Overnight in Namibia, the temperatures drop steeply all night until dawn. Though our tent was heated, the heater is a small wall-mounted unit over the door, therefore our feet were at the furthest part of the room from the heater, and the room was fairly cold in general. In fact, this lodging was probably not much warmer than the unheated hotel in Windhoek. The blankets were fairly good though, and as long as you stayed under them, you stayed fairly warm. We were to meet our guide at 6:20 for coffee, and then we were to head off to the game park by 6:40.
Alexandra had tried the shower the night before, when it was probably about 65 degrees out, but I had decided I would take one this morning, regardless of the cold air. There was definitely some good hot water (though I didn’t know how much of a supply) and I figured a hot shower in cold air may be a pretty good way to wake up.
The showerhead was a large overhead one, so fortunately it did provide fairly good coverage of warmth in the 30 degree (-1 C) air. The challenge was soaping up. Obviously, in order to do this, I needed to remove whatever limb I was soaping from the water, which of course would expose it to the freezing air. I could only last for 5-10 seconds like this, so it certainly helped me move fast. Returning fully under the shower head felt even better each time I had to do this. Interestingly, I realized, the head doesn’t seem as sensitive to the cold. To keep the water out of my nose and mouth while I was showering, I generally had my head outside of the water. I wouldn’t get the instant sensation of my skin freezing, but after a minute or two, my skull would start to hurt a bit from the cold, and it would remind me to put it back under the water as well.
As soon as I turned the water off, I grabbed a now very cold towel, and quickly jumped the 8 feet back into the room to stand directly in front of the heater and dry off.
Natalie and I finished getting ready, and headed over to the girls room to wake them up and get them ready as well. After we did this, we met the rest of our group at the main lodge, about a 5 minute walk away, to get some coffee. The sun had not yet fully risen, but there was now some day light, to turn around the direction the temperature was heading.
We then headed into the park and drove around for an hour or two, before we came to a small fenced off area of maybe an acre or two in the middle of the park. There were two outhouses available, and we rested a bit, and had a breakfast made up of cereal, bread with jam, and some muffins, and then headed back out to the open wildlife park.
Driving through the park, it was amazing how many thousands of animals were in it. Oeckert provided us a two page checklist so that we could mark down which animals we had seen. The most numerous animals in the park were the springboks (gazelles) and the zebras. These were just about everywhere, and at times we would find herds of well over a hundred. There was definitely something surreal the first time we saw a gazelle prance past the front of our truck and do one of its jumps where both legs become bent and still for a second where it almost looks as if it is soaring through the air.
At one point, early in the day we found a few elephants grazing on the brush, and we pulled up along side them to watch for a bit. The thing that struck me the most while watching them, wasn’t actually seeing them this close, but being able to hear them eating. My eyes have seen elephants on a TV, and it didn’t strike me as that strange. But when I actually heard them breaking branches, and chewing on the twigs, leaves and sticks, that made this all feel real and in person. Then, as the elephant slowly got closer to the car, a bit of anxiety crept in, as I pondered if we could become the next episode of “When Animals Attack.” Fortunately, the elephant didn’t seem to have much interest in us, and kept munching on the brush.
Mid day, we stopped for some lunch at a large “village” within the park, which was walled/gated from the rest of the wildlife park. Here there were many spots for picnics, a gift shop, and possibly some campsites and cabins. Our lunch consisted of sandwiches with lunchmeats. Joining us for lunch were half a dozen cape glossed starlings, which were slightly larger than a blue jay, and head deep blue iridescent feathers, with bright orange eyes. The starlings waited patiently for us to finish our lunch, and then made sure to clean up any crumbs that we missed.
As the afternoon was getting later, we had still yet to see a lion, and this became Oeckert’s goal, and the rest of ours’ hope that we would find one. We drove past another vehicle, and the driver told Oeckert that they had spotted one and told him where. We headed off in that direction, and eventually did find a place where there were several other cars intently looking at something. We joined the group and asked one of the other vehicles what they were looking for, and they said there was a young male lion believed to be sitting in some tall grass behind the small water hole that we were in front of. We all stared and stared, but couldn’t confirm this. At one point, I saw definite movement from the tall grass. It looked as if I saw the silhouette of a large animal’s head move. After this, nothing. Ten-fifteen minutes later we decided to give up and continue looking elsewhere.
The afternoon became late, and we were fairly deep into the park, so we turned around and began heading back even though we hadn’t found a lion. As we were heading back, Natalie noticed we had passed a couple elephants that were in and around the trees along the side of the road. We stopped, and turned around and went back. As we sat on the side, suddenly there were elephants all around us, including 2 baby elephants, and an adolescent elephant, and a dozen or so adults. Some on the road behind us, some on the road ahead of us. Many of which were coming within 10 feet of our vehicle. We sat there for ten minutes or so, and as we did, 2 particular elephants came out of the trees, One was backing up, and the other was pushing the first a bit with his trunk. It appeared they were either playing or fighting. The one that had been walking backwards turned, and the one behind, walked up close and reached its trunk across the back of the first one. The one in front pulled away a bit, and trotted a few steps, but the one behind followed. The elephant in the front again turned to face the other elephant nose to nose, and walked backwards as he pressed forwards. They disappeared this way into the trees along side the road. About one minute later, they reappeared about 10 feet in front of our car. This time the elephant behind had its trunk stretched out on the back of the one in front of it, and pulled himself up on his back two legs. From this vantage point, it became exceedingly obvious to the adults in the vehicle what the true intentions of the elephant in the back were, since his “intention” was now stretching 3 feet upward directly in front our window.
The female however, again pulled away, and began trot down the road, with the male following her. Another car was on the opposite side of the herd from us, and was now watching the two lovers trotting directly towards him, and put his car in reverse and started backing up to try and continue to maintain a safe distance, however at one point the two elephants turned to the right and jumped into the trees.
Once the herd had cleared the road, we turned around and headed back to the gate, now very late. We made it to the exit with only minutes to spare (or we would have received a fine), and headed back to the lodge, to have our final dinner there.
While everyone else was getting ready, I walked over to the main lodge to use the internet service for a few minutes. I ended up running about 10 minutes late while working online, and quickly gathered my laptop, and went to jog back to camp to meet everyone. As I walked down the path, I realized the sun had completely set, and it was dark. Actually dark doesn’t describe it. It was pure black. I could see nothing. I knew the general way back to my tent, as it was basically a straight path. There was a light at the turn-off to my tent, which I thought I could see in the distance, but for all I knew I could have been slightly off course and there could be a tree between me and that light. I decided I was confident enough that I had an open path in front of me, and carefully made my way forward. Over my head was one of the most incredible canopy of stars I’d ever seen, however there was no moon, so the light was not enough to help guide me at all.
As I got half way to the camp, I heard Oeckert’s voice calling me from behind me…in the direction of the main lodge. I responded, and he confirmed, that they were at the main lodge having dinner. Not his cabin tonight, so I headed back that way.
When I got there, everyone was seated in a dimlylit outdoor room, with a large firepit in the middle, and a neatly, semi-formally set table where the rest of the group was sitting, complete with blankets available for our legs (since it was already getting quite cold for the evening. Dinner was a buffet, and I was somewhat surprised to see a steak station where they grill while you wait. Laying out for our selection was cuts of Oryx, Kudu, Impala, and a few other meats from animals that we had just spent the day watching frolic across Etosha. At first, it seemed a bit strange to have a wildlife preserve protecting these animals, and to then have them offered for dinner. But then I also thought about it, and even in the preserve, these animals are the source of food for the Lions and other carnivores in the park. Why spare a meal for myself, just to leave another for the lion? Yes, the circle of life passes through my stomach too. So I ordered myself some Oryx, and enjoyed every last juicy bite of it.
After dinner, where we all enjoyed good conversation, most of the group headed back to the lodge, and I decided to join Oeckert at the bar to sample some of the local brews, which I was fairly certain I’d never have back home: Talfel, Windhoek Lager, and some other one that they had on draft. Windhoek, was pretty much a standard lager. Not much different than a Budweiser, though I think the alcohol content was a bit higher. Talfel was much more robust. The color was a tad darker than your normal lager, but the taste was much deeper, reminding me a bit of a Negra Modelo. I liked it quite a bit.
When I ordered my first beer, I said thank you to the bartender, or something along those lines. Oeckert looked at me somewhat surprised and asked, “Did you say buy a donkey?” Oeckert is at least third generation Namibian, but of European descent and has a Namibian Afrikaans accent. However, this sounded as clear as anything he's ever said, but I was sure I heard it wrong.
“I’m sorry?” I asked hoping a repeat would clear it up for me.
“Did you just say ‘Buy a donkey’ to him?” he repeated.
“Buy a donkey?” I repeated assuming my ears and brain somehow weren’t connecting.
“Yes,” Oeckert responded. His surprised curiousity not reflecting the absurdity of the command. As he saw my face was reflecting complete confusion, he said “Baie dankie means Thank you in Afrikaans.”
At this I burst out laughing realizing what had just occurred, and explained to him, I thought you were saying in English: Buy. A. Donkey!” He as well then joined me for a hearty laugh.
After this we talked quite a bit about family, Namibia, America, work, and our trip. I mentioned some of the stories of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge that we heard in Cambodia, and the impact throughout the whole country. He was no more familiar with the story than I was 8 months ago. As I gave a very brief recap, he shook his head and discussed and lamented how sad it is to hear stories like that all over the world, and so often. Specifically, he mentioned Robert Mugabe and the problems he has caused in Zimbabwe.
This opened the door for something I had been curious about for quite some time. My Zimbabwean history is pretty week, but I do know that Mugabe entered in as a very popular freedom fighter for Zimbabwe, but since then has turned into a tyrant with blood on his hands. Yet, one of the largest roads in Windhoek is named after him. I asked about the history of this, and whether there were intentions to strip the road of the name. He explained that Namibia’s first president after independence from South Africa in the early 1990s was good friends with Mugabe, and that is how the street got its name. Since the recent troubles in Zimbabwe, there have been calls to change the name. However, Oeckert explained, there’s been a lot of discussion on changing lots of city and street names, but there’s just as much if not more strong public interest in preserving the historical names instead of trying to erase the past.
After the drinks and good company, we headed back to the cabins, for which I told him “Buy a donkey!”
Alexandra had tried the shower the night before, when it was probably about 65 degrees out, but I had decided I would take one this morning, regardless of the cold air. There was definitely some good hot water (though I didn’t know how much of a supply) and I figured a hot shower in cold air may be a pretty good way to wake up.
The showerhead was a large overhead one, so fortunately it did provide fairly good coverage of warmth in the 30 degree (-1 C) air. The challenge was soaping up. Obviously, in order to do this, I needed to remove whatever limb I was soaping from the water, which of course would expose it to the freezing air. I could only last for 5-10 seconds like this, so it certainly helped me move fast. Returning fully under the shower head felt even better each time I had to do this. Interestingly, I realized, the head doesn’t seem as sensitive to the cold. To keep the water out of my nose and mouth while I was showering, I generally had my head outside of the water. I wouldn’t get the instant sensation of my skin freezing, but after a minute or two, my skull would start to hurt a bit from the cold, and it would remind me to put it back under the water as well.
As soon as I turned the water off, I grabbed a now very cold towel, and quickly jumped the 8 feet back into the room to stand directly in front of the heater and dry off.
Natalie and I finished getting ready, and headed over to the girls room to wake them up and get them ready as well. After we did this, we met the rest of our group at the main lodge, about a 5 minute walk away, to get some coffee. The sun had not yet fully risen, but there was now some day light, to turn around the direction the temperature was heading.
We then headed into the park and drove around for an hour or two, before we came to a small fenced off area of maybe an acre or two in the middle of the park. There were two outhouses available, and we rested a bit, and had a breakfast made up of cereal, bread with jam, and some muffins, and then headed back out to the open wildlife park.
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| Breakfast in Etosha National Park |
Driving through the park, it was amazing how many thousands of animals were in it. Oeckert provided us a two page checklist so that we could mark down which animals we had seen. The most numerous animals in the park were the springboks (gazelles) and the zebras. These were just about everywhere, and at times we would find herds of well over a hundred. There was definitely something surreal the first time we saw a gazelle prance past the front of our truck and do one of its jumps where both legs become bent and still for a second where it almost looks as if it is soaring through the air.
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| Springbok |
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| Kudu |
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| Cape Glossed Starling |
In the afternoon, we headed towards the Etosha Salt Pan. The pan makes up more than a quarter of the entire park, and is an immense flat salt pan. As we approached it, it almost appeared that we were coming to a coastline. The African bush ended, and it was just about nothing but flat white, as far as we could see into the horizon.
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| Edge of the Etosha Salt Pan |
We continued down the road alongside the edge of the salt pan, and we needed to slow down, as there were couple zebras crossing the road, walking towards the saltpan. As we looked in the direction they had come from we realized that they were just two of what appeared somewhere close to 200 zebras which stretched in a long herd of zebras. The herd was traveling in a line that was one to 4 zebras wide at any point, but stretched as far as we could see, and back around a hill. This was so far back, that the last few zebras appeared to be just tiny black dots in the distance moving through the yellow Namibian underbrush. We sat and watched the herd move for awhile, and as about a third of the pack crossed he street, we nudged our way through.
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| Can You Find the Lion In this Picture? |
The afternoon became late, and we were fairly deep into the park, so we turned around and began heading back even though we hadn’t found a lion. As we were heading back, Natalie noticed we had passed a couple elephants that were in and around the trees along the side of the road. We stopped, and turned around and went back. As we sat on the side, suddenly there were elephants all around us, including 2 baby elephants, and an adolescent elephant, and a dozen or so adults. Some on the road behind us, some on the road ahead of us. Many of which were coming within 10 feet of our vehicle. We sat there for ten minutes or so, and as we did, 2 particular elephants came out of the trees, One was backing up, and the other was pushing the first a bit with his trunk. It appeared they were either playing or fighting. The one that had been walking backwards turned, and the one behind, walked up close and reached its trunk across the back of the first one. The one in front pulled away a bit, and trotted a few steps, but the one behind followed. The elephant in the front again turned to face the other elephant nose to nose, and walked backwards as he pressed forwards. They disappeared this way into the trees along side the road. About one minute later, they reappeared about 10 feet in front of our car. This time the elephant behind had its trunk stretched out on the back of the one in front of it, and pulled himself up on his back two legs. From this vantage point, it became exceedingly obvious to the adults in the vehicle what the true intentions of the elephant in the back were, since his “intention” was now stretching 3 feet upward directly in front our window. |
| Elephant Love |
The female however, again pulled away, and began trot down the road, with the male following her. Another car was on the opposite side of the herd from us, and was now watching the two lovers trotting directly towards him, and put his car in reverse and started backing up to try and continue to maintain a safe distance, however at one point the two elephants turned to the right and jumped into the trees.
Once the herd had cleared the road, we turned around and headed back to the gate, now very late. We made it to the exit with only minutes to spare (or we would have received a fine), and headed back to the lodge, to have our final dinner there.
While everyone else was getting ready, I walked over to the main lodge to use the internet service for a few minutes. I ended up running about 10 minutes late while working online, and quickly gathered my laptop, and went to jog back to camp to meet everyone. As I walked down the path, I realized the sun had completely set, and it was dark. Actually dark doesn’t describe it. It was pure black. I could see nothing. I knew the general way back to my tent, as it was basically a straight path. There was a light at the turn-off to my tent, which I thought I could see in the distance, but for all I knew I could have been slightly off course and there could be a tree between me and that light. I decided I was confident enough that I had an open path in front of me, and carefully made my way forward. Over my head was one of the most incredible canopy of stars I’d ever seen, however there was no moon, so the light was not enough to help guide me at all.
As I got half way to the camp, I heard Oeckert’s voice calling me from behind me…in the direction of the main lodge. I responded, and he confirmed, that they were at the main lodge having dinner. Not his cabin tonight, so I headed back that way.
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| Oeckert, Mikey, Lizzy, Natalie, Me, and Allie at Dinner |
After dinner, where we all enjoyed good conversation, most of the group headed back to the lodge, and I decided to join Oeckert at the bar to sample some of the local brews, which I was fairly certain I’d never have back home: Talfel, Windhoek Lager, and some other one that they had on draft. Windhoek, was pretty much a standard lager. Not much different than a Budweiser, though I think the alcohol content was a bit higher. Talfel was much more robust. The color was a tad darker than your normal lager, but the taste was much deeper, reminding me a bit of a Negra Modelo. I liked it quite a bit.
When I ordered my first beer, I said thank you to the bartender, or something along those lines. Oeckert looked at me somewhat surprised and asked, “Did you say buy a donkey?” Oeckert is at least third generation Namibian, but of European descent and has a Namibian Afrikaans accent. However, this sounded as clear as anything he's ever said, but I was sure I heard it wrong.
“I’m sorry?” I asked hoping a repeat would clear it up for me.
“Did you just say ‘Buy a donkey’ to him?” he repeated.
“Buy a donkey?” I repeated assuming my ears and brain somehow weren’t connecting.
“Yes,” Oeckert responded. His surprised curiousity not reflecting the absurdity of the command. As he saw my face was reflecting complete confusion, he said “Baie dankie means Thank you in Afrikaans.”
At this I burst out laughing realizing what had just occurred, and explained to him, I thought you were saying in English: Buy. A. Donkey!” He as well then joined me for a hearty laugh.
After this we talked quite a bit about family, Namibia, America, work, and our trip. I mentioned some of the stories of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge that we heard in Cambodia, and the impact throughout the whole country. He was no more familiar with the story than I was 8 months ago. As I gave a very brief recap, he shook his head and discussed and lamented how sad it is to hear stories like that all over the world, and so often. Specifically, he mentioned Robert Mugabe and the problems he has caused in Zimbabwe.
This opened the door for something I had been curious about for quite some time. My Zimbabwean history is pretty week, but I do know that Mugabe entered in as a very popular freedom fighter for Zimbabwe, but since then has turned into a tyrant with blood on his hands. Yet, one of the largest roads in Windhoek is named after him. I asked about the history of this, and whether there were intentions to strip the road of the name. He explained that Namibia’s first president after independence from South Africa in the early 1990s was good friends with Mugabe, and that is how the street got its name. Since the recent troubles in Zimbabwe, there have been calls to change the name. However, Oeckert explained, there’s been a lot of discussion on changing lots of city and street names, but there’s just as much if not more strong public interest in preserving the historical names instead of trying to erase the past.
After the drinks and good company, we headed back to the cabins, for which I told him “Buy a donkey!”
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