Southern Africa - Day 7 (Part 2)

Sunday, 19 January 2020 - Namibia 

Then a short rest (luckily the WiFi here is pretty good) and then we were off again at 3 p.m. to the Quiver Tree Forest and The Giants’ Playground. I noticed something weird at lunch. We were all sitting together, and obviously Clever and Taro were the bosses as they were our tour guides, but the owner of the hotel (German) came and spoke to us in German. Some members of this tour could speak German so they were conversing. Of course I couldn’t keep quiet and asked Clever about it. He just laughed and refused to answer me. I think this is a remnant of the apartheid system, if you ask me. I don’t like it. Not because I couldn’t join the conversation but because Clever and Taro are the real Africans and that, to my mind, should be given due respect. 

Anyway. Lunch was lamb and sausage, Clever told me that it is braai - basically meat roasted over an open wood or charcoal fire, something like a barbecue and a very popular mode of cooking here in Southern Africa in general. 

Then we went to a place called the Giants’ Playground - this is a vast area with natural balancing granite rocks. It is called as such because the way it is formed, it looks almost like giants were playing with rocks and arranged them in this way. In fact it is natural. 

Then to the Quiver tree forest - an area full of quiver trees. The quiver tree is the national tree of Namibia, and is actually in the aloe family. It is named from the bushmen who uses the quiver tree trunk (inside is fibre), make it hollow and put arrows in it to go hunting. The leaves are very good for stomach ache. Very bitter but good medicinal qualities. It can grow in between stones. It is a protected tree since the times of the kings because it is believed that there is a big diamond underneath them. 

In one of the trees we saw a really big birds’ nest. It is actually built by the weaver birds, but these are sociable weavers so they allow other birds to also make nests at the same place and stay as one big happy family. I saw a parrot or a parakeet and some other birds I don’t really know. 

And then to the highlight of my day which was to see cheetahs kept on a farm. These cheetahs are rescued from the wild when they are really young, mainly because their parents had been killed by farmers - they are allowed to kill them here. I saw two 2 year old cheetahs feeding on a kudu head. They only eat fresh meat unlike lions or leopards. So sometimes they kill unnecessarily because if the meat is a bit stale they leave it. So it is a problem to farmers and that’s why they are allowed to shoot them. Cheetahs cannot climb trees, and they can jump only about 1 - 1 1/2 m. They can be interrupted while eating; they don’t guard their food because they have weak jaws - they don’t eat the bones, only the meat. These 2 were raised by a collie who has become their mother ❤️. 

Then back to the hotel where we had dinner. I have started to leave food I cannot finish because I am seriously becoming fat. I know it is wasteful and I am not raised this way but I really can’t help it. The guides said they would pack the leftover food and give it to some people along the way so that was indeed a relief. 

Then some drinks, some conversation and to sleep.