Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Windhoek - pros and cons

Monica, Home of Good Hope
Home of Good Hope
Home of Good Hope
After the trip with my parents I spent some more time in Namibia. At Chameleon Backpackers, I found friends, who are living since several months in Windhoek and also work here. Surprisingly, there are quite a few pilots here, who either work in Windhoek or in Swakopmund like Etienne and Jerome from France or are looking for a job as a pilot like Mohamed from Egypt or Dave from England. Then, there is Hendrik, the German doctor with his huge enthusiasm and his unlimited love towards Africa and its people in spite of all the crime and sad stories
he experiences every single day in Katutura hospital he is working in. Besides the hospital, he works also for his NGO, where he looks after HIV patients free of charge in Okahandja 70 kilometers north of Windhoek. As his work in Katutura hospital is not well paid (sometimes not paid at all) and the other job with the HIV patients is for free anyway, he works also at the bar in Chameleon. It is amazing, where he gets his energy from, everyone else would have despaired long before and would leave to sick African people to the Africans… From next year, he is going to build up 12 new clinics all over Namibia. This new project is sponsored by Wilderness Safaris and a mining company. There will be even jobs for pilots to fly Hendrik around. And finally, there will be also money to pay a doctor properly! There is also Nicole, the wife of Mohamed, originally from Australia and Caroline from Sweden, girlfriend of Hendrik, who helped Monica at the soupkitchen since october and was one of the Swedish ladies who were building up the house, where the kitchen is situated now. Not to forget Mohsine, actually, in Windhoek for a couple of weeks to build TV and other towers, do threatening climbs on top of these towers to repair things there. He was never too tired even after a long hot day at the construction site to prepare tasty Moroccan food for the whole crowd in the evening after work. Now, he is back to Morocco for a well earned holiday.
Home of Good Hope
I was not completely lazy in Windhoek. I took a few days of rest after the 3-week Namibiatour with my parents. After that I was again ready to work in the mornings in Katutura at Monicas soupkitchen. The children here are 2 to 16 years old. Monica provides once a day a meal for them. This is often the only meal of the day. So, first in the morning there is singing, dancing and praying with the children, then we distribute the food, clean the place including the dishes. After that, there is always time to play with the children. The smaller children are quite crazy on body contact and want to be carried around as long as possible. Blond hair is something special of course and absolutely exciting. Quite a few girls on my arm use the chance to play around with my curls, so most afternoons I have to fight to get of the new knots in my hair…..
Home of Good Hope
I also had a very unpleasant experience in Windhoek going back from the supermarket by myself, when I was threatened and robbed by two men in the middle of the town on an open street in the afternoon. The men were following me and that is why I walked faster, then both of them ran after me and they had a knife…. Well, I did not plan to play hero just because of a backpack, a phone, the equivalent of 15 Euros in Namibian dollars and 2 bottles of soft drinks. The backpack was gone. Thank god nothing bad had happened to me personally. Friends from the hostel came just the very moment by car when it happened, but could also not prevent the attack and were even threatened by knife, when they wanted to help me. I noticed only, how shocked I was, when I was again at Chameleon and safe.

Home of Good Hope
The next few days, my friends took great care of me. They did not want me to go out by myself anymore. But after some days I had to go back to normality, as I am by myself and travelling alone through Africa, so I must be able to walk again by myself in the streets of Windhoek. Some days back I got the news, that Shahid finally got his Angolan visa in exchange for a small additional donation to the Angolan Embassy. So, he will probably arrive here soon. So, soon it will start, the adventure West Africa, an area, which was already for a long time an unlived dream with Shahid as well as with me. The visa for Angola was always difficult to get, but that we have it now both in the pocket or better in the passports, equals somehow a miracle. Angola, both Congos, then Gabon, which will most likely seem rather civilized then after crossing the Congos…. Well, one can see, I am really excited about this trip! It is also time to move on, as I am now in Windhoek since 3 weeks!
People keep asking me, when I will return to Germany. Well, good question. Probably sometime in april, that is at least the plan. Well, I spent a lot more time in Namibia then I estimated and planned before. So, I must see how realistic all that is. However, I do not worry about it now, it makes no sense to rush through the next countries, because the roads in Angola are in a very bad condition, besides, it is rainy season, which usually does not make gravel roads any better. Christmas eve I spent with my friends from all over the world at Chameleon Backpackers with a nice fish braai. Next week, wednesday, we will be probably on the road towards the Angolan border. I have no idea about internet access and phone network in Angola and the Congos, but I will try to send signs of life in one or the other way. Greetings from Windhoek and thanks a lot for all the Christmas greetings.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Northern Namibia

Spreethoogte Pass
Before I left for my own small trip to southern Namibia, I had organized the booking of the campsites and bought the permits for the parks.
Now, I was waiting for my parents to arrive. We were probably excited all three of us, when they landed the 18th of november in Windhoek. Of course the reunion after more than 6 months was something quite special. Quite tired after 9 hours of flight I took them to Chameleon Backpackers. Still, I did not give them a lot of time for resting at daytime to avoid them sleeping the wrong way. So, already on the first day, in the late morning we explored Windhoek by ourselves, in the afternoon we took an organized sightseeing tour by bus. In the evening, there was a small welcome party at the hostel with very nice Moroccan food, cooked by our chef Mohsine from Tangier.
For sure, everything was new for my parents, foreign and on top it was quite warm for the newcomers from cold old Germany.
Quite spontaneously, my parents decided in the evening to see the soupkitchen in Katutura the next day, before we fetched our car in nearby industrial area north. In this soupkitchen I was working the last few days before the parents arrived.
Home of Good Hope, Katutura
Katutura is that part of Windhoek, where underprivileged black people live. In former times, this was the township, the white have established, when the black population was excluded from the city center. Monica, an active local, has brought to life a soup kitchen for children about 2 years ago. With the support of 3 ladies from Sweden and 3 young men from Germany, a house for the children was established in october this year, so that the children must not sit anymore with their food outside in the hot sun.
Now, about 200 children come here every day to get their maize mash with beans. They are fed in two sessions. This is often the only meal of the day. Volunteers can come and help for a day or more, also donations of food, clothes, and cosmetics, just anything are welcome.
So, first, there is singing and praying together with the children, then the volunteers distribute the food. After the dishes are done, there is always time to play with the children.

Streethoogte Pass
For sure, especially for my Mum, it was an overpowering experience to see these children here. They are absolutely happy, all charming and it is unbelievable to see, how calm they wait till it is their turn to get their share and put it slowly with fingers in their mouth. All children are quite crazy to be carried around. My Mum was about to take all 200 children back home….
The whole project is currently financed by one single donator who comes from Canada and transfers every month 300 US on Monicas account. The money is enough to buy food for 200 children once a day during the week.
Of course 2 meals a day would be better, moreover, Monica would like to install a kindergarden with nursery school for the smallest children. There is still a lot to do. The optimism of Monica and the will to work very hard, allow to hope that these aims can be realized!
From Katutura, we went with a local taxi to the rental station – exactly that kind of taxi, white locals and hotel staff keep warning tourists over and over not to take. There were recently incidents of kidnapping, or that passengers are driven completely somewhere else and robbed. On the other side, no call taxi would go to Katutura to pick up someone there…..

Sesriem Canyon
At the car rental, we had to go through a lot of paperwork. After that, it took us quite a long time to get the car explained. Why that took so long? Well, this was a 4×4 car, which I drove 30 minutes before in my whole life and Dad not at all before. There was quite some equipment, we do not need in daily life in Germany like carriage siphon, tube to the indulgence of the air or for inflating of the tires, the fridge and the stove, and then of course our roof tents!
Yes, my parents wanted to travel in Namibia not from lodge to lodge, but they wanted the real adventure with a 4×4 and tents on top. Well, they got their big adventure!
Then, finally, after two hours, we left the rental station. I drove the car to the next supermarket close to the town border, and then my father discovered his passion for a 4×4 and for driving on the wrong, left hand side and drove all the remaining 4300 (!) kilometers himself.

Dead Vlei
The first night, we spent at Spreethoogte Pass, where we had a brilliant view of the mountains and the namibian desert. Above all the sunset was spectacular. Building up the tents was a major issue, as it was quite windy on this pass. Finally, after something like 1.5 hours both tents were ready, mum had a fight with the gas stove in these stormy conditions, but managed to create some nice dinner.
After the first night in our roof tents, we knew that this was the kind of travelling fitting to us. All three of us slept well, no one fell down the ladder. It took us rather long to build up our tents, but we just needed more practice and some more tactics, and then it would become better and faster also.

Hidden Vlei
Our next destination was Sesriem, where we had booked two nights a state campsite. Already on the campsite we had to use 4×4, as we got stuck in deep and very soft sand there!
The afternoon, we did a hike in Sesriem Canyon, a deep gorge dug by a river. There must be a lot of water at times to create a canyon like this, but for sure, this is not too often the case.
In the afternoon light, the canyon has beautiful colours like yellow, sienna and orange and offers new great photo motives with every turn.
In the late afternoon, we went to Elim Dune, which is just 3 kilometers from the camp. Here one can observe very well the change of colours on the facing Naukluft Mountains in the fading sun. And of course, finally, there was a lot of sand. Lot of people do not fancy sand between the toes, I just love it!

Hidden Vlei
As we wanted to experience sunrise on top of a dune, we had to get up very early the next day. So, I decided not to build up my roof tent this time because of saving time early in the morning and to sleep rather on the mattress in the sand. My parents, not at all cowardly, decided to do the same and so all three of us spent the night outside. At that time, I could not yet anticipate, that this idea would become one of the highlights of the whole trip for my parents! Well, staying overnight in  the 1000 stars hotel is definitely something special, above all in the desert where one has the feeling that the stars are a lot closer to the earth than anywhere else.
The next morning, we were among the first to enter the national park and the first at the big dunes. It was quite foggy at the beginning, so the sunrise was not as expected with a lot of shining colours, but there was this very interesting phenomenon, when sun and fog met with the sand dunes. Though the colours were not a brilliant yellow or orange, but, however, the scenery with fog had definitely its own charms.
Namib
Next, we went to Dead Vlei. Right next to gigantic sand dunes, there is a very shiny, white area, which is sometimes flooded with water. It does not rain very often here, but when it does, the water cannot be soaked easily by the sand, so it creates a lake. The water evaporates of course very fast in this hot sun. The remains are a very bright, almost white layer which is very hard and breaks later in cracked pieces. On top of that, the sun burns relentlessly, and there is besides a few gnarled, mostly dead trees no shade and of course also no animals. An extremely inhospitable, but spectacular scenery! One has here the feeling to be on another, extremely inhospitable planet.
The highest dunes with up to 325 metres are in Sossusvlei itself. Here the views from top of the dunes are definitively spectacular and the sand sea is simply overpowering to all sides.

Swakopmud
As Dad and me love playing in the sand, both of us went back in the afternoon. Thus we drove again 65 kilometres one-way to the big dunes, this time to see Hidden Vlei. Photo technically seen, this was one of the highlights, as the time, light as well as the forms of the dunes were fantastic.

As my parents have carried along my laptop for downloading my photos, there was a lot of space for new ones. Including Namibia, there are already 9000 photos! I will definitely not be bored when I will be back once, as it will take a lot of time to go through them!
After our sand adventures, we went to Swakopmund. The drive there is rather monotonous from Solitaire, as there is not an awful lot more than stones and grey stony desert for a distance of approx. 200 kilometres. The biggest highlight on the road was two cyclists going the other way, who also did not seem to be very happy there. No wonder, as it was very hot, very monotonous, and there was a light gradient for the whole distance.

Swakopmund
Swakopmund is very German, very foggy and very sleepy on a sunday afternoon. As it was also rather cold, we rented a room at Desert Sky Lodge. This was not an awful lot more expensive than to camp there. Lots of people rave about Swakopmund with its german architecture and all the German traditions, but all three of us, we were not too impressed. We did a very nice trip by boat to WalfishBay for the pelicans, fur seals and dolphins. For sure, it was quite cold on this boat, but it was worth the excursion.
This evening, we had an appointment with a very special person. The mother of a friend of my parents lives since 22 years in a home for elderly people in Swakop. Of course we paid the lady a visit. We thought rather of coffee, but she greeted us with champagne and white wine, so we all had a very interesting and amusing evening.
Close to Swakopmund, there is an area in which many Welwitchias grow. These plants can store water very long and can become up to 2000 years old. These plants are very rare and grow only in Namibia. We drove the so called Welwichia drive, which is designed like a natural trail. Besides the Welwitchias, they explain also other plants on boards, e.g., the importance of lichens to hold loose sand. Also, in this area, was the lunar valley. This is a big canyon with spectacular views.

Cape Cross Seal Reserve
After this excursion, we went back to Swakop and continued towards Skeleton Coast. Here, in former times, lots of ships stranded, the people could hardly survive in these life-hostile surroundings without any water or food. Today, a well maintained road runs along the coast, but it is extremely windy here, virtually always foggy and for Namibia also very cold. Nevertheless, quite a lot of tourists come here, above all locals. Here the water is very rich in fish and lots of local men come here with gigantic fishing gear, which sometimes even does not fit in their cars, so they transport it tied at the front of the car.

10 degrees outside temperature was a little bit uncomfortable, so went rather early into our nice and relatively warm tents.
The next day, we went back to the warmth, first of all we drove to the petrified forest. Here, fossilized trunks lie around, they are from 260 to 280 million years old. The biggest ones are up to 30 metres long.
Twyfelfontain
The next highlight was Twyfelfontein with its rock art paintings, which are something like thousand or more years old. Above all the image of a lion is well known. Moreover, there are a lot of antelopes, hippos, rhinos and footprints of animals or people, which were scratched in here.
On our way to the north shortly before Palmwag, we had our first breakdown: the protective frame, which should preserve car and passengers from bigger damage, when there is a collision with an animal, was broken and was hanging down on one side. What to do now? There was no way to continue like this. So, we called the rental company. Welding was not possible as there were no mechanics, putting the whole thing on the roof or inside the car, was also not possible as too big.
Finally, we left it in Palmwag, and went further on to Sesfontein, where we spent the night on a rustic camping place. Rustic, because shower and toilet were open sky and there were also no doors….

Epupa Falls
Our next stop was in Opuwo, the biggest town in northwestern Namibia. This town attracts people from the whole area, and many come here in search for a job, which cannot be for so many people at all. Often, there is no money for the return journey, so lots of people are stuck, and the number of people begging for just anything was especially big here. Here, besides, there were a lot of Himba women, and usually very traditional living tribe of the area. Put out of place in a big city like this, they suffer a lot from lost traditions, poverty and alcohol. For us, it was only a stop for stocking up food and petrol. We spent the night a little bit outside of town and celebrated the birthday of my mother in a nice restaurant.
The road from Opuwo to Epupa Falls at the border with Angola was in very good condition, so in the early afternoon we already reached the waterfalls. These waterfalls are affected by the angolan dam at Ruacana, but 5 days per week, they open the dam, so the waterfalls look really great.
The following day, we did a tour to a Himba village with John, who is Himba himself. First, we bought presents like maize flour, sugar, coffee and salt.
Here, the Himba still live very traditionally in their huts made out of wood, soil, cow dung and dry sheets from trees.
Himba
The women apply every day a paste from ocher and fat on the whole body. So, the whole skin has a red brownish shiny colour and a strong milky smell. This paste is regarded as personal care, however, it helps also against heat or cold, against mosquitoes and other vermin and, in addition, is looked as beautiful. They never take a bath or a shower, this is reserved for men, women apply this cream and taking care of their body and being even more beautiful takes a lot of time.
Himba
The chief of the village is a very important and rich man. He was already in Europe, because the Namibian government wanted to establish a dam in the country of his people. He protested against it perfectly with the help of a lawyer in front the European court of law. Now, the money was frozen and probably the dam project is dieing.
These people live a very traditional life, but they happily accept gifts from the outside world, when they are rated as useful. Like everywhere with traditional living people, western medicine is always asked for. Above all, people are usually asking for eye drops, which I have to carry around for myself in huge amounts anyway, as well as painkillers. Very good gifts, which are always appreciated, are strong shopping bags and basically just anything, one can use as a jeweler. (The funniest ever seen thing was used film rolls in Rasta hair in western Africa).
We had a beautiful time in this village and it was very funny to see the children being fascinated by the hairy legs of my father….
River Kunene
The afternoon, we made a nice little hike with John in search for crocodiles and monkeys along Kunene River. We found some of them, but only from a far distance. However, the next morning, we discovered a small crocodile not far from our natural swimming pool in the river….
The road from Epupa to Ruacana was upgraded just recently to so-called D road, which means, that it is maintained now and then. Nevertheless, this road had some difficulties like deep mud holes and precipitous gradients, both not possible to drive with a normal vehicle. It does not necessarily need a 4×4, but definitely a car with high ground clearance, so that one does not get stuck. In addition, we were a bit in fear of another flat tire, as we were already using a spare, as we could not get a replacement for the other one at Epupa…. But everything went well and we arrived safely and with an extremely mud-sprayed car in Ruacana.
Ruacana is a small place, so again, there was no chance for a new tire. But from here, the roads were tarred, but at the same time it was very boring to drive, as we all liked the gravel roads a lot more.
Our new tire and some good supermarkets, we found in Oshakati. The night we spent close to Etosha at a place called Sachsenheimfarm. What sounds first quite funny, it turned out to be one of the nicest campsites of the whole trip with great parking lots for the cars with tents on the roof, a lot of green for table and chairs, electric connection in all parking lots, big trees, good sanitary arrangements, swimming-pool, bar….. What does one need more?!

Bushman woman
From here, it was only 200 kilometres via Tsumeb to Tsintsabis. In Tsumeb we had to repair a tire once more. Tsintsabis was our next destination, as we wanted to learn more about Bushmen and Treesleepers. We camped this night near Tsintsabis in a place called Treesleeper Camp. Here, people can build up their tent also on platforms in trees – of course not if one has the tent firmly installed on top of the car. Outdoor sleep on the platform without mosquito net was no option because there are too many malaria mosquitoes at this time of the year in this area.
The first day, we visited with Elizabeth, an employee of Treesleeper Camp, two families in the village. Again we bought food and coffee as presents. The situation of both ethnic groups (Bushmen and Treesleeper) is very discouraging. The people cannot live any more in their traditional way they used to live, because they have no land, in which they could go hunting. Nowadays, they live in towns and villages, have no education, so there is a lot unemployment, so there is no money for food or clothes, of course also not for medicine. HIV and TB are big problems in these ethnic groups, alcohol abuse does the rest. A very sad situation, also linked with the feeling, that by the current lifestyle and the lack of education of the new generation, the passing on of skills from the old to the young generation will not work anymore. So, important skills like track reading, traditional hunting, surviving in the bush, searching for water, herbal medicine etc. will disappear soon.

Bushman woman
All in all, very interesting, but also very sad experience.
At Treesleeper Camp, they also organize a so called bushwalk. We went to the bush with a young man from the tribe treesleeper. These people have their name, because while hunting in former times they used to sleep in branches of a tree. On this trail, we got quite a view explanations on very useful plants for traditional medicine, poison plants for arrows, the construction of traps, different animal tracks, the collecting of flying termites, when they swarm out, as well as the life earlier in the village. On one side, it is very positive to keep the knowledge present, however, it is also a fact, and that these skills are not used in everyday life any more, but to show to tourists like in a living museum.

Etosha Pan
Next, we went to one of the highlights of a Namibiatrip, to Etosha Pan. There are three campsites in the park, in each of them we had reserved a place for us and our car with the Namibian Wildlife Resort. It turned out to be a good thing to do it that way, as in each campsite, there was a water hole, which was visited at dusk and night by other kinds of animals. We were rather lucky, as we spotted a lot of impalas, gnus, zebras, the most different big and small antelopes, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, jackals and lions (from the distance).
Etosha Pan



Etos
The distances between the camps are just 75 kilometres, so there is plenty of time to crisscross the park in search for animals at various water holes.. All camps have a pool, but only Namutoni offers grass for the campers. Both other campsites have the charm of a big sandpit with electric connection. But well, one comes here not to hang around on the camp, but to base yourself close to the water hole with a chilled beer and a ready camera with a lot of space on the memory card….
We spent three really great days in the park and we were lucky to see many animals. These days, we were on a different time schedule. Getting out of tent the latest at 6.00 am, sitting at the water hole, breakfast and breaking down the tents from 9.00 am, then driving towards the next camp, take it easy in the pool, from 6 to 9 pm at the water hole, afterwards dinner.
But it was worth the effort!
Etosha Pan
The last days of our trip, we spent at Waterberg Plateau. Here, in 1904 a disastrous battle took place between german troops and the Hereros. Subsequently many soldiers of both sides and a lot more civil Hereros died, when the German troops forced the civilians to try to escape the battle into the desert. Ten thousands of them died of thirst in the Kalahari desert. Not exactly a chapter in the German history to be proud of….
Etosha Pan
Etosha Pan
Waterberg Plateau is an about 40 kilometres long hill. Here, there are many nice walking trails and a viewpoint with beautiful view from the plateau. In spite of the heat, we climbed up to the viewpoint and even a spitting cobra could not make us give up the plan.
This cobra rose itself just about 50 centimeters in front of me and spitted in my direction. So, I moved slowly backwards and after a few metres in between me and the snake, I picked up some stones and threw them towards the snake to scare it away. Later, we found out, that these cobras are very poisonous and if the poison gets into someone’s eyes, you can easily loose your sight. Well, as only having one good eye left, this might have been a very bad story. But thank goodness, nothing really bad happened!
Waterberg was our last destination, before we went back to Windhoek. After nearly three weeks of travelling we were really good in building up and breaking down our tents. Instead of 1.5 hours at the beginning of our trip, it took us now only 20 minutes – for both tents together!
The last night with my parents we spent again at Chameleon Backpackers. Many of the friends I got to know before we headed off, were still or again there and so, there was a great reunion with the new, old friends.
The last evening, we went to an institution which one should not miss in Windhoek by any means: Joes Beerhouse. Here, they have all kinds of beer, but also very interesting bush meat like zebra, kudu, ostrich or crocodile! All that very tasty and a worthy end of our trip!
Waterberg



Well, I had a great time with the parents in Namibia, not always easy, will say for all of us! Nevertheless an experience for all of us, we will all remember for a long time. Maybe, I often wanted too much and they had not enough time for themselves or to recover, but there is simply so much to see in Namibia! For one or the other rough answer as well as a certain impatience on my side, I would like to apologize! They have done very well, and I am proud of them, as it was something they never did before!
Waterberg


I was very happy, when they decided in may this year rather spontaneously to visit me in Africa, and I am very glad that this trip was a successful one. Some of my customers in Germany send me a saying from Humboldt the other day per mail, which fits perfectly to this:
"Worst of all world views is the world view of the people who have not looked the world."
I think, it is very important to travel, to see the world and to win new friends and to get new ideas. The world is too big and too nice to remain at home!
My parents and me


So, I will close this Namibia mail. The next one will still cover some time in Namibia. This is due to the fact that I wait here for Shahid from the USA, who will hopefully travel with me to Angola and presumably to the Congos. Because he is still fighting for his Angolan visa, I will probably be in Windhoek till Christmas time. Well, there are worse things in the world than that, particularly, as I have found quite a few

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

South Namibia

Two days later Adam from England found a guy from South Africa, who guided a film crew from Brazil through Botswana and was about to leave for Windhoek in Namibia by jeep. He gave all four of us a lift for nearly 900 kilometers and we paid only for the fuel. Surprisingly, the distance Maun – Windhoek is not served by bus. One can drive 2 parts by bus, in between about 250 kilometers people have to hitch. It takes at least 2 days for this distance! For us in our nice jeep, it was only 10 hours to Windhoek.

Quivertree Campground
For me, there is a lot to organize in Windhoek, the visa for Angola, the permits and camping reservations for Etosha and Sossuvlei. I had to think carefully about dates and distances, because this part I will not do by myself!  In two weeks time, my parents will fly in. This is going to be a completely different kind of travelling – instead of just by myself we will be three people, instead of public transport we will have a jeep with two tents on top. In Namibia camps in national parks must be pre-booked, so it requires an exact planning. Quite unusual after 5 months of life of one day on the other. But well, that is a challenge and I am still a travel agent – and still it is fun organizing things like these! After 5 months on the road, it might be time for a new T-shirt, a hairdresser also does not hurt after all months. Finally, one wants to look nice for the angolan embassy and also for the parents….

Quivertrees
The first few days in Windhoek, I spent more or less with organizing all kinds of things. First, I had to find out, which part of Namibia my parents wanted to travel in, as the country is too big to cover all in a 3 weeks trip. Next, I needed to book the campsites for the national parks ahead, which needed a careful planning with the time, so I placed one at the beginning and the other one at the end of our trip. This gave us the opportunity to be completely free within these set dates. These campgrounds tend to be booked out easily, so this was the first thing to do. Then, I went for the permits to enter the national parks. It needed quite some phone calls in between Germany and Namibia, but after 3 days all that was sorted.
Quivertrees
So, the time came for my own small trip through Namibia. I rented a Toyota Corolla with a local agent for a good price and set off for the southern part of the country. The first few kilometres were a kind of scary. First of all, the company is based in the city centre, so one immediately starts with a lot of traffic while driving off. The whole thing on the wrong, the left, side. For sure, like for everybody else at the beginning, I used more often the wiper than the indicator, when turning left or right! After a few more kilometres and a lot of concentration, this became better, but it never stopped completely…
My first longer stop was in Mariental. Here, there are quite a lot of big supermarkets, where I got some brown bread, salami, veggie and fruit supplies. Yes, it is really a small German country here! From the wheat beer about Sauerkraut up to very german Surhaxen you get everything here! Of course, there are also many German local names and street names. The scenery clearly less typically German – very dry countryside, dry yellow grass, a few dried bushes, a few trees with scanty foliage. The people among you, who know me at least a little bit, can say that is exactly the landscape Andy likes, the more dry, the better it is!

Fish River Canyon
The street to Keetmanskoop was very good, partly with overtaking lanes when uphill. With some more time on the road, I became a little bit more courageous with the speed, and so it was no problem to drive 500 kilometres already on the very first day!
To reach to Quivertree Forest, I had to drive my first piece of untarred gravel road. This was less problematic than I thought (however, it was also due to the fact that especially this gravel road was in a very good shape, but at that time, I did not know!).
I put up my tent directly on the campsite right in front of the quivertree forest. A very well equipped extensive camping place with solar energy and very good sanitary arrangements. The quivertrees are only one attraction of this camp, because here there are also cheetahs. They live in an extensive area near the camp and are fed every late afternoon. Two of the cheetahs live since their birth with people, so they are tame. Particularly courageous visitors can go in the enclosure and touch the cats! This was something quite special, to stroke a cheetah! The fur was quite soft whether by many strokes of the others before me or from nature, I really do not know….
After this impressive experience, I went to the quivertree forest. These trees are aloes and the long branches are hollow inside. In these branches, the trees can store a lot of water, which is absolutely necessary in a dry area like this one. The bushmen of the Kalahari used these branches for the keeping their arrows, hence, the name quivertree. These trees look really surreal in the evening light, just by the by the shape itself, but also because of lots of them have gigantic bird's nests hanging in the branches. The whole area is very dry and it was also extremely windy, so sand and dust just flew around. So, I was happy to leave for my small yellow tent with a good book and a torch.

Orange River
The next day, I went to the Fish River Canyon. This is one of the highlights in southern Namibia. This canyon is the second largest canyon on earth. It has two viewpoints, from which one can look more or less unsecured down the canyon (nothing for weak nerves or people with fear of heights, as it is going down several hundred metres). As it was very cloudy, the light in the afternoon was not very good for photography, but a careful look out of the tent the next morning shortly after 6.00 o'clock confirmed that the morning feels well. The canyon was above all in yellow, orange and sandy tones. I found it rather impressive, the tourists who already visited Grand Canyon in the States, were apparently rather disappointed. Well, apparently, sometimes it is good to leave out things to enjoy others more!
My next destination was Ai Ais, an oasis with hot springs. Already the way there was spectacular, a kind of lunar landscape with lots of big rocks, black sand and uncovered rocky mountains. The street was very winding, so that one had to be very careful with the driving. Ai Ais is basically a hotel, a campground without any green, a restaurant and a swimming-pool with supposedly healthy water. I liked the pool, but not the rest, so after a jump in this healthy water, I continued to the border with South Africa.

Lüderitz
Just when I arrived in Noordoewer, it started to rain with a hefty thunderstorm. Anything else but good conditions for camping.
Hey, it was really pouring down, but I was lucky and could build up my tent under a roof, so I did not sit completely in the wet.
In the evening, there was this very nice South African fellow, who prepared a delicious chicken, which was good for one more desperate hungry person. Travel info for my onward journey was included and thus I came across quite some new ideas, where I could drive after Luederitz.
The night was rainy, but not was too cold. Indeed, I had to remove twice a gigantic frog from inside my tent. This frog was very eager to share the tent with me instead of staying outside in the rain… There is this story with the prince in the body of a frog – should have kissed him maybe?!
The next morning, it stopped raining, but it felt rather chilly (not more than 20 degrees, which felt rather cold). The gravel road from Noordoewer to Rosh Pinah follows partly River Oranje, so there are rather often really nice views of the river, the mountains or vineyards. In spite of or partly also because of the dramatic clouds it was nice weather for photos! In Rosh Pinah the tarred road started again, so it was fast driving to Luederitz. Well, only 300 kilometres more. The feeling for distances in Namibia is a little different from Germany….
Kolmanskop
In Luederitz, I voted against my tent and for a backpacker hostel, because Luederitz tends to be rather stormy and chilly. In the evening, I really needed my thick Fleece against the cold! Luederitz is something special, it is incredibly German. The main street is called Bismarkstrasse, many other street names are also German, there is Surhaxen with herb, wheat beer and apple pie after grannies recipe. Of course one speaks German here! The houses are German style as well, just a little bit more colourful.
Just 15 kilometres away from Luederitz, there is Kolmanskop, a former mine, where they used to dig for diamonds.  Till the fifties, about 4000 Germans lived there. The town was organized very well with a school, there was a hospital, a slaughterhouse, a bakery, and they even had an ice machine for the fridges. The men worked in the mine, and as the terms of employment were so good, there was no lack of manpower. The workers could bring their families with them. There were even club afternoons for the ladies.
Close to Luederitz, there is Luederitz Peninsula. Here meets yellow sand, dark rocks and turquoise sea water. There are many birds and sea lions, which lie around especially at Diaz Point on a small rocky island. There are also very nice sandy beaches. Indeed, the water temperatures, which are suitable for sea lions and penguins, are usually not good for people to swim – unless, one is not afraid of 10 or 12 degrees centigrade…. The cold water comes directly from the Antarctic.
After one more night in Luederitz, I travelled on the tarred road back to Keetmanskoop and then further to Mesaurus Fossils. The son of a farmer has found the fossils 20 years ago just by chance. They have fossiled animals, which must have looked like small crocodiles; however, these were probably herbivores. The fossils are very interesting and the guided tour was very nice, also, there are quivertrees which grow on a very rocky terrain.

Earth Road
As I really enjoyed driving on gravel roads so far and wanted to have more of these beautiful isolated areas, I decided to go further into the Kalahari. This sounds more courageous than it is. This area exists of rather dry river valleys without any water, red sandy dunes with a few bundles of yellow grass and a lot of gigantic farms. Crossing the dunes was definitely lots of fun, of course not on the sand with my Toyota Corolla, but on the normal maintained gravel road. I was told, that these untarred streets in Namibia are maintained all 14 days by bulldozers. However, the roads in this part of Namibia were in a very good shape.
One night, I spent in Red Dunes Camp shortly before Gochas, indeed, not on the dune itself, because there are only two campsites there, and they were booked up. Camping on the dune for sure is something special, as the location is great, the views and the sunset are spectacular. But you definitely have to book ahead.
The camp at the farm was not bad either, as I could pitch my tent on real green grass. This is something extremely rare in this area! Moreover, I got some nice dinner. Well, if someone wants to have a closer look on the Red Dunes Camp, just go online, have a look: www.reddunecamp.weebly.com! Very nice and friendly place!
The next day, I went back on the road towards Windhoek. Actually, I wanted to spend the last night of my tour through Namibia at Arnhem Cave, where they have a very nice campsite. But things change fast in this part of the world and rather often things turn out different than planned.

Fossils
I was travelling with three maps on my Namibia trip. On one of them, the cave was not marked at all, on the second to the west of Dordabis, on the third to the east of Dordabis…. Great, after I had studied the map thoroughly, it was clear that it was not my fault and my abilities of map reading, but that at least one of the maps had to be wrong (if not even both!). So I asked some of the locals, in which direction to drive and was sent after detailed discussion of 6 people to the west. Okay, this was a good tarred road, moreover, towards Windhoek. After 40 kilometres, there was still no cave or at least a sign for the cave, so I asked again in a farm. Well, they send me to the east…. At that time, it was already 5.30 pm, but in the summertime the sunset in Namibia is around 7.20 pm, so there was still time to reach my destination.
Shortly after that, the gravel road started again…. And again no sign for the cave…. At another junction, locals sent me north and short time later I was completely lost. Around 7pm, I finally gave up the thought of the cave completely, above all, after I nearly ran over a warthog and shortly after I had overlooked a sandy woe, which catapulted me almost into a huge thorn tree. In this area, there are not much hotels or even campsites, so I was more than happy about a sign saying Mountain View Lodge 20 km. When I arrived at the fence of the lodge, there was a sign saying: Warning! Private hunting area! Sharp Shooting!
For sure, I would do the hell and enter there at nighttime! So, I continued driving.
6 kilometres further on, there was another, smaller lodge, where I asked for help. Now, I felt completely lost, especially after this nearly clash with the warthog, I wanted a place to stay for the night.

Quivertrees
This lodge was also a hunters place, but the owner recognized immediately the seriousness of the situation and gave me a room, a glass of cold beer and a comfortable chair to relax for a while. After a shower, I felt much better. In this lodge, they had three clients from Bulgaria, who were here for hunting. In the evening, of course, there was bush meat, first a bush meat sausage, then steaks of blue gnu, everything hunted by the Bulgarians. I will not repeat the gossip of the hunters while dinner, as this was something really special and might create one or the other vegetarian among the readers of this mail….
The next morning, they gave me a tasty breakfast, this time without the hunters, because they went out for an early morning drive to shoot some zebras. Then, it came to the question of payment. The night before, I found already out, that this lodge usually charges 150. – US per night and person. Well, still cheaper than a broken car because of an accident in the dark, but also rather expensive for someone long on the road. I was completely surprised when Geraldine, the owner, told me, she would not touch any money from my side, as this was an emergency and she just wanted to help! She wished me a lot of fun in her country combined with the hope, that I will meet only friendly people on the way (Indeed I did) and that I enjoy the beauty of her country!
Wow! This was really nice!
Driving back to Windhoek at daylight was easy, just back along the gravel road, turning right once at the T-junction and then always straight! If only everything was so easy!
All in all, I drove 3002 kilometres during this 8 days trip, half of it on gravel. All that without any technical problem. All twisted tent pegs were bent into shape by Pieter of the Red Dune Camp in his workshop, not to speak of Geraldine of the hunter’s lodge. Also in other respects I had only good experiences with country and people in Namibia so far.
In Windhoek, I based myself in Chameleon Backpackers, for me one of the best hostels in southern Africa. The dormitory is relatively small with 3 bunk beds only and every dormitory has his own shower and toilet. There are also double rooms with private facilities. Included in the price, there is a nice breakfast. There is TV, internet, a small travel agency, a bar and a pool. Of course the inhabitants are international, as usual, in hostels of this type. There are people from Australia, Asia, Northern Africa, Europe, South America and there is quite one or the other interesting character staying there.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Okavangodelta

After nearly one week in Kasane with a lot of interesting insights into the african life, I went with a collective taxi to Nata and then by bus to Maun. Maun is the centre for journeys into Okavangodelta.


Traditional Mokoro in Okavangodekta
Okavango River starts in Angola, flows through Caprivi Strip of Namibia and then enters Botswana. Here, the river branches off in countless arms with various islands and finally ends in the sands of Kalahari Desert. This scenery of water, islands and reed is best experienced in a traditional mokoro, a small wooden boat. These boats are mostly made out of the trunks of baobabs. It takes approx. one month to make a boat like this. With low water it is punted through the canals, after the rainy season locals row the boats. Of course, tourists can not go by themselves to the delta, as a foreigner would easily get lost in the channels and in between the islands.
Together with two Australians, I did a day trip with 2 mokoros. For the night, we took our tents to camp on one of the bigger islands. There are no shops and no restaurants for sure, so we had to bring our own supplies.

Chameleon
The journey by mokoro to the island took about 3 hours. It was a great experience to be punted through the canals. These canals are often formed by hippos, which create with their bulky bodies a channel for the small boats. Logically, the punters are always watching out for hippos in the channels and lagoons. Once, a hippo just came out of the water about 10 meters from us, our punters became quite nervous and hurried back. Though hippos are herbivores, but they might become angry if one gets to close to them. It has already happened in the past, that hippos attacked mokoros and passengers. Also with a deadly end. In the afternoon, we went to a hippo pool, where we watched these huge animals from a proper distance.
After a tasty spaghetti dinner with fantasy sauce soon everybody disappeared in the tents. Boating simply makes tired, whether one punts or is just sitting inside.

Okavangodelta
In the middle of the night it suddenly started raining – in an amazing amount! The rainy season should begin, actually, in about 14 days, but anyhow, this downpour looked quite like the start of rainy season! In the morning this weather did not stop. Nevertheless, we went in the rain for our walking safari. Nevertheless, quite unexpectedly, we saw many animals. It is rather different, whether you watch big animals like elephants, buffaloes or giraffes from the secure car or you meet while walking… Because of the rain, we went back to the tents soon. Despite rain jackets we were completely soaked. We hoped that, nevertheless, the rain must stop sometime, so we simply waited for a while in our tents. After two hours, it was sure that it will not stop and that we have to break down the tents in the rain. This is always unpleasant, but in such a downpour it is really bad! And then the journey back by mokoro… As there is nothing to do, you just sit there and it is getting colder and colder. In between we stopped sometimes to get rid of the water from the plastic seats…. On the speed boat for sure it became even colder. I cannot remember that I was so cold before in my whole life!
After 30 minutes on the speed boat we arrived in Maun, where there was coffee and a hot shower waiting for us. We were lucky and could rent safari tents, as ours were completely wet, moreover, it also rained in Maun! These safari tents are very comfortably and have even beds and electricity inside. This was exactly what we needed.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

"Homestay" with Sanda and Heinz

From Livingstone, I went by shared taxi to the border with Botswana. The border crossing is very well organized and also crossing the border river by ferry was unproblematic. On the other side, in Botswana, there was no public transport, but apparently the border officials felt very sorry for me having no car. So, they stopped the first good looking jeep and asked the driver to take me a couple of kilometers to Thebe River Camp in Kasane.


Sandra, Kasane
This crossing is very easy, so it is hard to understand, why most tourists in Livingstone panic for possibilities to master this border crossing anyhow and end up in an organized safari to Chobe National Park in Botswana. Maybe a clever business idea, rising the fears of the backpack horde of this border and by doing so selling more safaris to Chobe originating in Livingstone, because then the border crossing is done by minibus in the group…
Sandras mum
However, Thebe River Camp is quite big and a lot of overland trucks stop here as well.

These are exactly the kind of the travellers, who independent tourists usually try to avoid. Overland trucks are often booked by young, rather inexperienced travellers. The classical route is overland from London to Capetown, but for sure, one can do also only part of the way. Usually, these trucks go to big camp sites or they camp just in the bush. Mostly, they also cook together and buy food at local markets to save money. Some more up market versions do have a cook on board. Group dynamic plays a big part of it and wild parties are common and often. The latter is also the reason, why individual tourists usually try to avoid these groups.
At the bar of Thebe River Camp I got to know Kibonye and Simon from Kasane. They are teachers in a private school; Kibonye is from Botswana and Simon from England. We spent an interesting afternoon together and they took me with them to town. They introduced me to Heinz from Germany, who spends several weeks a year in Kasane. He bought a house in Kasane some years ago, where now also Sandra, a very nice local lady, lives.

Chobe National Park
They invited me to visit Sandra’s mother in the village of  Kavimba the next day. Kavimba is a remote small village about 80 kilometers from Kasane.
Chobe National Park
The journey to the village was interesting, the area is very dry, and most trees have barely any leaves, a few trees strange enough with lots of green as it had rained 10 days ago. Apparently an extensive rain is enough for some trees to grow immediately leaves. The village has about 800 inhabitants, there is nearly no work except of farming, due to the long period without rain the habitants have to walk for 15 kilometers for drinking water – oneway. Here, people live on subsistence economy, above all maize which can be harvested once a year. There is an elementary school in the village, however, for secondary education children have to go to Kasane. For most families this is not possible, as Kasane is far away and the children have to attend boarding school. Therefore, usually it lacks of money.
Sandra supports her mother as far as possible. However, currently she is without a job herself, so Heinz helps out at the moment.
The way back we drove through Chobe National Park. This park borders Chobe River, which has water the whole year. Accordingly, many animals are here the whole year. Chobe is known above all for the big elephant herds, which can be easily spotted in the evening or in the late afternoon taking a nice cool bath in the river or in the mud. Also, there are many hippos, buffaloes and different antelopes. There are also warthogs, giraffes, crocodiles, leopards, lions……

Chobe National Park
Heinz also invited me to stay with them instead of living in Thebe River Camp. This was great! I changed my small yellow tent for a nice flat with sleeping couch, fridge and a bathroom completely for myself! What an improvement! All this came even with full board – it was like holiday from travelling and, in addition, a time in which I have seen and experienced a lot without any organization work on my side! At this point thanks a lot to Heinz and Sandra. I will definitely not forget my time in Kasane!
Besides our 4 visits to the national park, we visited also various lodges like Elephant Valley Lodge. This lodge is situated close to a big water hole. The animals come here in the late afternoon and at night to drink and can be watched from a view platform. This is one of these super expensive lodges, a travel agent would love to book for a client (prices begin with 400 or 500 dollars per night). I was quite content with a coke and the view platform.
One afternoon, I spent on a boat on Chobe River. This was especially interesting, because we were very close to hippos, buffaloes, crocodiles and elephants. We were also lucky to watch two young elephants in a violent fight.