Hiking

As in hitchhiking. Before I came to Namibia I was eager to do some hitching since its a lost art in the USA. Transport in Namibia is limited to semi-regulated public transport and private cars. For the longest routes there are buses (expensive) and trains (dreadfully slow) but neither applies to the routes I travel. Last week I had to travel to Windhoek so after school on Tuesday I found a ride to town with a teacher that happened to be going to do some shopping. After spending the night with another PCV I set out to find a ride to Windhoek. By 8:45 I had walked to the edge of town and started trying to flag down a car. An hour later I had grown impatient and started walking back into town to the place to arrange the semi-regulated public transport with the first car leaving anywhere along my route. The problem is that Grootfontein is not on the main north south road through Namibia so there is not a lot of traffic, if you can get to the B1 its much easier to get a hike. I had walked about 30 meters and I finally got a car to stop. He was going to Tsumeb, to the northeast, which is not exactly on my route, but it is on the B1 so I took that free ride 60km to Tsumeb. The town of Tsumeb is 1km from the main intersection of the highways so I got dropped out at the intersection figuring a 1km walk wouldn't be so bad if I couldn't get anyone to stop. I had a little water with me and it was only 11:00. Several cars passed, one stopped but wanted N$80 to get to Windhoek so I let them go, and then a red tin can of a truck stopped to pick me up. He was going to Swakopmund, but that would at least get me to Otjiwarongo. We sped along towards our destination, tailgating a similar truck at speeds in excess of 150km/hr for a while. At one point he slammed a dumpie of Tafel (a small bottle of beer). I was going to object if he went for another but one small beer is relatively tame on Namibian roads. Once we arrived in Otjiwarongo, I stopped off at a friends house to leave some things from my pack and learned that there was a Peace Corps car heading towards Windhoek. I confirmed that a seat was available, waited about three hours and had completed a free trip from Coblenz to Windhoek. It took all day, but it was free. And we saw a rhino 20 meters from the highway about 40km north of Windhoek.

My second trip to Windhoek, just one week later went in similar fashion. It took about 3 hours to cover the first 80km from Coblenz to Grootfontein so by the time I was in town it was noon. Since it was already late and getting hot my plan was to go to the public transport and take the first car that left. Two combies had already left that morning and the only other vehicle there was waiting for eight more passengers before he would drive. My best guess is 4pm for the departure on that vehicle, so I start checking other options. Right then a car pulled in from Rundu and one passenger got out of the car. They were heading to Oshakati (opposite direction of Windhoek) but that takes them through Tsumeb so I jumped in. The main goal is get out of Grootfontein to anywhere on the B1 and then hope for the best. At 1:20 I got out at the crossroads, set my bag down and planned my strategy. I had eaten in Grootfontein but it was hot so at 1:45 I was going to put on more sunscreen and at 2:30 I would walk to town and arrange whatever I could to get to Windhoek. A few cars passed going the wrong direction then I caught sight of a white bakkie on the road to Windhoek. I signaled, he kept going. No big deal, the first car never stops, nobody gets that lucky. Then he turned around, came back and told me to get in. We tore down the B1 at 150+ km/hr and three hours later he dropped me on the main road two blocks from Peace Corps. We passed everybody on the road, almost hit a cow, but it was one of the safest rides I've had in a while. And I probably got to Windhoek about the time the combie in Grootfontein finally got enough passengers to start the journey.

Now I've arrived safely in Pretoria, South Africa and will see another ENT tomorrow morning. South Africa is the regional medical evacuation center for the whole continent. Once I finish with that consultation we should be able to move forward with some treatment that will actually solve the problem of my ears. The Peace Corps doctor here said that any surgeries (even something simple like adenoidectomy) has to be approved by Washington which takes a day or two so will probably be around here for a week at the minimum. Peace Corps has a computer just for people like me on medevac so I will be able to send and receive email during this ordeal.

If I ever forget where I'm living I remember this list of animals I have seen while driving around Namibia (excluding game reserves): kudu, oryx, springbok, giraffe, zebra, rhino, cheetah, warthog, baboon, and many snakes, lizards (4 ft. long monitor) and birds.