Where does one begin when attempting to explain the unexplainable, describe the indescribable, and communicate the incommunicable? I wish someone knew the answer to my elusive question. This is a question that has no right or wrong answer; it is rhetorical, metaphorical...I just have to write, let my fingers be my mouth, let my tone act as my emotion, let what I type be the unspoken words of my experiences. I hope, for the sake of Namibia, that I can portray adequately what I have seen, what I have done, and what I have learned in a matter of five short days. Unfortunately, I also hope, for your sake, that I can do it as illustratively as possible, painting you a portrait so real that you can run your fingers through your mind and grains of sand fall to the floor when you rub them together...
I should start by saying that Namibia is one of the countries that I was looking forward to most. Not because I was excited about what I knew; it was exactly the opposite. I knew nothing of Namibia. The only information I had on this country of 2 million was that Angelina Jolie's daughter was born here. She is the sole reason why many Americans can even recognize the name. It is sad to admit this. Why is it that many people outside of America can name a large portion of the worlds countries and their locations, most being places that we've merely heard of in passing, when we, the citizens of the largest superpower in the world, can't even name our own fifty states! Now that just completely perplexes me. And I am just as guilty as you are. Go ahead, try it...try to name all fifty. I bet you can get ten with no problem, twenty just as easy. But once you start getting to the mid to late thirties, things get a little blurry. Now try forty...forty five. Still going strong? Lucky you, you're one of the 2% (not a true statistical figure by the way) of Americans who are capable of doing this. Did you get all fifty? How about their location and capitals? Exactly my point. I digress.
Namibia. When you say this word, how do you pronounce it? Nam-I-bee-ya? Nam-bib-ee-ya? Wrong and wrong and more wrong. The correct pronunciation is Nuh-mih-bee-uh. When you say this word, how do you feel? When you say this word, does anything other than nothing pop into your head? For the large majority of you, you feel nothing, you think of nothing. For six hundred and seventy five students, the word Namibia will be forever engrained in hearts and minds as a place that we love, a place that is truly a diamond in the rough, a place that every single person should know about, a place everyone should care about. Not only is it important on a humanities level, it is important on an ecological level, a political level, a ethical level. Native people, what most people ignorant of Namibians rich history and culture would call Black, make up 87% of the population. The Ovambo band makes up the largest majority of natives...about fifty percent. Only a very small portion of this 87% is Black, a term that Namibians use to describe people of black African decent who come from areas of Africa outside of Namibia. Often, these are the people who own the cattle that the native Africans work for sometimes. Most of the natives are hunter gatherers, but only a very small portion of these bands still adhere to strict hunter gatherer habits. Most bands have been infiltrated by Western tradition, and they have lost their authenticity, often relying on modern day conveniences that their counterparts do with out. Also, Namibia is only 18 years old. It gained its independence from South Africa annexation after the fall of apartheid. If you don't know what apartheid is, I highly suggest you start reading. I could go on and on with a history lesson, and I'm sure all my professors would be proud, but I'm not getting paid to teach J That's why there is Google.
Day 1- I woke up early on the first day, the 19th, to catch the sunrise and our entry into the harbor, but a dense fog settled over the water as we were approaching. We did see the three consecutive flashes of light from the Pelican Point lighthouse far off the starboard (right) side of the ship, but that is all we saw for miles, other than the occasional Cape Fur seal that stuck its head curiously out of the water. The entire entry and disembarkation process went smoothly and we were off the ship by 10:30 in the morning. We explored the Walvis Bay area with the same dozen people we explored Salvador, Brazil with and ate at Harry Peppars. Harry Peppars was a small restaurant known for it's thin crust, California style pizza and it was good. Not nearly as good as New York style, of course, but beggars can't be choosers in foreign countries. All that mattered was that the pizza wasn't made from potatoes and it didn't have any pasta on it. The food was good, cheap, and filling. My kind of meal!
The city of Walvis Bay is just starting to become a tourist center. Not many cruise ships come into this area...it's mainly a ship yard. About three quarters of a mile from where our ship was docked, there was an oil platform and on the opposite end of the ship, there were cargo cranes. We had to walk about a mile through the shipyards to even get into the town. Don't worry, it was pretty safe. Plus, there were always guys with our groups so that added an element of safety. We also had to go in and out of gates that were patrolled by port security at all times of the day. So. In retrospect, I don't think at any time the safety of any groups I was in was compromised in any way.
Later on the first night, we all- and by all I mean 300 Semester at Sea'ers- decided to go out to The Raft, a restaurant and bar that floats on the lagoon. It was a large place, and it was packed. Me and my friend Eilis started to talking to a table of locals who all work for private security companies that monitor the cargo that goes in and out of Walvis Bay and they said that never in the history of The Raft have there been that many people there. Many a time over the five days we were there people came up to us and asked us "are you with the ship?". For many of the Africans (indigenous to Africa) and the Afrikaners (Dutch who settled in Africa) it was their first time seeing a group of Americans that large. Since it was the first time SAS went to Namibia, the local newspapers near Walvis Bay alerted the public that we were coming. Still, I don't think anyone can prepare for close to 700 college students coming in and "taking over" the city.
I've been honest so far, so I'm going to continue to be honest...a majority of the people out that night handled themselves well. BUT, there were quite a few people who over-drank and blacked out and probably did stupid things. And that was only the first night. It only got worse for that small percentage of students. I don't know about them, but I came to Namibia prepared to experience it for what it's worth- not to get drunk every night and hook up with locals and do the "walk of shame" at 7am the next morning (yes, this is a true story, I saw a girl walk back to the ship at 7am a few days ago...I just hope nothing happened to her). I came here prepared to be exhausted at the end of every day, happy with what I did, amazed by what I experienced, and left without a word to describe anything and everything. This happened every night. Yes, I went out. Yes, I had a few drinks. Yes, I danced for a few hours straight two nights. And yes, I had the time of my life and want to come back to Namibia as soon as possible.
Day 2 & 3- Waking up at 10 am this morning was probably the most refreshing thing that's happened in a few weeks. I was exhausted coming into Namibia because of all the work I had to do for classes and all the meetings I had to attend. I never knew life at sea would be just as busy as it has been on land over the past few years. I can't complain though. I'm busy, happy, and having fun. The group of 9 of us who were doing Alan Shih's independent Namibia excursions met in Tymitz Square at noon, prepared with backpacks in hand, ready to take on the sand dunes on ATV's. We took a van to Swakopmund (a half hour drive), met with the tour liaison and paid for our trips, and then were picked up by Extreme Desert Adventures and brought back to their facility. None of us really knew what we were getting into other than Alan. He gave us an overview of what we were doing, but the rest of us 8 were surprised around every corner with something amazing that we weren't expecting. Our group was fitted with helmets and then hopped on our ATV's, ready to head into the desert.
The first hour or so of our ride was spent riding on small sand dunes, allowing us to get used to riding the quads. I thought that this was what it would be like the whole time, but boy, was I wrong! The topography of the desert kept changing as the minutes passed by. Our guides took us through areas that were pure sand dunes, areas that were completely flat with brush on either side of the trails, areas that were surrounded by millions of years old rocks that reached heights of what seemed to be hundreds of feet high. I took a lot of pictures, but the pictures will never be able to show you how amazing the scenery really was. I just wish every one of you who is reading this had the opportunity to experience Namibia the way that I did.
Our first day of quad biking lasted about 4 hours and then we arrived in our desert camp for the night. We were all covered from head to toe in dust and sand and were hungry and tired from our intense ride. None of us expected to be greeted by luxury. There were paper bags that strewed the ground and I thought they were our dinners and I wondered to myself why they were so spread out. Then, as I moved in for further inspection, I realized that they were filled with sand and a white candle was buried in the middle. I couldn't believe my eyes. There were literally hundreds of these bags situated around out camp, some of them going up the rock faces, lighting the path later that night from our tents to the campfire and then to where we ate dinner. I took video of all of this, because pictures just wouldn't be able to capture what I describe to you now.
The host of the camp, I believe her name was Ingrid, came over to us and introduced herself and then asked "Would you like hot showers now our would you like to go to the bar first?" We all looked at each other, confused...Hot showers? Bar? Did we hear her correctly? None of us were expecting to shower, let alone have a hot one. Or have a bar at our camp in the middle of the desert. Since we were covered in dirt and sweat, we all opted for the hot shower. The showers were amazing! We were doubled up in tents and the shower facilities were right out front of them. Private of course. There 5 tents and 5 private showers. The were about 4 feet by 4 feet and 7 feet high, covered on all sides by dark green nylon. There was a folding table that sat in the shower that held a nylon bag with water in it. I thought this was what we were to use as our shower, but before I knew it, workers were running through camp with five gallon bladder bags filled with hot water that was heated over a fire. The bags were then hung over the tops of the showers on poles and the bladder was stuck through a hole in the top of the shower. It was one of the best showers I've ever taken!
Dinner was at 7:30 and we sat at a table under 3 rocks that cake to a peak about 20 feet above our heads. There was a small hole between the rocks and we could look up at the millions of stars as we ate. It was one of the most memorable experiences I've had so far. The table was round, holding the nine of us comfortably. It was covered with a white table cloth and the chairs, although plastic, were covered with white slipcovers. The whole set up was very elegant, looking to be taken straight from a 5 star hotel. We ate buffet style and the food was delectable. There was a small Greek salad, potatoes, broiled chicken, rice, and beef stew. Everything was perfect. After we all gorged ourselves, we sat around the table and played cards for a little while and then moved our conversation to the fire when the temperature started to drop. We started out energetic after dinner, but slowly you could feel the night wind down. Most of us were back in our tents by ten thirty, knowing that we had a wakeup call at 6:30.
I was expecting a sleeping bag (at most) to sleep in but I was pleasantly surprised when a fold out cot with white sheets and an extremely warm feather duvet covered awaited me. There was also a wool blanket on top, just in case the temperature dropped. My travel alarm clock has a thermometer on it, and I noted that the temperature dropped to 55 degrees in the morning. I was the only one who packed gloves and a hat and I was very happy that morning that I did. I also wore a pair of yoga pants under my hiking pants for added warmth. Riding on the quads after breakfast was hard enough with gloves and an extra layer of pants on...I could only imagine how cold everyone else was. Thankfully, the fog started lifting as we rode, but the wind was strong so it remained cool. When we made it to the sand dunes for sand boarding later that morning, the temperature rose to about 65 degrees, but the wind chill made it seem colder.
Sand boarding was extremely fun and I think everyone should experience it at least once in their lives. I don't know how to snowboard, so I decided to do the lay down version. I expected a sled type device, but our boards were literally a flexible piece of plywood about a quarter of an inch thick that had no handles whatsoever. I laughed out loud when the guide handed me the board, wondering how in the hell I was supposed to control this thing with wind gusts of 35 miles an hour as I walked hundreds of feet up a sand dune. I did it though, even if I felt that at any moment I would be blown off the top of the dune. I was extremely nervous the firs time I went...you don't realize how steep the slipfaces of the dunes are until you're looking down them from the tops. Most of the dunes were at angles greater than 50 degrees. I was told that the fastest someone had ever gone was 84 kilometers per hour. I don't know what that translates to MPH exactly, but I think it's around 50mph? THAT'S FAST! Especially when you are laying on top of a piece of wood that's 4 and a half feet high by 2 and a half feet wide! Needless to say, I got over my nervousness and had an absolute blast. I managed to tie the fastest speed that day which was 74 KPH and I was proud of myself for that feat. I didn't wipe out at all, but I did eat my fair share of sand. I tried keeping my mouth closed tight by there were a few times that I screamed like a girl and sand strategically flew in. I was crunching sand for a good 2 days after that.
After sand boarding, we rode in the high dunes for another hour and a half and had a lot of fun. I felt like I was riding on a movie set half of the time. I was surrounded on four sides by a sea of sand, and the color contrast between the yellow dunes and the blue sky was beautiful. Towards the end of the trip, we rode to the top of a dune that looked out over the ocean. It was a beautiful sight and we took a group picture there. I need to get my hands on all the group shots. I'll try uploading a few pictures to my blog soon. When we arrived back to Extreme Desert Adventures, I was sad. I didn't want to be done. I wanted to keep riding around on the dunes. I was exhausted though, so I gave in easily.
Oh! So, I should probably tell you all about my little "mishap". I managed to leave my money belt with my credit card and my debit card, along with about 10 US dollars worth of Namibian cash at the campsite. I didn't realize that I didn't have it until I got back to the office. I was mad at myself for forgetting it, but honestly, I wasn't too worried about it. The past two days, I hadn't had a care in the world, and I didn't want to ruin it. So, I borrowed Alan's global cell phone, made a two minute phone call to my mom and told her what happened. I asked her to cancel both of the cards (which she did) and I decided to stop being mad. I had my passport, that's all that mattered. I could do without my credit and debit cards. I had an extra one of each back at the ship along with extra Namibian cash. It was no biggy, just a slight inconvenience. Thanks again for taking care of everything, Mom!
Day 4- Today was a relatively early day. We went on a 4x4 SUV dune adventure. It was an all day trip, leaving at 8 am and returning at 5 pm. The guy that runs the company actually stopped offering this trip because people were so tired by the end of it. I had the assumption that we were just going to drive around the dunes for a few hours and see a few cool sights, but I was terribly wrong. The minute we got into the SUV's (there were two), I knew this wasn't going to your typical off-road trip. Our guide, Fanny (like a persons bum) is extremely knowledgeable about Namibia's history, culture, and ecology and I felt that I learned more from him in 8 hours than I've learned in the past week of classes. He explained to us that the Namib desert is the oldest in the world...approximately 80 million years and it's a "living desert" meaning that wildlife, although most of the time unseen, thrives here.
Within our first half hour, we were popping up and over small sand dunes, sometimes hitting embankments that would throw me up out of my seat (thank God for seatbelts). It was nearly impossible for me to videotape, but I did. I think most of you who watch some of the video I took will get motion sick from it bouncing all over the place...I know I probably will! Fanny stopped the car at what seemed to be an area similar to all the other places we were driving and I was wondering what was so unique. That is when I saw what we stopped for...it was a human gravesite. I grabbed my video camera and started filming. Supposedly the gravesite is over 500 years old. I forget exactly why people were buried there, but there were hundreds of bodies supposedly buried there and when the wind changes enough, new bodies are uncovered. I picked up what appeared to we vertebrae and held them in my hand. They were so light! They almost felt fake because of how weathered and brittle they were. I felt awkward walking over broken bones, but Fanny assured us that the people who were buried in the gravesite all believed that their bodies were meant to break down and decompose back into the earth which provided them with life. Now, it was their turns to provide life through death. I didn't feel awkward after he explained that to me.
After our encounter with the bones of 500 year old skeletons, Fanny drove us to a Topnaar artists home. Topnaar people are indigenous to the Namib desert and they live out in the open, away from civilization. They are more Westernized than their San and !Kung (yes, it's spelt !Kung, that's not a typo) relatives, but they were the closest I got to real hunter and gatherer tribes of the Namib and Kalahari Desert. I bought a tapestry painting of a zebra from Jacky (that was the mans name) for 100 Namibian dollars. I'd rather pay him 100 dollars (about 12 USD) for a one of a kind portrait than someone on the streets selling cookie cutter paintings for half the amount.
After our visit with Jacky, Fanny took us to another Topnaar site, where this time a man, woman, and their two baby girls lived. The mother was holding her 3 and a half month old baby girl in her arms and she allowed me to take a picture of them. They were extremely happy people, and seeing how they lived made me become emotional. Their house was about 12 feet long by 12 feet wide, made out of scrap plastic, metal and tarps. They didn't have much more than the clothes on their backs and the Mandango (spelling?) nuts they forage around the desert for. But they were smiling, and laughing, and seemed to enjoy our company. After spending about 20 minutes with the Topnaar family, we headed out on the rest of our adventure.
It would take me a long time to paint the picture of an 8 our desert adventure for you, so I've decided that to just keep it short and sweet. After we left the Topnaar family, we drove in and out of sand dunes, through dried up river beds, into the Sea of Sand (Google this if you'd like), through salt pans, and we made our way to Sandwich Harbour. Sandwich Harbour hasn't been accessible much over the past month because of the unseasonably high tides which cut off vehicle access, and Fanny wasn't too hopefully that we'd be able to make it. I was pleasantly surprised though when he came back to the SUV after surveying the area and said that we would be able to make it across. This was one of three days over the past month that vehicles have been able to pass through. It was absolutely beautiful...I took dozens of pictures of the dunes in Sandwich Harbour, the beach, the red-colored sand, and a picture of the sand hook of the Harbour from the top of one of the highest dunes in the area. Breathtaking.
Our trip started to wind down after we had lunch on the beach (a huge fried chicken cutlet with German potato salad, a small green salad, and an apricot jam filled doughnut) and before I knew it, we were back in Walvis Bay. I was tremendously exhausted by the time I made it back to the ship. We ate dinner and I took a hot shower, was in bed by 8:30, and slept straight through to my alarm going off the next morning at 6am.
Day 5- Today was our last day in Namibia, and I felt mixed emotions upon waking up. On the one hand, I was sad because we were leaving at 8pm, but on the other hand, I knew that we only had 3 days until Cape Town. One more stop in Africa and then we're off to Asia! I still can't grasp that I've been to Africa now...it's truly something that won't hit me until I am back home. I've been speaking with peers of mine about how hard the transition back to the real world is going to be, and we've all agreed that our lives are going to feel incomplete unless we continue to travel. This doesn't mean that we want to run off again to Africa, or Asia, or South America right when we get home in December...but we will want to run off to visit all the friends we've made from all over the US.
Our last tour organized by Alan was kayaking off the coast of Pelican Point where thousands of seals gather. I have been kayaking only 2 times prior to this time, so I was really excited to do it again. The nine of us met a SAS FDP group and we all went out together. I have never seen wild seals before so was really excited to be surrounded by hundreds of them. They are really curious creatures...very inquisitive, smart, and funny. They make the funniest sounds! Think of a sheep mixed with dolphin noises...if that's even at all possible for you to do! I have quite a bit of video that I took while kayaking that you all will enjoy. I can't wait to get home in December and compile a slideshow of pictures and a DVD of video and video clips of SAS. It'll probably take HOURS to go through all my pictures...
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent in Namibia. I think if I hadn't had four days of Indy trips planned, I may feel differently. You had to be an adventurous person who likes getting dirty to truly enjoy Namibia since such a huge part of their tourism industry is based on outdoor recreation. I will say that I was slightly disappointed with the amount of time I spent immersed in local African culture, but that was neither SAS's fault or my own. The coast of Namibia has such a huge German influence that it's hard to get an authentic African experience. I've heard a lot of students saying they had fun but they didn't feel a connection with the country. I can agree with that statement to a point, because the first day walking around Walvis Bay didn't make me feel like I was in Africa. But the rest of my days spent in Namibia, I felt like I was in a completely different world. I guess people just need to venture out of their comfort zones a little more if they want an "authentic" experience in any of the countries we visit...
I hope everyone who read this enjoyed what I had to say and that this post didn't take forever to read. I guess I always have a lot to say about my adventures... I am looking forward to Cape Town more than I can even explain. I can't believe I'll be there in less than 36 hours. There's something about Cape Town that is intriguing to me and I can't wait to explore the city and its outskirts. I am doing a township visit the first day I get there and then all the trips I've been planning for the past 2 months start taking place on the second day (Saturday). I have 30 people booked for Shark Cage Diving on Saturday, 12 people booked for Sky Diving on Sunday morning, 20 people booked for a wine tasting tour on Sunday afternoon, and 15-20 people booked for an overnight Safari on Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday I am spending the entire day, from sun up to sun down, with my roommate. We're going to get off the ship early in the morning, spin around a few times, and whatever direction we end up pointing is the direction we're going to explore. I haven't done anything "unplanned" or spontaneous yet, so I'm looking forward to that day more than anything.
I'm sure my Cape Town blog entry will be just as long as this one, but I'm going to try to break it up into parts like I did for Brazil. That might be an easier read. Feedback is appreciated! You probably won't hear from me until after South Africa, which will be the first week of October. Send me some emails though if you want to stay in touch!! Thanks for reading!
Amanda
ALVeinott@semesteratsea.net
