Last night the wind tore out our tent and kept the world from sleeping. A dog wandered the campsite and occasionally howled. It was stiflingly hot. At 2 am a car arrived and the people talked loudly as they set up camp, they were silenced by a 'shhh'.
In the morning we met our guide, Thebes, from the nearby Hambukushu village. There was no wind there. The wind existed only inside the hills.
He took us on a walk up to the female hill and down the other side. The top of the hill contained a tiny valley with lush grasses and open water running down the rocks. A kudu ran off and there were leopard tracks everywhere. This is where thousands of years ago, the san, or bushmen inhabited the hills and left their paintings. We saw the paintings and we saw the caves in which they slept and cooked, and we saw the marks in the rocks where they chiselled their knives and played games with stones.
We then began the drive back to Namibia, picking up a young man and his baby sister on the way and dropping them off at the main road. Shortly after we could see the Kavango river returning to the roadside, the border post at Mohembo appeared. There was a slight mix up with my visa, as the official originally only gave me until the 2nd of october in the country. But after we pointed this out, he politely apologised and corrected it. The process was decent, as is everything here.
It was funny driving up through Mahango, and the road to Divundu. Seeing the signs to camps we had stayed and places we had visited. It was tempting to call it familiar, and we stopped at the Divundu gas station to get the sugar raisin bread that we loved last time we had it on the day we visited Buffalo.
This time as we drove south past Rundu, past all the thatch villages and children herding goats at the roadside, it seemed familiar and not at all shocking or surprising. At the police checkpoint, the polite lady asked us whether we had any finished books to give - which we didnt - before smiling and waving us on. No corruption, all politeness and decent.
Eventually we reached Grootfontein which seemed an exceedingly pleasant town with grass lawns and a feeling of safety. White pensioners walked down the street with their shopping in hand. Unfortunately all the b&b's we checked were full and we were desparate for somewhere with internet access to arrange affairs. Luckily we found a campsite just out of town and I am sitting in the reception using the wifi. Its all brand new, but there is a freezing pool and we took a dip. Our first time swimming since we arrived, despite the heat.
The weather is changing. The rainy season is coming. Everyone is talking about it. They are happy to finally have some water for their crops and food, but they are also worried; last year many people in the north were evacuated due to flodding. Everyone predicts that the rains will arrive early and be strong this year. There are already clouds blocking our view of the sun, but it is only getting hotter.
Tomorrow we go to Mundulea. The reserve where I will spend over a month later on.
My travel through the Kavango-Zambezi ecosystem (Namibia & Botswana), and work at Mundulea.
Hi Emiel, Ik was verschrikkelijk achter met je blog. Had vandaag eindelijk tijd om van af 10/9 alles te lezen en foto's te kijken. Wat een avonturen en wat beschrijf je ze mooi. Ook schiet je mooie en aandoenlijke plaatjes. Je bent bevoorrecht dat je dat allemaal met je vader kunt delen. A lifetime memory.
ReplyDeleteWij delen je emoties als je een kamp weer verlaat. Het is net als of je dierbare familie achter laat. Leuk hè te merken wat een vriendelijk woord of belangstelling doet.
Verder je avontuur met de Hippo's, Wauw. Wij hadden ooit het genoegen bij een waterhole te overnachten waar een hele groep Hippo's woonde. Ik had voortdurend het gevoel dat je grootvader Jan, zijn uitbundige vóórpret bij het vertellen van een mop of geestig verhaal al met je deelde. Ik ben bang dat jij je zijn "Hippo gelach" niet herinnert, maar Gijsbert zeker wel.
We zijn zeer onder de indruk hoe jullie je weg steeds weer weten te vervolgen met pruttelende benzine tanks, lege banden, volle banden,met en zonder power steering en als goede Nederlanders het water weten te beheersen (is this arrogant or not?)
Verder zal ik vast oefenen met zo nu en dan een Bucket shower or no shower at all..... Mmm a bit smelly! Hou die regenwolken nog maar een beetje op afstand. We hebben genoeg gehad deze zomer.
Hoop dat als we elkaar weer zien, je voldoende te weten gekomen bent om ons levende pangolins kunt laten zien in hun eigen habitat.
Lieve Emiel, een voorspoedige reis verder en tot heel binnen kort, groet ook Gijsbert van ons beiden Renée&Richard