Posted by: Jonathan
Namibia takes the silver medal in the "most desolate country competition", trailing closely behind Mongolia who secures the gold. Don't be turned off by this as it is probably Namibia's most enjoyable characteristic. The landscape is as varied as the unique tribal people who inhabit it, making it my favorite country in my trip in Africa.
I will discuss the varied landscape in detail later, but first I want to describe a few of the unique tribes here. The first are the Herero who wear large poofy victoria style dresses with unique hats that resemble the horns of a bull. They originally were unclothed but as German settlers arrived they decided that being naked wasn't an option for the Herero, so the Germans gave them clothes from their current style which has been unchanged over the years.
Namibia takes the silver medal in the "most desolate country competition", trailing closely behind Mongolia who secures the gold. Don't be turned off by this as it is probably Namibia's most enjoyable characteristic. The landscape is as varied as the unique tribal people who inhabit it, making it my favorite country in my trip in Africa.
I will discuss the varied landscape in detail later, but first I want to describe a few of the unique tribes here. The first are the Herero who wear large poofy victoria style dresses with unique hats that resemble the horns of a bull. They originally were unclothed but as German settlers arrived they decided that being naked wasn't an option for the Herero, so the Germans gave them clothes from their current style which has been unchanged over the years.
The other very distinguishable tribe is the Himba people. They wear only loincloths and smear a mixture of red mud and ochre butter on their skin to protect themselves from the sun. Even their scalps are coverd in a thick layer of dried mud which they never wash out since they never shower. I still struggle not to stand with my mouth agape when I am walking through town and there are peole dressed in dress shirts and slacks and walking just behind them are people in loin clothes, topless, and smeared in red mud.
Now that we have the unique tribal people covered let's talk about the landscape and animals. Our first big stop in Namibia was Etosha Park. The evening we arrived we went on a short game drive before the African rains came and boy am I glad we did. We saw lots of different animals as well as over 300 girraffes, I never imagined there could be so many in such a small area.
As we headed back towards camp we ran into bumper to bumper traffic.
That night the rains came and continued most of the following day. Our tent flooded and the truck leaked so I had nothing dry to wear for days.
We spent the day game driving but hardly saw anything since all the animals were seeking shelter from the weather. During a break in the rain we did see a lion warming itself in the sun with weary zebras nearby. Once a lion has lost the element of surprise they often won't waste their energy trying to hunt, since they are usually unsuccessful when the herd is aware of their presence. Since this is the case, herds will often continue grazing around a lion instead of leaving the area because once they leave they will not know where the lion is and if they are being stalked.
The salt flat we visited had about one and a half inches of standing water making the mud feel like mucous between your toes.
That evening the clouds cleared long enough for us to enjoy some sun by the cleaneest pool I have swam in while in Africa.
Our next stop was a cheetah conservation park. Cheetahs from different parts of africa are brought here if they are confiscated from poachers, injured in the wild, abandoned as cubs, or if they venture too close to villages taking livestock. The park has 18 wild cheetahs and three "tame" ones that have been handled from birth.
We spent the first couple hours interacting with the "tame" ones. I put the quotations on tame because wild animals always have instincts no matter how they are brought up. A baby goat was baaaaah-ing near the fence of the property and all three cheetahs raced to the fence steamrolling over the owner in the process. If the fence wasn't separating them, the goat would have been shredded. Once the baby goat wandered off the cheetah's instincts subsided and I was able to play with them.
Also, I made the mistake of petting one of the cheetahs while it was drinking water and it whirled around and hissed at me showing its long white sharp canines. With that said it was really awesome being so close to such a powerful predator.
Later in the day we rode in the bed of the pickup truck into a field where the wild cheetahs roamed. They had a barrell full of donkey meat which was tossed piece by piece out to the cheetahs as we made our way through their area.
We spent the next day exploring the granite domes of Spitzkoppe.
As the sun set Alejandro and I hiked to the top of one of the domes carrying our mats and sleeing bags. We watched a vibrant sunset before finding a sheltered flat area to sleep for the night.
Laying on the warm rock with a light cool breeze blowing by while staring up at the stars was awesome. Although Alejandro was concerned since and I quote, "This isn't in my culture, two men who see the sunset together and then sleep the night seeing stars, in Chile this isn't normal, you must be with a woman of beauty for this."
The next morning we woke up bathed in light from a spectacular sunrise.
Our next stop was Swakopmund, originaly a coastal German settlement that is now Namibia's top tourist destination. The truck parked for three days giving us a chance to explore it as well as sleep in past sunrise. The first two days I slept in before spending the afternoon wandering the town.
My last day in the town was a Sunday so I decided to go to a local church service. I felt a bit out of place especially since the serman was in Afrikaans, but the pastor summerized everything periodically in English and they sang a few English songs, I think soley for my benefit. Once the service let out a friendly local lady aske me a few questions about where I was from and how I came to be sitting in the church, before demanding I come home with her family and eat lunch. After getting a tour of the house I hung out with her three sons and two daughters who were between the ages of 21 and 30 while she, Carte, worked miracles in the kitchen. The service started at 8, was over by 11, and by 1 we blessed the food and started on the first of many courses. By 4 P.M. I was near puking from eating entirely too much but not wanting to be rude and not try something that my host said was a must while in Africa. I was so full I wasn't able to finish the slice of pie for dessert. It was nice sitting at a table with a large family (mother, father, five kids, two wives (of the kids), and two grandmothers) and eating a full meal. It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to enjoy something like this.
The next morning the truck pulled out and left the cool breeze from the coast and headed into the desert.
The next morning the truck pulled out and left the cool breeze from the coast and headed into the desert.
We paid an afternoon visit to Sossusvlei, a dried up lake surrounded by magnificent red dunes. The trees still stand where they once did thousands of years ago since there isn't enough moisture in the air to support decomposition.
After sleeping under the stars in the dunes we awoke early and climbed a taller dune to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately some clouds moved in and obscured our view but it was still a great way to start the day.
We continued south stopping to stretch our legs at Sesriem, where seasonal rains have carved a 90 foot deep by 15 foot wide canyon.
To make up for the failed attempt at a sunrise, we went to Fish River Canyon to watch the sunset. It is the second largest canyon in the world, second only to ours truly the Grand Canyon, at 1,805 feet deep.
The next day we crossed into my last African country (for this trip), South Africa. Just before the border we stopped for a bathroom break and a chance to stretch out legs from the rolling, bumpy, dirt road. While walking in the brush with my flippy floppies I came across a hornedbill puff adder. It is extremely poisoness and was extremely pissed off since it had just finished shedding its skin. Pretty glad that it hissed, warning me before I accidentally stepped on it.