Southern Africa - Day 18 (Part 2)

Thursday, 30 January 2020 - Botswana

Another plant known as ‘eland bins’ (not sure of spelling) which is used for colour (you need to soak the stem for days) and another plant they call the mother-in-law’s tongue (not the same as ours) to make string. Once they have caught game for food, they use the string to tie them up and bring it to the village. 

Then breakfast, and off again to Maun which is a place near the Okavango Delta. The Okavango Delta is formed by the river Okavango flowing into the Kalahari desert instead of the ocean. 

On the way we passed a small town called Sehithwa which mainly does cattle farming, but there is a diamond mine nearby which also gives employment to the people in this town.

We reached out hotel and had lunch. We were supposed to meet at 3 p.m. to do a scenic flight over the Okavango Delta. I asked Rigmar for advice on whether it was worthwhile going on this scenic flight as I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to go and she said go for it and I trust her so I signed up for it. But then at about 2 p.m. it started raining so heavily, almost like a storm! In Africa!!! I never expected this. Reminds me of the song Africa by Toto 😁. “I bless the rains down in Africa...”

I thought for sure the flight was going to be cancelled but Clever informed us that the airlines told us to wait a while to see if the rain stops. Finally at about 4 p.m. we were off to the airport to catch our flight. We had to go through security check (🤔). Our pilot was a very young girl; I am very impressed by her confidence and calmness in flying the Cessna. Oh, if only my eyes were ok I’d be flying too! With the Royal Malaysian Air Force 😔.

Anyway we flew over the Okavango Delta and I saw zebras, elephants, giraffes, impalas, wildebeests, the horrid Cape buffaloes, hippos in the water and many termite mounds/ant hills not sure which is which, but all were too far away to take pictures. But now I know how huge the delta really is! Oh, it’s vast! Unfortunately we couldn’t see the Okavango River itself because there was a storm in that area.

Then back to the hotel and I was chit chatting with some of the staff and everyone here seems to be happy. Botswana is a rather rich country and it is developing so unemployment is low and people can feed themselves, which makes the average person here a happy and satisfied citizen. How nice.

Then dinner, laundry, shower and sleep in anticipation for another long day tomorrow.

Southern Africa - Day 18 (Part 1)

Thursday, 30 January 2020 - Botswana

This morning we take a walk with bushmen into the Kalahari desert. We were supposed to do this yesterday but we arrived late so we did it this morning instead. 

Before the walk I did a walk of my own around the hotel grounds. I was hoping to see some animals but only birds around. Yesterday evening I saw a group of what I thought were deer but Clever laughed and said there are no deer in Africa. At first he thought it was a duiker (in the antelope family) but when I told him they were in a group, he said they are impalas. But I don’t think they were impalas because what I saw were all brown with skinny legs, really like deer. So in the end I dunno what the hell I saw 😅. 

Our guides were descendants of bushmen, who use the click language. Even among the bushmen there are different tribes with different languages. The bushmen are shortish, fairer skinned and have surprisingly small eyes like the Chinese. 

During the walk, we saw eland dung. The elands are big animals but they have small dung, which is good for fire. A blackthorn tree (looked more like a bush but apparently it can grow quite big) which fruit can be eaten. A brandy bush which berries can be eaten, and which leaves can be used to neutralise the poison of snakes, spiders and scorpions. There were small holes everywhere in the ground, these were scorpion nests. The bigger holes are the nests of dung beetles. But they are all sleeping now, they only become active at night. Then a buffalo thorn tree which berries can also be eaten. 

There are giraffes, elands, oryx, impalas, wildebeests and even lions here. Saw the holes dug by an aardvark to find ants. 

The bushmen showed us how to light a fire. You need dried grass, dried dung, a bigger stick where you make an indentation and put it over the dried grass and dung, and then a smaller stick to put into the bigger stick’s indentation and rub until there is smoke, then blow in the smoke and it becomes a fire! So cool! 

They use stones and animal bones to make weapons - walking sticks which can also be used as a weapon, spears, bows, the arrows are in a container made of tree trunk and the skin of animals. Animal skin is also used for clothes and bags. The poison of a certain type of beetle is sometimes used only on the arrows, not on the spears. 

Southern Africa - Day 17

Wednesday, 29 January 2020 - Namibia to Botswana 

Today we travel east to neighbouring Botswana. The capital of Botswana is Gaborone. It is home to most of the San (bushmen) population. Next biggest tribe is Tswana. Its major economy is diamond mining, cattle farming and tourism. It was formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland. They used the Kalahari desert as a training camp because (they thought) it was a poor country so they didn’t want it as a colony. 

But then in 1973, after the British left, they discovered quite a big diamond mine 😬. Botswana adopted its new name upon independence on 30 September 1966. It is now one of the richest countries in Africa. The currency here is known as the ‘poola’; USD1 is equivalent to about 10 poolas. Poola means rain in the Tswana language.

Botswana used to be ruled by a royal family, even after the British left. Then one of the princes went to study in England and married an English bride. The custom here is that the King must marry a local woman who knows all the local customs and traditions as she will be a public figure and therefore set an example to future generations of women. Because of that the Prince was denied the throne. So he asked his father, the then King, to make Botswana into a democratic republic so that he could become President.

So that is how Botswana became a democratic republic and the prince became the first President of Botswana. The Presidency remained with members of the royal family for a few generations until the current President, who is not a member of the royal family. The people here are very happy with him because they can see growing development of industries, the roads are slowly being upgraded and maintained etc.

Breakfast at 7 a.m. and then we had to say goodbye to Rigmar as she leaves for Denmark today. On this tour I was closest to Rigmar and Jay and now they’re both gone and I feel so alone. She is really so sweet, before leaving she asked the rest to look after me and she told me to chase all my dreams no matter what, don’t hesitate! Oh, I will miss her.

On the way we stopped at Gobabis, a small cattle town of about 20,000 people. Most of the people here are from the Herero tribe, their main occupation being cattle farming. So important is cattle to the tribe that the women folk don a type of head dress resembling the horns of a cow. The more cows you have, the richer you are. 

And then the truck couldn’t start. Apparently a fuse had blown and this involved dismantling some parts and buying a fuse and putting it in. We were stuck here for more than 2 hours and the afternoon sun was just relentless, with very little wind. We had lunch in the truck. I guess when you’re on an adventure like this things like this are bound to happen and you just have to take it in your stride. I’m just glad I didn’t have to repair anything or push the truck 😅.

Finally we continued our journey. We said goodbye to Namibia and hello to Botswana! The man at the immigration counter upon seeing my passport said “Apa khabar?” and I was so pleasantly surprised. It’s nice to know other Malaysians have walked the same path I am walking now. 

Then we were already in central Kalahari but it’s unlike any other desert I’ve ever seen. Green vegetation everywhere and full of cows, horses and donkeys. The Kalahari desert is a vast area covering about 900,000 square km. It has the most amount of rain out of all the deserts in the world. Botswana is big on animal farming and there is apparently animal disease control cleansing peoples’ shoes here and there as you cross the boundary from one district to another so that infectious diseases are not spread to the livestock. Donkey meat is especially exported to the China market. They really eat anything and now they have infected the world with the coronavirus 😡. 

We arrived at our hotel in Ghanzi close to 7 p.m. We were supposed to go for a walk in the desert but that is only happening tomorrow due to the delay in us arriving. Likewise, we were supposed to be entertained with a dance performance by the descendants of the San or bushmen but it was cancelled as it was getting late and everyone (including Clever and Taro) was tired after sitting about 11 hours in the truck in the sweltering heat. 

Poor Clever had an upset stomach and we had to stop along the way which further delayed us. I gave him my charcoal pills which seemed to do the trick 😁.

During dinner I tried the St Louis beer which is the national beer of Botswana. It was ok. I am really missing Rigmar and Jay 😔. 

Southern Africa - Day 16

Tuesday, 28 January 2020 - Namibia

Today we travel to Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia. Breakfast at 7 a.m. and then we loaded our stuff into the truck and we were off at about 7.40 a.m.

Nothing much to report on the way, I fell asleep in the truck because there was nothing interesting to see outside and the weather was so hot that it was just nice for a few siestas 😁.

On the way we stopped at a small town called Outj (pronounced Ocho) to fuel up and have coffee, and we passed another small town called Otjiwarongo which is a small farming town with the main railway lines connecting with various other African countries. 

We stopped at a place called Okahandja for lunch and after lunch we had to say goodbye to Jay because his tour ends here. Since there is only the 6 of us, we’ve become really close and I’m sad to say goodbye to him, we were particularly close as we were the younger ones in the group. 

Then we finally arrived at Windhoek. In Dutch it translates as ‘wind corner’ because it is built in between mountains, like a valley. We came into the city through Independence Avenue. The main roads here are named after presidents - Nelson Mandela, Robert Mugabe etc. 

It is quite a small city with a population of about 460,000 people and still developing. On the way to meet our local guide for a walking tour around the city, we passed by the main railway station, the Southern African Tribunal which heard and disposed of, among others, the land issue between Zimbabwe and the British, and the State House (where the president lives). 

Then we met our local guide. Namibia used to be a country with 13 different tribes which were not united due mainly to language barriers. It was colonised by Germany from 1824 to 1950 and then by South Africa up until it achieved independence in 1990.

First we visited a German Lutheran church built in 1896. We saw a pipe organ in there which is 35 years old and comes from South Africa. Then to the Parliament building, which formerly was the first ever German government house in Namibia. Parliament consists of the upper chamber (42 representatives from the different tribes in Namibia) and the lower chamber (102 representatives from political parties). Namibia is a Republic with a President and a Prime Minister.

The colours of the Namibian flag symbolise the following: Yellow for the brightness of Namibia after the struggle of gaining independence, as well as the desert. Blue for the sky and the ocean. Green for agriculture and vegetation. Red for the blood shed when fighting for independence. White for peace and unity. 

Next, to the Independence Memorial Museum, which is currently the tallest building in Windhoek. There is a statue of Dr Sam Nujoma right in front of the building - he is the founding father and the first president of Namibia. He was President for 15 years, although now the system is a maximum of 2 terms of 5 years each. 

During colonisation, there were several uprisings against the Germans by the locals, and the German army often fought and killed the protesters. Dr Sam Nujoma, also a protester, gathered these group of protesters and placed them somewhere he thought was safe. Unfortunately the Germans found out their location and from 1904-1908 they committed genocide against the locals, mostly women and children.

Dr. Sam Nujoma then asked for help from 3 foreign leaders - Fidel Castro, Robert Mugabe and North Korea. Fidel Castro deployed doctors to Namibia to tend to those wounded in the massacre. Robert Mugabe gave financial aid. In appreciation, there are streets here in Windhoek named after Fidel Castro (❤️) and Robert Mugabe.

As for North Korea, they supplied weaponry to the locals. However in return, they wanted uranium from Namibia to develop nuclear weapons. Until recently, Namibia was supplying uranium to North Korea but due to pressure from the international community, it stopped. In 2011, the North Koreans funded and built the Independence Memorial Museum as a gift to Namibia. Just to add, China has recently bought a majority stake in the Namibian company that mines uranium. I have great concerns about this - it does not bode well.

The last sight was a monument commemorating those who fought for independence in Namibia, with a statue of a man and a woman holding each other with broken chains and hands up in the air symbolising unity, freedom and victory. I quite liked this monument. 

Behind this monument was the first building in Namibia built in 1896 by the Germans to keep their women and children safe. Now it is national museum. The next town to Windhoek is a town known as Rehoboth, and mostly coloured people live here. 

Then we were done with the city tour so back to the hotel to relax for a bit before dinner, and then off to bed! 

Southern Africa - Day 15 (Part 2)

Monday, 27 January 2020 - Namibia 

Driving again and I saw it. A beautiful leopard relaxing under a tree, just beside the road. No one else saw it so I shouted “leopard” but Clever just smiled thinking I was trying to fool him. Then I had to tell him seriously that I saw a leopard and we had to reverse the truck to the spot the leopard was, and there he was! The most elusive of The Big 5 and he was just there, right in front of us. He is just beautiful. 

Then we drove some more and tried to look for elephants. I noticed broken branches and elephant dung along the road so I gathered they must be near. About an hour later we saw them!!! A herd of them. Another beautiful creation. I proudly announced that my elephant God came through after all and that is why I continue to believe in God sans evidence. 

But I digress in my excitement. The elephants in Etosha are also known as ‘ghost elephants’ or ‘white elephants’ because when they play or bathe in the mud and the mud dries off, they become a whitish hue. This is due to the salt in the water and in the mud from the Etosha Pan.

Then we stopped at a small town called Halali which used to be a place for hunters to stay in those days. Here we had lunch and relaxed for a bit. I bought some souveniers - things here are really really expensive but I don’t think I’ll be coming back to Namibia so what the hell.

At about 3 p.m. we started making our way back to our hotel. We saw many giraffes along the way, springboks, impalas, oryx, jackals and birds. At about 5 p.m. we saw a lonely rhino! It is a black rhino. The black rhino has a hooked lip, and one horn is shorter than the other. Its young walks behind the mother. It is smaller than the white rhino but more aggressive. The white rhino has normal lips, both horns are almost the same length, and its young walks in front of the mother.

And there you have it! The Big 4 in one day! We were indeed very very lucky. Ok yes, sometimes luck really is on my side. When we got to the hotel I quickly washed some clothes and washed my hair, then off to celebrate with beers and dinner. They had fish for dinner so I overate as usual 🙄. Then to the waterhole but nothing more to see, so to bed with all the creepy crawlies 😱.

Southern Africa - Day 15 (Part 1)

Monday, 27 January 2020 - Namibia 

Today we headed out early. As I’ve mentioned, we are staying in the National Park itself surrounded by animals of all sorts. So in the evening (5.40 p.m,) this area is locked shut and in the morning (6.40 a.m.) it is opened. So we had breakfast at 6 a.m. and headed out at 6.40 a.m. Before that, at about 5.30 a.m. I went down to the waterhole but not an animal in sight. 

We had the whole day today to look for animals, especially 4 of the Big 5 in Africa because the Cape Buffalo is not to be found in Etosha. I don’t even know why a buffalo is in the Big 5 🙄. The Big 5 are: elephant, rhinoceros, lion, leopard and the horrid Cape buffalo. Clever says the leopard is the most difficult to see, and the Cape buffalo is the most dangerous 🙄. I think the hippopotamus or even the giraffe deserve to be in the Big 5, not a buffalo!!!

In the morning nothing to be seen except the usual suspect: springboks. We saw a lioness in the distance taking a slow stroll, a leopard tortoise, a cobra, and a lonely giraffe. Giraffes are in the camel family, when they walk both their legs on the left move together, followed by both legs on the right. This is different from other 4-legged animals except those in the camel family. 

We also saw a lapwing (bird) with bright orange feet. They lay their eggs on the ground and their biggest predators are the jackal and honey badgers. We also saw white egrets sitting atop a tree, a thousand butterflies, dragonflies, ants, Cape crows, pied crows (with a white ring around its neck) and then we drove into the salt pan. It really is a massive area, I couldn’t see the ends. 

We then saw 2 blue cranes, which is the national bird of South Africa. They are always in pairs (how sweet). What they are doing here in Etosha I do not know. There was a puddle in the middle of the road and there were 3 small tortoises swimming there. We made a short stop to use the toilet and here Jack found a tiny scorpion and a spider known as the rain spider, both under rocks. 

By this time morale was really low because we had been driving around for more than 4 hours and not many animals around. Clever explained that animals are usually better seen during the dry season which is from August onwards, because then they have no choice but to go to waterholes to drink. Now there is rain and this means puddles everywhere, and so the animals can drink anywhere and remain in hiding. 

Southern Africa - Day 14

Sunday, 26 January 2020 - Namibia

Breakfast at 7 am, and then we had to head out to Etosha National Park. It is about 23,000 square km, and some parts are private game reserves because the area was too big to monitor and there was a serious problem with poachers, especially in 2017 when there were many Chinese poaching rhinos for their horns 😡.

The Park is full of mupane woodlands which gives us the mupane worms, which I have yet to try. Then we just drove around the Park to look for animals. We saw zebras (the plains or land zebras - their stripes do not reach all the way down their legs, and they have stripes on their bellies whereas the mountain zebras have stripes all the way down their legs and white bellies). We also saw oryx, ground squirrels, giraffes, ostriches (some bushmen use their bones to make weapons, it is really strong apparently) and red hartebeest (it’s name comes from its horns which are reddish and the shape from the front view is like a heart. How sad that I ate it 😅).

Also the Secretarybird (what a name!) which is a bird of prey. It has strong legs that it uses to catch snakes, rats, mice and grasshoppers. Then more zebras together with gnus or wildebeests. These 2 often move together for their own protection. The gnus are good with smells; the zebras are good with eyesight so they make a good team. Sometimes they walk in one long single line, and the lions think that they are 1 big animal and don’t attack them 😁.

Then plenty of springboks! Springboks everywhere! Both the male and female springbok have horns, the only difference is that the males’ are thicker than the females’. The springbok, eland, oryx and red hartebeest are animals where both the males and females have horns. The rest only the males have horns. 

Then a bird named the Kori Bustard (😂) which can grow up to 17 kg and is the biggest bird in Africa that can fly. We also saw black faced impalas; these can only be found in Etosha. It is known locally as the MacDonald’s of the lions because the colour of their bums are shaped like an ‘M’ so they are the fast food for the lions 😂.

Then we saw 2 White-headed Vultures feeding on something with a horn (definitely need to buy a binoculars and bring it with me when I go travelling). These vultures are the biggest kind in Africa; they have a bald white head and they are scavengers.

Then we checked into the hotel which is a government owned hotel inside the Park itself. A short rest - I took the opportunity to wash all my clothes and dry it in the sun outside. I also made several trips to the waterhole a short distance away from my room and saw all the usual suspects - zebras, springboks, oryx. At about 4 p.m. we ventured out again to try and see some more animals. Apart from the usual already mentioned here, we saw a pride of lions sleeping lazily under some bushes! ❤️. One of them had a collar and Clever says it’s a tracking device for research purposes. 

We stopped at a natural spring and thus a natural waterhole, the water here is slightly salty and good for the animals. There is a huge salt pan here known as the Etosha Pan, which is about 350 km from one end to the other (about 4,730 square km). It is the breeding ground for flamingoes (the same ones we saw in Walvis Bay). In fact, ‘Etosha’ literally means ‘The Great White Place’. Some say the pan used to be a salt water lake a long time ago.

Because of the Etosha Pan, most springs and underground water sources are slightly salty. In fact, these past few days I’ve been drinking slightly salty water. It doesn’t taste all that good but at least it’s free 😁. The lovely Silvia told me it’s safe and I trust her. However at dinner I overheard the waitress saying that the water here is not safe to drink. I asked Clever about it and he said it is safe, it is from a bore hole but it’s “hard water” meaning a bit salty. He says it depends on the individual tummy whether they can take it. So far, so good.

I’m happy to announce that when I came back after the drive all my clothes have dried in the hot African sun. How lovely. After dinner some of us went to the waterhole again and joy of joy! There was a rhino drinking there!!! ❤️he was a bit too far away but at least I saw him and now I am happy. 

At night all the creepy crawlies came out - moths of varying sizes, mosquitoes, beetles, and various other insects I’d rather not know. After showering I went to the water hole one last time to try my luck and joy of joy!! 2 rhinos walking to the water, drinking and walking away. Too bad I don’t have a good camera with me but I’m happy at least rhinos, lions and zebras done.

No sign of an elephant. As elusive as the Elephant God I pray to 🙄.

I came back to find a gecko in my room, and a big moth not only in the room but inside the mosquito netting on my bed!!! How they managed this I have no idea. Mosquitoes everywhere and I put insect repellent on just in case. Of all creatures on Earth, I simply loathe the six legged of all kinds, yuck. 

Southern Africa - Day 13

Saturday, 25 January 2020 - Namibia

Today is Appa’s birthday! Luckily I already wished him yesterday when there is good internet because there is no internet here in Brandberg. 

Today we hike the Brandberg Mountain for a bit - about 2.5 km in and 2.5 km out to see another ancient rock art known as the ‘White Lady’. The Brandberg Mountain range is a massive granite intrusion, exposed by erosion of the earth’s surface following the breakup of the American and African continents. Weakness in the crust admitted many similar intrusions, one of which is Spitzkoppe (this happened about 120 million years ago). 

You could see the layers of history in the rocks here. The black is dolerite, brown is granite and there is basalt too. The basalt is used to make weapons by the nomadic bushmen of yesteryears. The ancient people viewed the mountain as a sacred place; they used to hold rituals for many purposes, including healing and making rain. During ritual dances, medicine men wore rattles made from insect cocoons around their ankles.  

We traveled through pretty easy but rough terrain along the gorge of the normally dry Tsisab River. I think we were actually walking on the river bed because I saw many black stones with smooth surfaces; to me it looked like river rocks. On the way we saw many acacia trees torn down by elephants, sometimes they break the branches so that they can eat the leaves and smaller branches. We were walking in the track of elephants! We also saw an albino sherbet tree, leopard dung and tracks, and a male elephant’s bedroom (right beside the river but now it is dry). 

Then the White Lady rock art, one of more than 4,000 rock paintings in this area. From carbon dating techniques, these paintings are between 2,000 to 5,000 years old. The White Lady is about 2,000 years old and it is the most famous rock art in this area. The colours of the paintings are polycrome (different colours - white, red, yellow) or monochrome (only red or only white). 

As I have mentioned before, the bushmen were nomadic people and hunter gatherers, so they used rock art as a way of communicating with other nomadic bushmen.

And here is the secret of the White Lady. It is not a lady at all! It is a shaman with a bow and arrow and an ostrich egg. The “ White Lady” medicine man was a real person who practiced as a healer in this area. When the men go out hunting they wear animal skin on their heads as camouflage, and this is depicted in the rock art.

Before making our way back we went to see the highest peak of the Brandberg Mountain, which is the highest peak in Namibia. It takes 3 days to hike up there, you have to bring 10 litres of water and sleeping bags on your own. 

On the way back down poor Yetta (it is actually spelt Jette 😅) slipped on some stones and fell down twice! To fall down at her age is no joke and I was quite worried for her but she seemed ok. When we reached the truck we checked her wounds and luckily it was only a few scratches here and there. Then we continued our journey to the area of Kamanjab.

After checking into the guesthouse, we just hung out in the afternoon with beers, swimming, and songs. Then dinner and after dinner we had some brandy. Then everyone went to bed and it was only me and Jette chit chatting for some time. I really like her too. Both Rigmar and Jette remind me of Amma and yet they are the polar opposites of Amma. I thought about it and I think what these 3 fantastic women have in common is the amount of strength they possess, and they don’t even know it. 

I’d like to take this opportunity to declare that I really love my mother although we’ve had our differences in the past and even now. It wasn’t always an easy relationship but at least it was a relationship of love. For that, I am forever grateful. 

Southern Africa - Day 12

Friday, 24 January 2020 - Namibia

Today we leave at 9 a.m. so I woke up at 7 a.m. showered and packed my things, had breakfast at 8 a.m. and then off!

First to Spitzkoppe to see massive granite formations which tower 700 metres above the desert plains below. The view is beautiful but the weather is really hot. We met a local guide at the foothill of one of the granite hills who gave us some information about Spitzkoppe. This particular area that we were in is known as ‘Bushmen’s Paradise’ because once upon a time it was lush green with many animals living here - elephants, zebras, rhinos, lions, giraffes etc. The white men came and saw the locals hiding in the bushes; hence the name ‘bushmen’. 

The Bushmen were hunter gatherers - the men did the hunting and the women collected firewood, flowers and seeds. Then we saw some ancient rock art. The 

rhinos, elephants and giraffes were used as water directing animals ie to find water. 

Rock art indicates their significance to the San people as a way of communication. So when there is a picture of a giraffe looking left for example, it means there is water to the left.

For colour they used stones known as ochre, mixed with animal blood and the yolk of ostrich eggs. They use ostrich feathers to draw. Bushmen are generally short, about 1.5 m. The rock paintings here are about 6,000 years old.  Nowadays the bigger animals are not here anymore, only the smaller ones such as rock dassies, squirrels, scorpions, lizards, leopards, etc. I saw a weird plant named ‘Small leaf cross berries’ because the berries are really crossed. 

Then we traveled some more and passed a small town called Uis. The main industry here used to be salt mines, but now there is no more salt so they are using the same factories and equipment to make bricks from sand. 

Finally we reached Brandberg Mountain, known also as the burnt mountain because of its colour (dark brown and charcoal-y from a distance). It is about 2,500 m above sea level, and 1,700 m high. It is the highest peak in Namibia. There are desert elephants here and sometimes even rhinos so I was pretty excited. Desert elephants are more aggressive than the other African elephants; they are slightly smaller and leaner but have bigger feet and longer tusks. They usually dig the ground for water.

We checked in and I asked about the desert elephants and to my utter disappointment they informed me that the elephants have not been sighted for a week; it’s likely they have roamed to another part of Brandberg and it is unlikely that we will be able to see them 😭😭😭.

We had dinner at the lodge (oryx steak with pasta - what a combination!). The people here are mostly Damara and it was very nice to hear them speaking to each other in click language, really cute! After dinner there was a small song and dance performance by the staff and I really enjoyed it. 

I’m really really upset about the desert elephants but what can I do.

Southern Africa - Day 11 (Part 2)

Thursday, 23 January 2020 - Namibia

After that it was really cool, flying in the sky! And then I started feeling a bit sick because we were moving from side to side with the wind, the equivalent of sea sickness I guess. But I told myself not to puke because I really don’t know where it will end up, probably upwards on my tandem and then he might just cut me loose.  

And then I saw that the South Korean girl, who jumped after me, was already below me and then I panicked for a while because I couldn’t see my own parachute and I didn’t even know whether it properly deployed so I asked my tandem is everything ok and he replied “perfect, why?” And I said “nothing”. It’s scary because you’re kinda helpless from way up there, if anything goes wrong there’s nothing I can do but fall to the ground. 

But everything went perfectly, perfect landing! I was so relieved I hugged my tandem and then out of the suit and back to the hotel. I was feeling sick all the way back but they told me it was normal due to the liquid in the ears being out of sync and also the adrenalin rush dissipating. The South Korean girl is crazy because she wanted to go quad biking in the afternoon and I told her enough excitement for one day. 

So there. I dunno why I did it but I’m glad I did and I’m so proud of myself. 

Back in the hotel I tried to take a nap as I was feeling sick but couldn’t. So finally I decided to finish my walk around town but I bumped into Jay who wanted to hear all about my experience and then we ended up in Rigmar’s room, and Yetta joined us and the 4 of us drank beer and chit chatted.

Then Jay and I took a walk along the beach, I wanted to go to this point of interest called the Old Anchor Point but it turned out to be just another look out point for the beach. Swakopmund is essentially a German town, I saw a street named Bismarck Street. Apparently it resembled Germany in the 1950s or the 1960s. 

Then back to the hotel where we met the others and walked to the dinner place which was near the lighthouse. After dinner we walked back and went back to the hotel but I couldn’t sleep because I think I was still excited about the jump and then I called Richard and I dunno what happened to me but I suggested that we get married and he said he’d think about it. I blame it on leftover adrenalin from the jump.

That’s good enough for me; for whatever will be, will be. 

Southern Africa - Day 11 (Part 1)

Thursday, 23 January 2020 - Namibia

Still no news of a job or my oral exam. At this point I am quite seriously worried. However I was more worried about the sky dive that I stupidly signed up for yesterday. Woke up at 8 a.m. and didn’t go for breakfast because Jay told me the jump can be quite nauseating so to be on the safe side better to have an empty stomach. So I just had coffee in my room. 

I bumped into Clever at 9.30 a.m. at the lobby and he told me that they will pick me up at 12 p.m. instead of 10 a.m. because the weather was cloudy. At this point I had great hopes that the jump would be cancelled altogether. But since now I had some time I decided to walk around and see some points of interests here in Swakopmund. 

First I walked to the War Memorial which is just a small monument with the dates of both World Wars stated on it. Then the lighthouse, and passing the State House to the Marine Memorial which is yet another small monument with 2 soldiers there and the wordings in German or Afrikaans I do not know. Finally to the Old Jail which was operational from 1909 to 1991. This was quite a distance away and I had to ask for directions several times; I must say that the locals here are really helpful.

Coming back to the hotel I passed the post office, police station, and the magistrates’ court. As I was nearing the lighthouse which is near the beachfront, I saw 2 elderly (white) tourists who when they saw me approaching, held on to their belongings more tightly. Racist idiots. I also saw many locals peddling wares and knowing how harassing they can be I tried to avoid them and they kept trying to call me but since they didn’t know my name they called me India 😂😂😂. I came back to the hotel in good time, and had another cup of coffee. Then came 12 p.m.

It all happened like clockwork that I didn’t really have enough time to be properly afraid. I was transported to the sky diving HQ where I signed all kinds of waivers, and then to the sky diving site where I was suited up. I looked like a jet fighter pilot 😁 which, once upon a time, was my dream until my eyes refused to be perfect. 

Then came the plane and we had to board it. It’s a Cessna I believe, with just 1 pilot. The inside was completely bare. There were just 2 of us jumping at that time: me and a South Korean girl. I didn’t even know who my tandem was until I got into the plane. And suddenly my life was in the hands of this stranger who, by the way, tall and slim reminded me so much of Richard.

Anyway a minute or so before jumping he hooked us together and gave me my goggles, and told me that when we are jumping I was to hold my hands crossed to my chest, head back, legs up. Before I could even process this he said “now!” And there’s really no time to think at all, only do!!! And then we were out of the plane and it was damn scary, because you are really falling. Tap on the shoulder means open my arms out to the side, we were horizontal. Then the parachute which was another jolt, and then we were vertical and some adjustments to the holster as at this point it was choking me.