Illegal goats, giant ant hills, monkeys, and more...

Greeting in 2010!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season! Mine was lovely, and I will share the highlights now...

Over the holiday, Ed and I packed up and headed off to the far North of my Region where we hiked along the Kunene River, which separates Namibia from Angola. The adventure began normally enough. We left mi casa quite early and set off for the hitchhiking point. It was about 20 minutes before we came across a fellow who happened to be going the same way, so we quickly threw our bags in the back, squished tightly into the front passenger seat, and our driver sped off. After taking a few moments to settle the dog, we took stock of the ride: travelling in the back of the bakki with us was a boy, a goat, and the apparatus they use for moving coffins. Our ride was, in fact, a hearse. Still, it was a nice bakki (and relatively new) so it didn't seem quite as creepy as one might suppose.

Anywhoo, after travelling along for about 20 minutes, we came to an abrupt halt. As is common around the holidays, the Namibian Police had set up a road block to check the identification of people entering or leaving the area.

After inspecting the driver's registration and other documents they demanded to see his permit to move livestock. Apparently, anytime you transport any livestock in Namibia you have to carry a certified letter stating that the headman has released the animal, and specifying the places it can be taken. The letter our driver was carrying allowed the goat only to be taken to the Opuwo area and not out of the region, which led the police to question whether the goat was legally obtained. SO that was a problem.

The other problem was that the office which handles these letters would not open again until the following morning, which meant that our driver either a) had to take the goat back to Opuwo and spend the night so that he could sort things out with the appropriate people, or b) he could surrender the goat at the checkpoint and carry on. Option c) involved him paying a fee of Namibian $300 so that he could carry on, but as the police officers pointed out, such a bribe would only get him through their checkpoint. Taking into consideration he paid N$ 300 for the goat in the first place AND he would likely get stopped at the next checkpoint, option c) was not so viable. Quite a dilemma.

While the driver was going around and around with the police, a local minister happened to approach the checkpoint heading the same direction we were. Being the loyal customers we are, Ed, the random kid from the back, and I quickly grabbed our stuff, climbed in with the Minister, and waved farewell to our goat-smuggling driver from the comfy back seat. Once again we were on our way to adventure. The minister was only travelling as far as the major turnoff, so after a very peaceful and uneventful ride, he dropped us on the main road, refused to let us pay, and bid us farewell.

While waiting for the next car to pass by, we entertained ourselves by inspecting a roadside pit latrine, investigating a giant termite mound, and doing a bit of bird watching.

Before too long the rumbling of tires could be heard on the tar road, and we started to get excited...someone was heading toward Ruacana. We were both a bit surprised when the truck ended up being the same one we got our first hike in...only this time the driver was alone. Abandon by his passengers, and on a deadline to reach the funeral, he decided to ditch the goat at the checkpoint. He was clearly a little bummed about it, but luckily he was not the type to hold a grudge as he was more than willing to pick us up and take us the rest of the way.

Once we hit the Ruacana junction, we had lunch under a tree and started walking. Somewhere along the way a car stopped for us, and gave us an unsolicited ride to the airport (i think people were confused about seeing two white people and a dog with large bags walking...) and from the airport we got another hike to the actual falls.

Unfortunately for us, the water was not flowing at the time. Judging by the sheer vastness of the free space for water to flow, I reckon that the falls would be incredible when they are actually flowing. Apparently the water is only turned on when Nam has need for extra electricity, so I am hopeful that one of these day the alarm will sound and the water will surge. But I digress.

We spent some time gazing over at Angola, then walked down to the falls and enjoyed the splendor. Well almost. At almost exactly the same moment we were struck by raging stomach cramps. Must have been something we ate (the night before our trip we bravely consumed all perishable objects in my fridge so that nothing would be wasted...probably not the greatest idea, as some of the items were questionable at best). Whatever the culprit, we were both scrambling into the bush. But once all that was over with, we moseyed on down to the would-be falls and enjoyed the view. From the falls area, we got a hike out to the road from a nice Afrikaner family who happened to be heading in the same direction we were. They were kind enough to give us a lift for free, and they even gave us a giant cool drink to enjoy for the ride. The generosity of people continually surprises me...

From the place where the family dropped us, we began walking along the river. The route was so gorgeous, but the most amazing part of the whole trip was the people we met along the way. Each night we camped next to tiny villages, and the locals were kind enough to show us safe places to get water (crocodiles are famous for attacking people here), and gave us permission to camp near their homesteads. Women traveled out of their homesteads to greet us, and people occasionally walked along the road with us, just to keep us company.

The sun was scorching, but we were blessed with a couple overcast mornings and some incredible thunder and lightning storms at night. Here are some photos from our journey...

The area near the river where we camped the first night.

The villagers place branches along the river's edge to keep crocodiles from attacking their children and livestock.

Rara and I resting under a tree in the heat of the day.

The morning after an intense rainstorm. Each morning we set out before daybreak to travel as much distance as we could before the hottest part of the day.

On the red dirt road.

For our afternoon nap, we found safe, shady places near the river...

Ed relaxing under a tree during a quick snack break.

This is a mobile school we found out in the middle of NOWHERE. The teacher stands in the front and the children sit on the floor inside of the tents. You can see their school work on display.

Ed's twin brother. We saw lots of monkey. Rara had a good time chasing them around.

Morning snack break. This picture makes me laugh.

Camping. Rara slept for a solid 2 days when we got back.

My blood-stained Chaco...apparently my foot burst open but I was too distracted by my ankle to notice. I thought the blood stain looked bad, but Ed said it made me look hard core. Haha Darn walk...you made me bleed me own blood.

Resting.

We were forced to cut our trip short by a couple days due to an unfortunate mud incident which left my ankle throbbing and sore, but all in all our trip was fantastic! While waiting to get a hike back out to Opuwo, some random dudes drove by a couple times, and because they didn't want us to wait for a ride, they decided to make an impromptu trip all the way to Opuwo...they were so kind to us and thanked us profusely for coming to Namibia to volunteer. It really was such a nice thing of them to do...we were both pretty amazed at the gesture. Anywhoo if you are interested in seeing more pictures of the trip you can find them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ewyni119/ChristmasHikeWithAnika#

Cheers!