Hippo Talk

Ndhovu Lodge, Rundu, Otjiwarongo & Ole Bess

While at Ndhovu we went on two game drives, one with Horst in the Bwabwata National Park, the other on our own in the Mahango Game Park. We saw a wide variety of wildlife in both: hippos, crocodiles, kudu, roan and sable antelope, water monitor, vervet monkeys, elephants, water buffalo galore and even a python. Although not in evidence in the same numbers as in Etosha, we did feel like we had seen more types of birds and animals than in our previous experience. In Mahango, we even had an elephant just about charge into us as he was wanting to cross over to the other side of the road just at the spot we had stopped the vehicle. We managed to get Ole Bess cranked up and out of his way just in the nick of time. The kids found that to be very exciting and Augustus was able to get a number up close and personal shots of him as he nearly grazed the Rover. He didn’t appear too angry though, so Reid was thinking that maybe we could have waited him out another click or two….I for one am glad that we made our escape when we did. Saw huge Baobab trees along the drive and were treated to dancing and singing by the lodge staff at Ndhovu after dinner that evening. Speaking of Ole Bess, well what kind of adventure would it be without some sort of input on her part? After our game drive in Mahango, Reid noticed that the steering was getting a bit tight. He got under her and discovered that the power steering line was leaking rather badly. Reid made mention of our circumstances to one of the staff, who in turn radioed Horst, in town to pick up provisions, who picked up some power steering fluid for the old girl. What was to be done about the leak, however? Horst indicated that we could get the line repaired in Divundu. Divundu, readers, is about the size of Morganza and then again I might be exaggerating. Next door to the Engen combined petrol station and supermarket is the 435 Garage. This place looks more like a car graveyard than a repair shop. It consists basically of a shack with a few tables containing tools with derelict cars and car parts strewn willy-nilly about the yard. Reid stood around for about 5 minutes before anyone appeared. When the guys did so, they were fairly efficient but had to send the line off to someone else to have it brazed---ah, the weak link in the repair process. Needless to say, the repair did not remain repaired for very long and we found ourselves in the same circumstances of having a leaking power steering line when we arrived in Rundu some hours later after picnicking briefly at Poppa Falls. Rundu, a hodge podge sort of town with its people spilling out into its streets everywhere hasn’t got a whole lot to offer to its tourists, but we did find a competent mechanic there who got Ole Bess back in her running shoes. Rundu sits on the South side of the Kavango River across from Angola. We took a boat ride with the lodge where we were staying and got a good deal of insight into the everyday life of the people on the Angola side. There were loads of fishing boats made from what looked to be dug out tree trunks, some being used to ferry passengers to Namibia, others for their intended purpose. Since it was nearly sundown, many of the villagers were bathing, brushing teeth and washing clothes in the shallows and on the river bank--the children splashing happily, oblivious to their poverty. The Kavango is also the source of their drinking water so it’s a good thing that it flows rather rapidly at this point given the heavy usage it gets by the local inhabitants. Rundu offered a glimpse to our kids of the Africa with which Reid and I had been acquainted through our Peace Corps experience. It’s a place that has largely escaped the influences that Windhoek and environs were subjected to and as a result retains its “disorganized” qualities that lend a certain charm to the town. Stopped in Tsumeb on the next leg of our journey. Tsumeb is a pretty little old mining town that is well kept and one can still find lots of interesting stones and minerals in the vicinity. Of course, Augustus obtained several new acquisitions to his rock collection. Visited the museum there and had lunch at a “biergarten.” Stayed the night in Otjiwarongo and toured the Crocodile Farm in the morning. Would have had lunch there, where what else but crocodile is featured heavily on the menu, but Annie got sick so we headed back to Windhoek. Were glad to get back to our temporary home sweet home and a functioning washing machine after so many days on the road!

Sleeping with the Hippos

After our interlude at Roy's, we headed up to the Caprivi Strip, a little narrow thumb-like projection on the Northeastern corner of Namibia that touches Angola, Zambia and Botswana. The area is noted for its diversity of wildlife, open-flowing rivers and angling appeal. Our fellow Fulbrighter family, the Powells, had recently been through the area on their way to Victoria Falls and had stayed at a very cool lodge called Ndhovu where the guests are housed in Lobatse military style tents with a detached bath. The tents aren’t in the least bit Spartan, however. They are well appointed with embroidered linens, thick wool floor rugs and sparkling white mosquito netting. We seized the opportunity and capitalized on the Powell’s tip and scheduled 4 days and 3 nights there. We weren’t disappointed.
The main attraction of the lodge is that it sits right on the banks of the Okavango River. There just so happens to be a grassy island right in front of the lodge where a herd of hippos hang out for out 7 months of the year. Our tent was located just opposite the island and we were able to almost literally sleep with the 15 or so hippos that make it their home. Most were mothers with nursing calves. What a treat! The great part is that they’re nocturnal and so as we drifted off to sleep each night, we could hear them milling about in the river and on the bank right in front of our tent. They’ve got the strangest call that resembles the laugh of Jabba the Hut on StarWars.
Additionally, the owner of the lodge, Horst Koch, is very hands-on. He sits and has meals with the guests, takes them out on game drives and will even fetch supplies for one’s broken-down vehicle when necessary. (More about the Adventures of Ole Bess later). Horst is a wealth of knowledge and information and just a downright nice fella. He still owns a farm near Windhoek, but his heart is with the lodge in Divundu and that’s where he spends most of his time. His children live in different places around the world, so he’s got some work to do to get them to come back and take over the farm and free himself up entirely for life in the “unorganized sector” of Namibia.
Indeed, this area of Namibia is vastly different from the Central and Southern districts. The population is much denser up here. Many still live in traditional homesteads that can easily be seen from the road. Non-existent are the huge 20,000 hectare farms like in the South and life appears to be much more hard scrabble for people who engage in subsistence farming. The people must battle malaria here as well. No easy task when there is little money for prophylactic medication. Things aren’t as clean here as in the Windhoek area either and there is often trash on the roadsides especially near the larger towns. It is nonetheless a most interesting place to visit and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

Bushmen Village

The following day we drove about 65 km to an historic living village of the /Xoa-o Ju/Hoansi gaon, a branch of the San people whom we typically refer to as the Bushmen. Most live in very dire circumstances since many of their traditional activities have been severely restricted. Although they have given up their traditional housing, they've replaced it with tin shacks and basic construction that isn't much of a step up. To try and support the village, they have turned to putting on demonstrations for tourist groups. They will even walk one out into the bush and show how they track and hunt animals. We didn't think our little ones would be able to keep up with such a demanding pace, so we elected their crafts program wherein some of the tribespeople showed how they make jewelry, bows, arrows and fire. Most of them spoke their native tongue; complete with all of the clicking sounds just like in the movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy and very little English. So, one of the younger members of the tribe did the translating. He's pictured with Augustus above. Not much bigger than Augustus, he indicated that he was 19 years old. They were all attired in their traditional clothing which is to say very little clothing at all--loincloths, and the women wore something similar looking in the front but with a much longer back piece to cover the nether parts. Many of the women had their babies tied to their backs while they used natural materials to create all sorts of marvelous jewelry confections of seeds, ostrich egg shells, and wooden beads. They did so with the most primitive of hand tools. One man made a bow, set of arrows and quiver in the time we observed him. He used giraffe bone to make the arrows as well as some more modern iron tips. Making fire seemed to be a fine art. The translator, Elias, didn't appear to be as skilled as the older man and seemed to endure some good-natured ribbing from the ladies as a result. Augustus gave it a try and remarked on how difficult it was to keep up the speed on the rubbing stick.

When the older Bushman finished creating his hunting weapons, he showed us how game is tracked in the bush. He had a target set up and shot three arrows. He narrowly missed it each time. When we gave it a try, we realized how difficult it was to secure one's dinner. All of us with the exception of Annie gave it a try and we'd have all gone hungry that day had we to rely on our own prowess because most of us didn't even come close.

The tribe had a "craft shop" set up under the trees, somewhat of a roofless, wall-less, stick kraal with the crafts the tribespeople make hanging from sticks embedded in the earth. Emma bought a quiver and bow that included giraffe bone tipped arrows and the fire starter equipment. Augustus bought a bush knife. Annie's quiver was miniature size that she intends to hunt rats with. I got a multi-strand necklace made out of some sort of indigenous seeds. Our interpreter wrote everything down in his class notebook and calculted the total purchase prices on a scrap of paper while the little ones looked on from a neighboring tree.

It was a wonderful experience to see firsthand how the Bushmen have lived and existed for millennia. It was also somewhat sad to view a culture in the midst of disappearing. Because the San/ Bushmen are a nomadic people, their very way of life has been inalterably changed by virtue of the government confining them to a limited territory where they can no longer hunt the type of animals they were long accustomed to. It would be interesting to return in 20 or 30 years to see what has become of them and how they manage to adapt in this ever changing world of the 21st century.

Roy's Camp

Began our big tour of the North of Namibia yesterday, 15 August. Ended the day at Roy's Camp, a funky little lodge/campground between Grootfontein and Rundu. The place is decorated with an eclectic collection of junk including such things as a huge wind chime/mobile made of among other things, a whitened giraffe skull. The remains of a 1930's Ford greet the guests upon arrival at the reception. The pool water is circulated through an old claw foot bathtub. We were housed in a two stroy A-frame thatched cottage called Lappa in Namibia. The staircase, made of rough hewn trunks of old trees sits at the exterior leading up to a small exterior veranda where the kids gladly made themselves at home. Since our bedroom was on the first floor and theirs was only accessible via the exterior stairs, they felt like they had their own private tree house club. We partook of the lodge's dinner and were quite surprised by its tastiness. The cook had prepared a very interesting combination of items--kudu steak, chichen wings, macaroni and a variety of salads. The kids actually ate everything on their plates and remarked that it was good. That in and of itself is a remarkable thing.

IWAN visits the Child Development Foundation

My friend Kelly Powell (the other Fulbrighter's wife) and I joined a women's group several months ago. The group, IWAN (International Women's Association of Namibia), consists of women from around the world. Their objective is to do good works as well as socialize (of course).

We meet every Tuesday morning for what's termed our "coffee morning". Most of the time, we meet at a member's house to discuss all of the group's on-going projects and have a chance to interact in a comfortable setting. Sometimes, however, we make visits out in the community. This past Tuesday, we went out to the Child Development Foundation near Goreangab Dam on the outskirts of Windhoek. The Foundation is affiliated with one of the town's Christian schools, All Nations School. They are a mission school that provides care and schooling for orphans and vulnerable children. It is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit organization. It was established in 2003 to help improve the quality of life of orphans and vulnerable children by feeding, educating and caring for those in need. They service over 65 children. They are regularly audited and have impressed the ladies of our executive committee with their good management skills.

Part of our visit included awarding the center's director, Ms. Ansie Maré, with a grant for the purchase of playground equipment. (See above photo.) IWAN has already ordered the items which will arrive at the end of the month, but we wanted to surprise the director and boy did we! She was nearly in tears, overwhelmed by the magnanimity of the gift. Additionally, we brought over a box of toiletries for use among the kids: toothpaste, toothbrushes, and soap. She nearly cried over this as well.

Ansie told us about a program that she is launching entitled, "Adopt an Orphan". You don't get to keep the child, but you do get to assume his monthly financial obligation to help relieve the financial stress on the center. Remember the center feeds each child two meals a day, helps to provide clothing, educates the children and provides transport to and from the child's home. Ansie will update you on the child's development throughout the year should you choose to participate. She can be reached at the following e-mail address: child@iway.na. I can also provide you with the center's banking details if you would just like to donate to its cause; just e-mail me.

Unfortunately, the center doesn't as of yet have a web presence. Kelly and I are going to try to help Ansie at least create a blog so that she can chronicle the center's progress at no cost. That's really funny that here in Namibia, I am considered a tech guru. My friends from Catholic who are reading this are probably laughing out loud.....

The photos are, of course, of our excutive committee members handing over the grant for the playgorund equipment to Ansie in the middle. The other is of IWAN's membership listening to Ansie's presentation in the school cafeteria. The third is of one of the teachers providing one on one instruction to a learner.