Vacation

Vacation has kept me away from computers for most of the last month so this is an attempt to concisely summarize my activities meant to be a break and diversion from school and children. The holiday started with an excruciatingly long drive to Windhoek and a couple days of Peace Corps mid-service conference. There's not much to say here, it was therapeutic to be with so many other PCVs and swap stories. The day after mid-service I made an impromptu trip to the coast in quest of wind surfing. A couple snags changed the plan to kayaking but that was too early in the morning so we ended up just enjoying the beautiful weather and the beach. Not quite as exciting as I had hoped but a welcome break from the heat.

 

The interesting part of the vacation started once my parents arrived in Windhoek albeit a day late sans two pieces of luggage. We spent an afternoon walking around Windhoek and then jumped a plane to Vic Falls. The plane was really small, the town was nothing special, the hotel was mostly empty, but there is a reason why the falls are such a popular tourist destination. There are several look out points that offer different perspectives on the falls and varying amounts of spray that leaves you soaked to the bone. Its hard to say much about Vic Falls, you have to see it, hear it, feel it; I will post pictures later and spare you reading a few thousand extra words now. The highlight of this phase of the trip was unquestionably the gorge swing. Imagine standing on the edge of a cliff 90 meters high and jumping off, you've got a full body harness attached to four ropes that are secured to a cable that goes across the gorge. The result is an exhilarating  4 second free fall and a gentle swing inside the gorge dangling about 15 meters from the Zambezi river below. Now imagine standing at the edge of the gorge, securely harnessed; turn around so your heels are on the edge of the platform, get your together, arms crossed across your chest and just lean back... keep leaning until you are falling towards the bottom of the gorge trusting that the ropes will again swing you gentley in the gorge. If you can't get that picture in your head and feel the adrenaline rush that I sense now writing this then arrange with my parents to view the DVD that has video of both gorge swings. The other noteworthy activity was a cruise on the upper Zambezi that included hippo and crocodile sightings.

 

Once we were back in Namibia we got a rental car and drove towards the village I teach in. We had a picnic lunch on top of the Waterberg plateau, the only noteworthy geographical feature nearby my school. This was also the site of the Battle of Hamakari where the colonial German military under General Von Trotha killed over 70% of the Herero people. Hiking to the top of the plateau is moderately difficult but it offers a view of the flat landscape that leads into the Kalahari Desert. After driving through a rainstorm we made it to Coblenz with plenty of time to walk around the school and to the shop before sunset. What I didn't count on was the power going out at about 7pm. Luckily the power returned around 9pm but by then the water was out. Not a representative time in Coblenz but we were off early the next morning for Etosha National Park for a do-it-yourself safari. The first day at Etosha was quite productive with many species of antelope, zebras, giraffes, warthogs and a male lion. We were leaving a watering hole when another car spotted the male lion walking towards the watering hole. We watched his approach and the deferrence the other animals showed by abandoning their positions. Photos are forthcoming. The second day we more of the same, most notably a pride of 8 lions hanging out at a watering hole. Game viewing was a bit difficult because there was rain the days we were there so many animals were able to avoid trekking to watering holes where we can see them better. We stayed two nights at a rest camp that is in the middle of the park which is comfortable but the main attraction is the floodlit watering hole. The first night we waited an hour and saw nothing but the second night two rhinos came for a drink. Rhinos are difficult to see so I was very happy to get a chance to watch them for about an hour as they hung around the water hole. The third day at Etosha was dedicated to finding elephants which had so far eluded us. We saw 20 lions in three spots as we patroled for elephants and finally a pack of 6 elephants came out of the bush for a drink and swim. That rounded out our game viewing so we took off towards our next destination.

 

On our way to a bed and breakfast near the Brandberg mountian, famous for its ancient rock paintings, we took a scarcely travelled road. The road wasn't great but it was adequate, until we got to a dry riverbed. We made it about 15 meters and got stuck, leaving at least 60 meters to the other side. A few unsuccessful attempts to move the car and the waning light as the sun approached the horizon convinced me to go back to the homesteads we passed to look for help. As I walked back a small truck came along the road and since we had the way blocked he had no choice but to help us. He took some air out of the tires, jacked up the car to get sand back underneath the tires and with a big push we got the car out. Then the truck got stuck in the same place we had just torn up, but with a push he was out as well. We hiked a short trail at the Brandberg to see the rock paintings and then headed for the coast to cooler weather. One stop along the way was Cape Cross which boasts a population of 100,000 cape fur seals. Seals don't do much and they smell awful but there were a lot of babies and some clumsy movement across the sand and rocks. Once in Swakopmund, the tourist haven for the summer months, we arranged to go kayaking and quad biking. Kayaking on the Atlantic Ocean made for an enjoyable morning, there are also seals in that area and the adolescent seals like to swim alongside the kayaks and splash from time to time. Quad biking through the dunes is one of the funnest things you can do in Namibia, especially when its three experienced riders and a guide. I figure the guides get bored taking people around that are unable or unwilling to push the quad hard so once we left the usual path it got a little crazy. Decending the steep side (usually around 33 degrees) of dunes where all you can do is roll over the edge and let the bike slide through the sand to the bottom, catching air going up the steep side of a smaller dune that acts as a natural ramp. As our two hour tour was wrapping up we stopped for a view of the ocean and then things got out of hand. Mom was second in line behind the guide and confidently followed the guide and steered her bike high on the edge of a dune. Some combination of an unfavorable angle, a lack of speed, and softness of the sand caused the bike to complete 1 and three quarters of a roll knocking Mom on the helmet on the way. Amazingly she hopped up just fine with one small yet colorful bruise to show for it while Dad got a nice scrape from speedily dismounting his bike to offer help. There aren't any pictures of this one but there might be a scale model diarama to help tell the story more completely.

 

The last stop on our tour of Namibia was a huge market of word carvings for some souvenier shopping. A lot of bargaining gets a decent price on impressive crafts but its so hot that its exhausting. I think photos are better than nik-naks but its nice to get something. Since my parents left I visited the doctor again and since there is no change in my ears I've got a nasal spray to use for a couple months and then if there is still no improvement I'll get a second opinion. For one last trip I got some friends to go with me to Sossusvlei which is a dried up lake in the middle of the dunes of the Namib Desert. It was really hot (at least 105) but we walked about 7 miles through sand to climb dunes and see the area. There is also an aquifer that sustains some vegetation around the dry creek bed. Now I'm on my was back to school, trying to drum up some optimism for the start of the year. I hope you all are enjoying the new year, drop me a line and let me know whats going on around the States (besides Florida stomping OSU and Boise knocking scores of OU fans off the bandwagon for a while).