December
With school closing early, Schlip cleared
out pretty much within the first week of December. My closest friends in town
were both going back to America for the holidays so I was pretty much the only
American for some 200km. It wasn’t bad though, I danced way too many times to
Taylor Swifts new album, was able to actually keep my flat clean, and
consistently have washed clothes (this was probably more due to the fact that I
wore the same thing almost three days in a row cause I never saw anyone). I was
also able to hang out at my library and work/read/sleep/ play games by myself
there. It’s air conditioned, nuff said there.
I share my birthday with another volunteer
here and so we decided to do something together to celebrate as we were some of
the only Volunteers in Namibia at the time that didn’t have large travel plans
or family visiting (Mike Riley came in January just scroll down for more about
that). We decided to treat ourselves to a trip to the beach, which not only
included the beach, but also some of the best food Namibia has to offer, fresh
seafood, 4G internet connections, cable TV at our hostel, ice cream, and yeah,
actually what more do you need to make yourself happy on your birthday? Our
intention of only staying 3 days eventually turned into some like 5 or 6 days
as we kept waking up and deciding, nah…I’m gonna stay one more day. The weather
was just absolutely gorgeous. One morning I woke up to go get coffee in town
(Oh yeah, Swakopmund also has REAL coffee, and cheesecake if it’s your lucky
day at Slow Town). I put on a cute dress and my cool sunglasses, was sharing
the beach front boardwalk with dog walkers, runners, and bike riders, and the
sea breeze felt so good I literally stuck my arms out like my life was a movie
and the happy ending credits were just about to roll. This may have also been
influenced by some of the wine I had at dinner the evening before…
The glorious beach walking days were over
as I headed back to Schlip to spend Christmas with my host family, on probably
one of the hottest days of my entire life. To start, I got a sunburn walking
between my house and my host family’s house that’s like down the street, (I
wanted to get my bathing suit because their cousins brought a kiddie pool they
had gotten for Christmas). So yeah sunburned skin on Christmas Day, over 100
degree heat, and not a trace of breeze in any direction. It was so hot I was
scared to walk home with my sunburn in fear of making it worse. So I was pretty
much stuck. Sunburned and bloated from the gluttony I bestowed upon myself the
week before on the beach. That third ice cream in one day tasted so good and
was so cheap at the time, was not worth it on Christmas. Thankfully I brought a
stick of my favorite Christmas movies to share. Unfortunately Buddy the Elf
couldn’t make me stop sweating. Eventually I hit a breaking point, and thanked
my family profusely for hosting me for Christmas but all I wanted was to go
home and lay on my tiled floor naked with my fan on me for the rest of the
night. I even slept with frozen sachets of liquor I picked up in Malawi for the
purpose of an ice pack (my kids like to punch walls in their free time). Had
anyone walked in the morning after, I do not want to know where their thoughts
would have gone…
January
Anxiously awaiting Mike Riley’s arrival on
January 2 I decided to spend New Years Eve in the capital with a few friends.
We found some silly string at the mall, had KFC for dinner and purchased a
bottle of Champage for midnight. No I did not spell that wrong, either our
hostel did, or it was a clever marketing scheme to spark interest. Whatever it
was worked, I managed to get the last bottle and I did pronounce it as it was
spelled on the board. Hello can I have a bottle of Champage? Yes the big one.
We shared a coffee cup with the security guard at midnight.
New Years Day Peace Corps Namibia
experienced a tragedy which was an unfortunate reminder that life is beautiful,
however it is short. It just made seeing Mike Riley all the more great J
Our first stop was this super cool place
called Africat. It is a rehabilitation and education center for wild cats that
come into contact with farmers and their livestock. We had a beautiful room
overlooking grazing oryx, giraffe, and warthog, took a night drive where we
found a cheetah, jackals, giraffes, and oryx by spotlight, and the next morning
tracked leopards (of which we found 2 and 3 wild dogs!).
Key moments from Africat:
·
While walking to the reception
from our room (we are in the middle of a conservation area where wildlife roams
free) a giant male kudu almost runs us over out of nowhere and gives Mike Riley
a minor heart attack. We also came upon a warthog and some young and he
wondered if we should turn around and go another way. Pumba is not a killer, Dad.
·
In talking to the man at
reception I mention my father and I are what what. Reception man goes Oh that’s
your father? Uhh yeah… later in the day Dad goes up to ask a question and the
reception man asks if Mike Riley prefers an elephant or a lion, essentially for
me…upon further questioning the man hesitates a bit and Mike Riley was not
impressed. Sorry dude.
·
Mike Riley kept alluding to the
various electric fences we were going through to Jurassic Park. I did not find
that amusing, as we were in an open aired vehicle off-roading looking for wild
cats.
·
In his first 24 hours in
Namibia, we see giraffe, zebra, oryx, kudu, springbok, cheetah, leopard, wild
dog, and jackal. Not bad for a days work.
·
My uncivilized, village-girl
self licked the plate at dinner by candlelight. Mike Riley was so unimpressed
and did not let me forget it the rest of the week. I’m sorry, who would let
monkey gland sauce go to waste? Not me.
Following Africat we traveled to the real
world animal kingdom of Etosha. We stayed at the same place my mom and I
stayed. After the luxury of Africat, our air conditioned tent, flushing toilet,
and hot water shower was termed “roughing it.” In comparison to the only two
places seen in Namibia, fair enough. However Mike and I frequented the bar much
more.
Key moments in Etosha:
·
Our trusty guide Ishmael took
us on three spectacular game drives where he made my dreams come true and we
found elephants. Shannon cried the whole time.
·
Mike Riley conquered the rest
of the animal kingdom seeing lions, elephants, and a rhino. African safari:
Check.
·
I commented on how much I loved
the Nivea hydrating spray sunscreen. Dad agrees but goes “yeah but I wish it
smelled like coconut…”
·
In viewing the various water
holes and finding lions and elephants, we learn the hierarchy of the animal
kingdom and that all antelope were at the bottom. At every water hole we went
to, the zebra were just sitting there waiting and watching. Mike Riley’s
commentary, “Man, if I were a zebra, I’d be pissed.”
·
A mating lion couple will mate
every 15 minutes for like 3 days or so, they call it the “honeymoon” As we
gazed and waited for this couple to get it on Mike Riley nodded off, I tried
singing “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” cause it obviously worked for Simba and
Nala. I think my singing worked.
·
In making friendly discussion
with the new bartender, Mike Riley gives him tips on new drinks.
·
Dad tries every game meat
possible, however they are all extremely lean and on the final night he goes
for a lamb chop with a nice, nice bone full of marrow attached. The lady at the
grill smiles and laughs when I refer to my meat as a nice, nice piece of braii
meat (what the locals call it). I eat with my fingers, dad eats with a fork and
knife. At the end of the meal I see the marrow is still sitting in the bone as
he cuts the last piece of flesh away. I tell him if he doesn’t pick it up like
a man and suck the marrow out of the bone, I’m going to pick it up off his
plate and do it for him. (He knew I would too after my licking the plate with
my finger at Africat a few dinners before.) He delicately gets it out and
consumes it with a fork and knife. I was not impressed, but he showed me.
After viewing all there was to see at
Etosha we made our way to the coast at Swakopmund. On the way we made a small
detour to a small farm where they had fossilized dinosaur footprints! We had to
do a bit of hiking to get there and back to the car, as well as follow some
interesting, often times misleading signs, but for 2 USD each, we couldn’t pass
it up!
Once in Swakopmund we arrived at our super
nice beach hotel, overlooking the ocean and Shannon’s favorite bar. We indulged
in seafood, fresh oysters, beer, and adrenaline. It. Was. Awesome. Our first
day we went quadbiking over the sand dunes, having a personal tour guide as the
high-holiday season was over. We pretty much had full range of all the sand
dunes and two hours to spare. That evening we shopped and went to a nice dinner
at a fancy seafood restaurant. Our second day was all sand and sea as we did a
dolphin and seal cruise in the morning. The seals and pelicans joined us on the
boat as we sipped on sherry, followed dolphins, learned about oyster
harvesting, and then ate fresh oysters. That afternoon we did a 4X4 land rover
cruise over the dunes to some of the most remote parts of the Namib Desert. Our
driver was a professional stunt driver and we shared our time with three
Russian ladies. Lunch there included more Russians in speedos, more oysters,
and plenty of beer to quench the thirst. Our third and final morning we visited
the craft market, picked up some wood carvings and heading through the desert
and mountains to our small lodge in the middle of nowhere Namib desert.
Key moments from time in Swakopmund:
·
Dad this is the best ice cream
place, we should get some! Shannon you just ate breakfast. Yeah well no one was
telling me that two weeks ago when I was here alone!
·
Our tour guide on the quad
bikes, since it was just two of us, took us to a look out point up a dune that
other tours don’t go to. He said he had never taken a tour over there, and then
started asking me questions very casually such as “So you left your boyfriend
in America, ne?” Smooth dude. I wanted to give him a nicer tip for taking us to
different places than the normal tour. Dad says he probably tells that to all
tour groups with young girls. Whatever Dad it made me feel special and he
wasn’t sleezy about it. Afterall, you WERE there too!
·
On our seal and dolphin cruise
there was an American tourist all-alone. He knocked back 8 glasses of sherry
after asking what it was and then slurping down close to twelve oysters
himself. Save some for the rest of us dude…He was also rocking a fanny pack.
·
One of the Russian ladies in
our 4X4 was MSU President Lou Anna K Simon’s twin, but Russian, traveling in
Namibia, going on a 4X4 tour through the sand dunes, and wearing a sideways
baseball hat. The hat was multicolored striped that you would find a pinwheel
on top of. This hat was sans pinwheel but she was pretty bad ass.
·
There were two Land Rovers on
the 4X4 tour with us and communicated through a radio. At different adrenaline
rushing events they would turn on their radio so the screams of the people in
front of or behind you were heard. At the very end, the second vehicle (also
full of Russian tourists) was not taken down a steep sand dune going forwards,
but instead backwards. Our vehicle went nose to nose with the other down the
dune and the faces of those tourists were something I wish I had a picture or
video of for the rest of my life.
·
While at a fancy candle-lit
dinner at a waterfront restaurant, we decide to watch the sunset on the deck
with some Windhoek beers. I walk inside to reserve a table for us for dinner
and come back to say its ready whenever we want (Dad and I each had about half
a beer left in our fancy glasses). We are in no rush but he knocks back the
whole glass in a few chugs as I just stare, wondering why, in such a classy
place he is doing this? He looks at me and goes, “I don’t know why I just did
that. You can take your time.” He’s a classy date.
·
A few times around town we
decided to drive and where ever there is public parking there are “car guards”
which will look over your car, help you park and make sure no one tries to
break in. Especially with a fancy rental car, this is a good service to have
and you tip them as you leave. We pulled into an empty parking lot and the girl
comes up to me and says “would you like me to watch your car.” I said yes but
then thought to myself: If I would have said no, and someone DID try to steal
or break into my car, would you just stand there and watch? This question still
puzzles me.
We left the beach and traveled into the
desert. Our route was a single lonely road with no civilization for nearly 250
kilometers and that town at the end was essentially a gas station. We barreled
across the flat land desert and wound our way though mountain passes listening
to the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Hits. We followed one car until it turned
down another road towards Windhoek as we continued further south. About 5km
from our lodge we pulled over to look at a map, thinking we might actually be
lost on this one lonely road, you think this is impossible, its just one road
right? Here though there are no signs for really anything. The roads are all
labeled well but if you’re trying to find a specific lodge like we were, you
wont find it till you’re next to the gate. Well we found it and was lovely, we
promptly signed up for a sundowner drive, where they took us to the top of the
petrified sand dunes (yes they are petrified sand dunes) over looking the lodge
and everything beautiful about Namibia, and served us gin and tonics. The next
morning on our way to back to Windhoek, we made a detour through Schlip J
Key moments from Soussesvlei (Namib Desert)
·
We arrive and realize our lodge
is actually pretty far form the iconic Soussesvlei red sand dunes. We also
realize that the activity offered there is to climb the largest sand dune in
Namibia after walking 3km through sand and around other dunes to get to it.
Ummmm, probably not for us… We chose to stay at the lodge and take the driving
tour that came with complimentary drinks.
·
The lodge owned by a German
based company so Dad and I shared the pool that afternoon with some lovely
German men on vacation together all sporting the latest and tightest swimming
attire Europe had to offer.
·
Not much other that I remember,
it was pretty chill
·
For those wondering, the iconic
red sand dunes of Soussesvlei have iron in them (hence the red color). The
petrified dunes at this lodge were once those same red sand dunes however, once
exposed to rain and moisture, began to solidify like a rock. So what we thought
was just another mountain cliff was actually a million year old petrified sand
dune. It was actually super cool.
Soussesvlei (or lack there of) was
technically our last stop, Mike Riley was leaving the next day so we needed to
make our way to Windhoek. Conveniently, there were a few back roads that would
take us to Schlip where Dad could see where I live, I could drop all my stuff
off, and he could meet the people in my community who take care of me. Driving
to Schlip was an adventure itself, as the roads we took traveled through
privately owned farms. About 15 times I had to jump out of the car an open
cattle gates for us to cross through. We traveled among the cattle, through
washed out riverbeds, and up some really rocky inclines (our trusty pickup was
a trooper) but we finally made it to Schlip and to my lovely little flat. Once
again I was “roughing it” although I have running water and electricity, I can
only imagine what he would have thought if I’d taken him to a traditional homestead
with a hut. He saw my school, toured my library, and met my host families and
we were on our way to the Hilton for one last night of luxury for Shannon.
Key moments from Schlip and Windhoek
·
Dad and I walked from my school
down a small street, passing three plots of land and he was already sweating,
welcome to the “real” desert dad.
·
He made sure to tell me to
leave most of my stuff here when I come home, in particular my linens, they are
not the bright white and pink they once were in college.
·
He told me that he now
understands how I’ve read over 50 books in the past year or so.
·
The Hilton in Windhoek sports a
wonderful rooftop pool, lounge area, and SkyBar. It’s a beautiful sunset over
the mountains and the best cocktails Namibia has to offer (mostly because they
don’t do cocktails here). We get up there, order our drinks, and it starts to
thunder storm. Like the one time we actually want to be outside this whole trip
and it rains. We enjoyed our drinks from the second floor sports bar balcony.
·
I ordered an African Ginger
Collins which was a Ginger Collins but with African spices. I ask what those
are and the bartenders go “Umm, I don’t know, I think sugar and water.” So.
African.
·
The Hilton was so nice and such
a contrast from Schlip he wants me to go there once a month cause I’m gonna
need it.
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