Swakopmund to Grootfontein

After we left Swakopmund we headed to an amazing camp site in Spitzkopf, where we were literally sandwiched between the mountains. We arrived close to sunset but still managed to trek up to one of the peaks in time to enjoy it - incredible. One of the best parts about the site was the makeshift outhouse - I'm telling you, it had a view people would pay millions for elsewhere in the world!

After leaving Spitzkopf we headed to Etosha National Park, which, according to one of our Dutch travelmates, is roughly the size of the Netherlands. Needless to say, we weren't able to cover the whole of it in a few days, but what we did see was amazing. To give you a small sense of the park, when we entered the front gates we still have another 40 km to drive before we arrived at our first camp site. Along the way we saw more animals than we had seen all previous days/weeks combined. Zebras were the most common - just chilling along the side of the road - but soon we saw giraffes and...an elephant!! So beautiful. Later that evening once we had set up camp we took a walk over to a designated water hole to see if any animals would come to drink under the cloak of darkness. As luck would have it, two massive elephants arrived after sunset and set about quietly taking a drink. About 30 minutes later, we noticed something moving along the horizon - it seemed to be sizing up the company at the water hole before revealing itself completely. When it finally got closer, we realised that it was a black rhino!! At first it stayed on the opposite side from the elephants and seemed a little reluctant to get closer. It made its way towards the water slowly, and seemed to sniff it when it reached the edge. Did it take a drink? No. It put its head down, but then it started to back up and turn towards the direction of the elephants.

Now, the older of the two elephants - we assumed, anyway - was standing in the water, just sort of watching this new creature approach. It did not move a muscle, except for the occasional tail twitch. The other elephant, on the other hand, was still drinking and moving about. The rhino approached the older elephant and gave it a wide berth, but started to head straight for the younger, larger of the two. The larger elephant let him get pretty close to him and then BAM! sprayed him with a trunk-full of water! It. Was. Awesome.

The rhino immediately backed off and settled on a space between the two elephants to take his drink. Eventually, he skulked off again.

Interesting fact about how to tell a black rhino from a white rhino (because they really do look the same). If you ever see a mother rhino with her baby, you can tell if she's a black or white rhino by the position of her child. (This was told to us by a local guide.) A black rhino's baby will be behind it, because black mothers tend to carry their babies on their backs. A white rhino's baby will be in front of it, or beside it, because white mothers tend to push their babies in strollers/prams, or have them walk beside them. Interesting, eh? Another fun fact - a pack of zebras is called a "dazzle". *jazz hands*

Our first night in Etosha was so beautiful. The park officials were conducting a controlled burn of the wild grass in that section of the park, so once the sun set the entire sky was lit up by pink/orange flames. I don't know if we've mentioned at all yet about how incredible the stars are here (which should be of no surprise given the lack of light pollution throughout Namibia), but they really are breathtaking. So, we have a sky full of stars being licked by flames, gorgeous animals milling about, and...the sound of lions roaring all night long!! Some of our travel mates were too cold to sleep so they returned to the water hole around 3 a.m. just to see what - if anything - was about. Well, as luck would have it, several male and female lions had taken over at that time (which were the ones we could hear back at camp). How incredible!

The next day we moved to another campsite in Etosha which was 120 km away. But, rather than sleeping in and meandering over there before sunset, we rose before sunrise and set off in search of more animals. Throughout the day we saw lions, cheetahs, giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, impala, warthogs, flamingos, kudo, springbok, and a host of amazing birds. Etosha is incredible, but you aren't allowed to get out of your truck anywhere except designated areas (which are surrounded by barbed wire, I might add). At lunch we stopped at one such area where they also had a watering hole. (It should be noted that the Etosha Pan - which is an absolutely MASSIVE body of water in the park - is nearly dry at the moment due to the season. Because of this, the animals are more likely to visit outlying water holes, some of which the park officials have partially protected with barbed wire/wood fences along a space designated for visitors. These small barriers 'don't obstruct viewing, but prevent people from getting too close to the animals in their natural habitat and vice versa.) As we were cleaning our dishes, word reached us that a herd of 50+ elephants had made its way to the watering hole! So, we ditched what we were doing and headed over. What a sight! Each elephant was different than the others, and they were all hanging out in little cliques, drinking, bathing, and stamping their massive feet. It is so cool to watch elephants drink - their trunks sound like a snorkel being cleared (go figure) when they transfer the water into their mouths.

One of the coolest things about that afternoon was watching the baby elephants play around. They really are quite brazen - which you'd probably have to be just so no one else would forget that you're underfoot and accidentally squash you. Well, this one little guy was playing about and all of the sudden he decided it would be a good idea to run full speed from one side of the hole to the other. This did not go well. He was fine at first, ears flapping in the breeze, and then SPLAT! face plant into the dirt (at which time every person present was like "awwwwwwww!!"). He was fine, just a little dusty. If only human children would react that way...

After our second night in Etosha we headed to a site outside the park in Grootfontein. We arrived early - for once - set up camp, then headed off for a bushmen tour about 80 km away. The site we visited there is home about 300 members of the San tribe, who have been in Namibia for thousands of years. This particular community's livelihood now depends upon their (voluntary) involvement in creating a "living museum". I know this concept exists elsewhere in the world, but this was the first time we had experienced it first hand. It was...bizarre. Basically, these people live on what might be akin to a reservation in North America, and everyday they are visited by groups of tourists. They have homes on the property - similar to the tin and timbre shacks we have come across throughout our travels so far - and wear modern clothing. For the purpose of educating others about their culture, however, they take turns acting out traditional customs while wearing traditional clothing. Which, it should be noted, isn't much. The men wear loincloths with a g-string (thong) back, and the women where knee length skirts of animal hide. That's it, except for the occasional necklace. The kids are totally naked. Some of the things they showed us how to do included making a fire using two sticks, scavenging for medicinal herbs and edible plants, making bows and arrows, and fashioning ostrich eggs and seeds/nuts into jewellery (which they sell as a way to make money for their community). It was really interesting, but felt highly voyeuristic. Imagine a circle of 20 or so women, nearly naked, with their babies and small children strapped to them or running about, sitting in the dirt making jewellery. Though Namibia's official language is English, they spoke to each other using a traditional dialect which included clucking their tongues and making sounds rather than spoken words. Now, they volunteer to do this because they want to educate others, keep their culture alive, and make money to continue their way of life, but it still felt highly invasive. We were encouraged to bring our cameras and we took dozens of photos, but it felt...weird. Especially to be taking photos of the women and their children. 

That has been something quite interesting about this trip - this question of our being here, and what it means to the people we're interacting with (either directly or indirectly). We, by no means, blend in. We rock up in a massive overland truck and 22 people jump out, 20 of whom are white, and all of whom have some sort of accent. If we're stopping for a meal, tables suddenly appear from beneath the truck, as do seats, wash basins, plates, cups, bowls, cutlery, and lots and lots of food. We did our lunch stop on the property of the living museum yesterday, and the children from the area couldn't stop staring at us. (Something I noticed which I found really interesting - all of the kids we've seen have amazing posture; they walk very straight and tall and never slouch. What a change!) Some would wave at us and smile, but others just stare. It's the same when we pass villages along the road. Some children run excitedly towards the road, waving, while others stand and stare. Most of the adults just stare, and I can't help but wonder what they think of us. From what we've seen, our lives seem very different. Though there are certainly towns and cities in Namibia - where else would I be typing this? - we've mostly seen collections of shacks along the side of the road. As we move further into the country we've started to see women carrying jugs of water on their head, and a noticeable absence of shoes. In some areas, the land around the shacks is spotless - in others, including most of what we've seen today - there is trash everywhere. We see kids constantly - running, playing, watching the adults. I wonder what the majority of people in these areas do to make a living, where they buy their supplies, if their children go to school...? Most of all, I wonder if they're happy. How much do they know about the rest of their country, continent, and world? Do they want more than what they have? Are they struggling, or are they happy to live more simply? I also wonder - constantly - how they keep warm at night when the temperature dips to freezing. As I've said previously, the shacks are made of tin or timbre. (In the cities, it's more tin'/corrugated steel - in the country, it's vertical sticks/logs lashed together and topped with thatched roofs.) We have been really, really cold here - we just bought another blanket - even though we have special clothing and supplies to protect us. I would love to see inside their homes and actually hear about their lives in their own words...

On that note, in some of the places we've visited there have been optional "township tours" which cost about $30-100 USD. I've been really tempted to go, but I just haven't gotten the impression they're authentic. (Has anyone out there read "Stuff White People Like"? I read it during our stay in Swakopmund and I'm telling you...it's hilarious and embarrassingly accurate. I can't remember what number it was, but "authenticity" was definitely on the list.) Some of our fellow travellers have gone and said they felt like everything was very staged. That's my concern. How do you avoid exploiting people when you really do want to learn more about them? I don't want to turn anyone's culture into a commodity, but I feel like that's how things are presenting themselves thus far.

Africa is a very different place to travel than elsewhere I've been - which was kind of the point. The lack of infrastructure would make it very difficult to traverse if we weren't with a tour group, and the cost to do so would be insane. But it's a double-edged sword - because we're with a tour group we get to go to places we never would otherwise; but, conversely, we're not getting lost and making our way by getting to know the people who live here.

Food for thought.