it would be 45min total, but it was actually 2 hours total, in the hottest part of the day. People were not prepared. It was hiking over rocks, dusty trails, past cobra-inhabited trees, with not enough water... all to reach a very non-exciting rock painting at the end. The general feeling was that it was not worth it. You can imagine the response when Colin told us that we'd be seeing more rock paintings tomorrow.

Anyways, it wasn't so bad on the walk back because the sun had gone down and we weren't dying quite so badly. But it really took a lot out of us that day. The morale was pretty low. We were so relieved to reach our campsite and just go to bed. Once we drove up we noticed Elephant Warning signs everywhere as apparently they come through the camp quite regularly. Holy toledo!

Shawna and I figured we'd put up our tent, take a dip in the pool, eat dinner and go to bed. Well... we opened up our tent, which we had last used 3 days ago on the other side of the country, to discover that we had lost a tent pole.

Oh. My. God.

This was a fairly huge problem. The tents are very industrial; the poles hook to the outside of the tent and they are tall and of canvas construction. We had had the only one for which the tent poles were not all attached to each other. The rest of the tents couldn't lose a pole - but we got the one that could. And we did. @#$%!!

We were so tired and cranky we didn't even tell Colin until the next day. We set up a different tent (thank goodness there was one extra) and went to the pool for a dip. And a dip is all we got since it was not much of a pool. The highlight, besides being stared at by all the poolside guests (insert sarcasm here), was meeting Carlos, the resident mongoose who tooled around the pool area visiting all the people.

Dinner and bed. Figure out what to do tomorrow. We hoped...

Day 11/Aug 10th

I had nightmares all night and I don't know if it is because of the anti-malarial medication we're taking, the amount of salt in the food we're eating, or the strange animals and noises that invade our psyches. We asked Colin for a lesson in packing up our tent (which he said he'd do on the first night but never did) and we were determined to be the best tent-packers he'd ever seen. We still hadn't told him.

As we drove today we saw many Himba women on the side of the road dressed in colourful dresses and spinning around like whirling dervishes, selling their wares. We'd be visiting a traditional Himba colony tomorrow. I was really looking forward to it as these women were unlike any African peoples I'd seen thus far.

At one point we had to stop for some donkeys that were crossing the road. At first we laughed at how slowly they moved, but Colin explained that owners tied the donkeys' front legs together to keep them from getting very far. And sometimes, because they couldn't move quickly, they got hit by cars. We didn't laugh anymore. Poor donkeys.

Our first major stop was to Twyfelfontein, where we saw some more rock paintings. These ones, however, were worth the 45min trek into the rocks. The history of some of these amazing artistic renderings is stupefying. I can't believe I get to stand in the same place as someone else did so long ago. I bet none of my art will survive so long, hehe...

Then we headed to the Petrified Forest, where for me, the most interesting part was talking to our guide named Pinias. He was an older middle-aged man and he told me part of his story. He was illiterate for most of his life until he was able to take advantage of a government program and change his situation. It sounds like most people cannot get out of whatever situation they are born into, so his story was really inspiring. He now is literate and speaks more than 4 languages. He taught us about the trees, how plants were used to make perfume, and told us a story in his own language and showed us how to write. Awesome.

Camp that night was in the Porcupine Camp. By now we had told Colin about the missing tent pole, and he was great about it. We offered to pay, but he just kept saying, "we will make a plan, no worries!" We don't really know what he means by that.

The Porcupine Camp gets its name because the woman who runs it feeds the porcupines every night. She has been doing it for 5 years, and every night they come to eat carrots and apples and grub. She charges a fee, sets up a spotlight, and makes a little money off this entertainment for the tourists. She even has one that climbs up on her leg to get a treat. On one hand it was fascinating to see these nocturnal creatures up close (literally 10 inches from me), and she was obviously really knowledgeable as we got educated about everything to do with them. However, it made me feel slightly disgusted that wild animals were turned into a circus show for tourists.

So many things are like that here - I'm curious, fascinated, amazed and interested, all the while feeling disgusted, guilty, helpless. I'm never sure if what I am doing is right - but aside from the moral issue, I'm certainly getting an education. And that's what I do feel is important.

Until the next installment... :)
xo
E!

Pumbaa, TAB Cola, Dune 45 and Swakopmund

Hello everyone! :)

As we drive along these desert roads, we see many interesting things.
We've had to stop for an ostrich crossing, a train crossing, a goat crossing, a springbok crossing, and my all-time favourite, a warthog crossing. The warthogs were so funny!! They look exactly like Pumbaa from the Lion King. They were hilarious, I could watch them all day; they are my African version of weinerdogs, ha!

We also pass desert shantys, which are not unlike the ones we saw outside of Cape Town, except that they have no electricity and they look even more primitive, if that were possible. We get stared at a lot by the children, but when you smile at them and they smile back, it melts you. They love to wave at us in our truck as they play alongside the highway with their rocks or tires or soccer balls.

On Day 5 we went to Ai-Ais, which is home to hot springs. We had lunch, lounged by the pool, and took in the local wildlife (lizards and bugs, hehe). Then we headed to our camp. We had a special dinner planned for that evening! We went to Fish River Canyon which is the 2nd largest canyon in the world after the Grand Canyon. It was indeed impressive. We even made our dinner up there on the picnic tables after doing a little hike along the trail. It might have been the windiest meal of saltiest spaghetti that I have ever eaten. Every meat dish Colin prepares seems to have a ton of salt in it, and the meat quality is poor. But I'm not complaining, I love the veggies and the rice and the pasta and most of the other stuff. Mostly.

Driving on dirt roads is like sitting in an automated massage chair for 4-6 hours at a time. And you'd think that would be good, but it's not so much. Especially when you need to use the facilities and there is not even a bush in sight - we are talking DESERT. Miles and miles of nothing, and nowhere to hide.

When we do get to stop for rest breaks at fuel stations or coffee shops, there are some things that I've noticed. For example, do you remember TAB Cola? They have that everywhere here; I swear I haven't seen that since the 80's. And they also have Pine Nut Pop. And they have Minute Maid "Breakfast Blend" drink - who knows what that is.

They also have tons of Rooibos tea and apple crumble. And the washrooms have actually been okay for the most part, sometimes even better than gas stations back home. People are friendly. Overall it's pretty nice.

Ohboy the weather. This is Africa's winter and so it is very extreme. At night it is extremely cold - not what we were expecting. We put on our fleeces and long johns and double-up our socks and toques and get in the sleeping bags and grab extra blankets when we can and it's STILL cold. And when we get up in the morning it's still that way - and if it's windy, a million times worse. When we arrived at the Canon Road House Campsite on Day 5 we had our coldest night yet. We froze our little patooties off!

The next day we were off to the Hammerstein Lodge; we were staying there for 2 nights. When we got there we went on a "cat walk" where we got to walk through some cages of Caracals and Cheetahs - and got to see a Leopard named Lisa. The cheetahs were cool and I got to pet one, which was awesome. The other cats were not approachable, but still amazing and majestic. In the camp there was also a tame springbok named Daisy who head-butted you if you tried to pet her. Carol figured that out rather quickly.

Day 7 we had a very early start from camp. It was dark and windy and we were frozen trying to eat breakfast and clean up at 6am. But we powered through and headed out to Sossusvlei, which is the site of the world's highest sand dunes. They are up to 350m tall and a deep red colour. We first did a drive into the dunes with Colin, and he took us down to the Dead Vlei (Lake). The Dead Vlei has got to be a total highlight for me so far - it was spectacular! Surrounded on all sides by red sand dunes, the white, dry lake floor was parched and housed petrified trees everywhere. Have you seen the movie The Cell with Jennifer Lopez? Scenes were filmed there - the visuals are fantastic.

It's no small feat to get to the Dead Vlei, though - it was like a 5km roundtrip hike, up and down hills of sand, in the scorching sun, and with a sandstorm filling your eyes, ears, mouth, shoes... it was not fun. Some crazy people brought their babies through that mess to get to the Vlei, and the poor things were screaming as the sand beat down on their unprotected faces. I felt so bad for them. Getting hit over and over with sand is like a thousand tiny little needles. I put sunscreen on before I left but of course I burned and had a touch of sunstroke to boot - felt rather sick the rest of the day. Stupid sun! (Stupid me)

And if *that* feat wasn't enough for people, there is also one dune, 250m, that you are allowed to climb, called Dune 45. Well there was no bloody way I was climbing that thing after the hike we just did. Shawna did, though, and so did the German dad (Peter) and his teenage son (Pascal). Kudos to them (although they are still nuts in my book). ;)

When we got back to Hammerstein Lodge we managed to grab the girl who did our catwalk tour yesterday and get her to take the two of us back to the cheetah enclosure so that Shawna could get her chance for a pat and a photo. Pretty cool. We rounded out our night with a fireside dinner, campfire, and drinks at the lodge. At this point Shawna & I were looking forward to the next 2 nights, which we would get to spend in a hotel along with everyone else, woot!

The drive yesterday (Day 8) was long and hot. It's hard to regulate temperature in the LandCruiser when some people want windows open, and some don't. We stopped in a small town called Solitaire where we had Rooibos tea and apple crumble (again), and then drove on until we reached the signs at the Tropic of Capricorn. Cool! Can't say that I have passed many geographical markers in my travels.

Then we stopped for a seaside lunch in Walvis Bay. It was the best location for lunch so far. We pulled up our chairs along the beach and commented on the jellyfishes we found along the shore. It wasn't very hot and it was very enjoyable. Once we got to Swakopmund, Colin drove us around town for a city tour and we also had a chance to book excursions for the next day. Shawna and I really wanted to do hot-air ballooning but the prices would have been about $400CDN and that was just too much for this trip.

We all went our own ways for dinner and Shawna & I decided on an Italian themed restaurant named Napolitana. On our way in, we were approached by a small child (maybe 8 yrs?) who asked if we would bring him our leftovers. I was highly disturbed by this because I am used to homeless asking for money, not children asking for food. Of course we agreed to do so, and I couldn't stop thinking about him all night - in fact I still haven't. But alas, when we were done, he was nowhere to be found - there are security guards all around town, and since this is a really nice place, they are employed to chase the "undesireables" away from tourists. Colin says that homelessness and starvation is not a big problem here because villages are so far away. He says that the kids are runaways and that they just take handouts and become dependent, but I don't know if he is glossing over a larger problem. Still, it weighs on me a bit.

Our server at the restaurant was funny. When we asked to split the bill, he ripped it straight down the middle and wrote T.I.A. at the top of each piece: "This Is Africa!" He stayed and talked with us about movies and other random topics until we eventually realized that he thought we were German. Huh?

Day 8 and Day 9 (today) are the only days until the end of the tour that we get to stay in a hotel like everyone else. It is so nice to have a bed, an ensuite and an included breakfast! Today is a day of leisure, so we are basically relaxing for the first time. It is SO NICE. We slept in, we chatted, we took our time over breakfast, it was lovely. Now we are going to walk around this very modern German town and do some shopping and see what we see. Tomorrow we leave for the Cape Cross Seal Colony and Brandberg Mountain.

Until my next internet access!
Hope all is well at home - I don't always have time to reply to your messages, but I love hearing from you so keep 'em coming. :) Helps my homesickness.
xo
E!