September 9

Part 1

Up to now our interactions with the locals have been restricted to the occasional wave at kids by the road, people servicing our car or people working at the campsites, occasionally some kids will dance at the side of the road to get some money. This morning we picked up two separate hitchhikers.

The first was a man with crutches limping at the side. We asked Timothy if he needed a lift and he said yes to Divundu. Turns out he was the principal of the local school at Andara and his brother could not pick him up today. Today at the school was a teachers meeting day so all the kids are off. He told us that they are planning to switch from IGCSE’s to the South African baccalaureate as it will make the Namibian students more competitive to South African universities. Another interesting thing was the contrast between rich and poor which we’ve mentioned earlier; while he explained that the people in this area have a hard time getting enough to eat (wild animals destroy their crops), he also managed to get a hip replacement in Windhoek paid for by the governments health care funds.

The second was a man named Malando Bambo, he was 64 and we picked him up in the middle of the Caprivi National Park. This trip was longer, about an hour and a half so we talked about a lot. He pointed out various things and told us what they were called in Lozi; a dog is an ndja, the chicken which he had on his lap was a kuhuyaka and fire was mupido. We showed him some European music; Bach and Kodaly and explained where they came from. He didn’t seem to understand the time scale nor that it was written, but was impressed by the amount of people needed to perform it.

He had four kids and was pleased when he heard that the man in front of me was my father. He seemed to think the national parks were bad, because of the animals; lions killed their goats and elephants destroyed their crops. He had once shot a lion and the government had come to buy the skin apparently. Leopards can also be a problem, but cheetahs and wild dogs tend to stay away. He was extremely surprised to hear that there were no lions, hippos and elephants in Holland and I did my best to draw a picture of a deer and wolf and to try and explain what they are. He looked amazed at pictures of snow and had a hard time believing that you could have ‘too much’ water and cold. We told him some stories about the weather in Norway and other places we’ve been.

In contrast to national parks he thought the conservancies were really good and he was a member of the Mayuni Conservancy.

Some other things:

·         They don’t have electricity but use candles

·         Thatched roofs keep rain out

·         Thank you is metumesi

·         Hello is muzuhide

·         He lived in Kuyawo village.

We’re now staying at the Bum Hill campsite; a community run campsite with 6 pitches. There is a beautiful wooden platform up a ladder which gives a great view over the Kwando river and we have our own private little hut with a toilet and shower that face over the river. We might take our sleeping bags up onto the platform and watch out for animals. I’ve heard stories of leopards walking through at night, there is elephant dung all around and ive already spotted a bushbuck.

Part 2

After arriving at the campsite we went to the ranger’s station to get a permit in order to explore the neighboring area; Susuwe, a core area of the Bwabwata national park. We then spent the afternoon driving through the wild grasslands surrounding the Kwando river and came across a lot of animals without ever spotting another car. Eventually we reached a large plain where the road petered out into the swamp, so we got out and walked around a little bit. The feeling of wilderness is so exhilarating with natural vegetation stretching out, not a single human within miles and wild animals keeping a wary eye on you. On the way back we were stopped by a few elephants standing on the road and soon discovered there were maybe 50 of them around us in the bush. They seemed relaxed so I got out and stood in front of the car to get some better pictures. If I got too close a mother would raise her head and spread her ears out and I would retreat. They held us up for nearly an hour and we managed to get back just before dark.

A few other adventures we had included driving through (shallow) water for the first time as well as our firs time getting stuck. We let more air out of the tires as it helps the car glide over the sand, and I lay bark and sticks in front of the wheels for grip and we soon powered our way off the little beach we were on and back onto the main track. We added two new species to our spotted list; the African fish eagle and the reedbuck, but strangely have yet to see a single crocodile despite everyone’s warnings. Rather annoying as theyre the only things keeping us from swimming. Another highlight was seeing two large elephants bathing in the water up to their eyes, I walked to the riverbank and watched them slosh around for a while.