Went camping this weekend with another American family from the embassy community. They also have three kids roughly the same age as our own. So, six kids out in the African bush....wow! We camped at a place called Hochland Nest. It’s got a lodge, but its camp site is located a bit of a ways away from the lodge on a lake called Friedenhau Dam. The lakes and rivers typically dry up outside of the rainy season, so the water authority, NamWater, will dam up the rivers and create lakes so that there’s some standing water in the dry season. Some of the lakes serve as a water supply to different communities and/or also have a recreational function. This particular place apparently attracts fishermen from neighboring Windhoek. They host bass tournaments and so the camp sites are well frequented by the locals.
We weren’t sure what we were getting into. The website info on these places tends to be sparse and talking to people on the phone is an experience in and of itself—they’ve got an accent, we’ve got an accent, there’s an echo, yada, yada, yada—so communication is often sketchy at best. We did know beforehand that there wouldn’t be water at the pitching site itself. We knew there were ablution facilities (toilet & shower, such a medieval term), so our family had assumed that there would be drinking water available somewhere on the premises. Wrong! The water used in the showers was pumped up directly from the lake. Not sure whether or not it was then treated in some manner, but from the looks of it when we filled up our supply bottles, not likely. Never, never, make assumptions in Africa. Things turned out all right nevertheless and no one went thirsty since I had frozen a couple dozen juice boxes to use in the cooler in lieu of ice and the kids drank so much of that, that they were actually begging for water by the trip’s end.
The kids fished (didn’t actually land any though), played badminton, swam (until they discovered the leeches) and generally cavorted to their hearts’ content. The adults worked like dogs on the other hand getting tents and meals prepared. We took the first night’s shift on dinner and braaiied lamb chops, steak and sausage over a barrel that didn’t have a grill. Luckily we had brought our little grill, but had the devil of a time getting it so that it actually supported the meat over the fire in the barrel and didn’t collapse right into it. My friend Stephanie experimented the second night and made a ‘potjie’ which in Afrikaans means pioneer’s stew. We used hartebeest and other game meat just like they would have in the olden days. It turned out pretty good even though Steph had forgotten the red wine. We substituted Savanah Light Hard Apple Cider, so it gave the stew a rather unique flavor that we all enjoyed.
We didn’t see a whole lot of wildlife on this trip with the exception of baboons. We noticed their scat all around the campsite and I could have sworn that I heard them digging through the garbage one night. We saw a fine specimen on our way out of the campsite as he was foraging for breakfast. Baboons can be very aggressive, so being prepared for an encounter with one is the best advice. Just an added note, it was Emma's weekend to bring home the class pet, Jerry (a dwarf hamster). So, Jerry came along on the camping trip with us and spent the night in the tent. It's probably the biggest adventure he's ever been on! He did make it back to school in one piece. Thank goodness!
This will probably be our last camping outing here in Namibia and we sure enjoyed being out in the wilds of the African bush.
Photos: Kids from the two families in the splash pool at Hochland Nest Lodge. Jerry, the class pet, on his wild African Adventure.
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