2/17/09
18:31
So after I emptied my bladder, Bus 9 (the bus that adopted me) became much more entertaining. Pre-bathroom break everyone had been dozing, post-bathroom break everyone was awake and ready to party. Greg and I played bartender/DJ from atop the cooler. I held the bus mic up to this girl named Chelsea’s iPod speakers, while Greg handed out beers and wine. We played all artists from our youth: Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Britney. Nothing bonds a group of kids together better than a 90’s sing-along.
Finally we reached the camp. It was dark and pouring, but we were all in good spirits. Lucinda, our bus driver, suggested that we take off our shoes so as not to muddy them up. So we pranced around barefoot, setting up our tents, tying the rain tarp over the tent, and doing our very best not to track mud and water into the tent. It was almost comical how nothing was going our way.
The first ‘wild’animal I saw while in the camp was a jackal, a fox-like creature that creeps around stealing scraps of food and shoes. Lucinda warned us not to leave our shoes lying about.
Half an hour after our arrival in the park, Bus 5 rolled in. Bus 5 was back in action. Bennie helped those that hadn’t set up their tents and then he began making the feast, Pasta Bolognese. Also known as Heaven. We were the only bus that got shell noodles, which made it ten times better. Everyone hovered over his or her plates trying to shield the meal from the rain so as no to get Schisto (bacteria in water that causes traveler’s diarrhea). We inhaled dinner. It was amazing.
With full bellies, Greg, Caroline and I went to our warm and dry tent. We told stories, did shadow puppets, and I did a rendition of the YouTube ‘Disturbia’video by Chelsea or whatever that little girl’s name is. Then we fell asleep. Or Greg fell asleep. Caroline and I both couldn’t sleep because the sauna…I mean tent we were in had no circulation but we couldn’t open up the flaps due to rain.
Greg’s alarm went off at 5:50am and I jumped out of bed. I was already awake and could not lie in that oven for another second. Bennie came around and shook everyone’s tents and we all ate eggs and bacon for breakfast. Then we loaded up trusty old Bus 5 and began our safari.
Within the first ten minutes we saw zebras, but they were kind of far off. Then we saw Springbok, Oryx, ostriches, giraffes, blue wildebeest and several types of African bird. The Springboks and Oryxes were everywhere and got really close to the bus. One time during a lull in the animal-sighting we were all sitting in the bus chatting. Stacie was in the middle of a story and then she shrieked. Everyone jumped. Then we looked to see where she was pointing and there was a huge male giraffe, like 3 meters away. Just a giraffe. In the wild. No big deal.
We stopped after a few hours to break for lunch and souvenirs at the park’s store. Once we had all gotten off the bus, Manfred, the assistant tour guide, informed us that Bus 5 had a flat tire. Oh Bus 5. Luckily we had spare tires. After our little break we went back to safari-ing in hopes of spotting some more of the Top 5: lions, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, and zebras. We saw zebras again, but really close this time.
Bennie brought us to some of the park’s water holes, however it is the rainy season in Namibia so the animals don’t need the park’s watering holes in order to imbibe. So unfortunately the watering holes were empty. Then Bennie brought us to a tree and what was lying under it? Oh just a male lion. Granted this lion was off in the distance a bit and we were not allowed to get off the bus. But still…have you seen a lion under a tree from a distance in Namibia? Yeah. Some other buses saw cheetahs and hyenas. Lucky.
We finally returned to camp at about 6. It had been a long day. I took a shower after rocking the backwards hat the whole day. Pretty baller. Felt good to be clean. We watched the purples and pinks of the Namibian sunset from a tower in the park’s center. Gorgeous. While we gazed at the sky, Bennie and Manfred were preparing another fabulous meal. Perfectly grilled lamb, vegetables and porridge-like substance, some sort of pumpkin/squash mix, and corn. It was delectable. Roasted marshmallows for dessert. A huge bug flew into my mallow. I didn’t eat it and made another.
Speaking of bugs, I didn’t get bitten by a single mosquito. No malaria…yahoo! There were a lot of insects at this camp. HUGE beetles. Lots of screaming when those came around.
I slept much better the second night. It didn’t rain so we opened up the “windows”of the tent for some air circulation.
We got up at 5:30 the next morning. We wanted to get an early start just in case Bus 5 decided to break down again. It’s a long drive even without malfunctions. Everyone was pretty tired, so we slept a lot of the drive. When we got back into Walvis Bay, the port city, we stopped at the dunes and took some great dune pics. Dune.
Back on the ship I heard people’s stories of sand boarding, skydiving, waterballing and other such adventures. I wish I had more time in Namibia and could see and do more.
Things I learned on this trip:
-Flexibility once again.
-When the ratio of girls to guys is 3 to 1, girls become very comfortable talking about subjects that are typically taboo in front of guys. Never have I heard girls talk more openly about pooping and menstruating than this trip. The females of Bus 5 discussed the regularity of their bowel movements while in port in great detail around the campfire. Some of them are “lingerers,”I learned. I never partook in this conversation, though, because everyone knows real girls don’t poop or fart…ever.
As for today, we had 4 speakers from South Africa (great accents) who updated us on current events such as the spread of AIDS, the “brain drain,”and uranium mining (actually this is a Namibian issue). It was a pretty interesting lecture. Then I spent some time in the sun. Got a little too much of that. Taco Day for lunch. Best thing ever. I had two tacos. Then cultural and logistical pre-port. Heard about some good sights to see and sweet places to go from Dale, our South African student aboard. South Africa sounds incredible.
We arrive tomorrow and I’m doing Habitat for Humanity during the day. Then on Thursday I’m going to Kagga Kamma Resort. I don’t know of anyone else going on that trip soooo new friends! On Sunday I hope to climb Table Mountain.
I should get my beauty sleep now. More after South Affy.
H
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