05 July 2007
Last weekend I got to go on a field trip with my grade 7 students to a place called Otjiwarongo—which you may remember from my last road trip blog entry. We didn’t actually stay in the town itself, but kept going about 44km (28 miles) past for a visit to the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). There were 12 of us in the group. Only 7 were students, though, because the grade 7 class is pretty small and they have to maintain a certain level of attendance to get the privilege. The 5 remaining spots were filled by myself, Casey, Julian (tennis coach), Reggie (office assistant) and Julian’s girlfriend, Rebecca (no affiliation whatsoever to MYO).
Since our driver had something else going on that weekend, I had the honor of taking the wheel. I’d made the same trip in reverse less than a month before so I didn’t mind. My iPod and Casey kept me company in the front seat. Casey provided the conversation that helped counteract the lulling effect of the desert during a 5-hour drive (when she wasn’t sleeping); Apple’s lovely invention aided me in keeping my sanity while 7 kids and 1 Reggie made what can only be described as a manageable African level of noise.
The drive itself was pretty. Someone asked me the other day what my favorite part of Namibia so far is; my answer was the inland semi-desert. It’s not easy to describe, but if you’ve ever seen The Lion King you can picture it somewhat like the savannah Mufasa ruled over… only not as green. There are a variety of durable plants and animals that only require a minimal amount of water, and the scenery is mostly composed of them for as far as the eye can see. Occasionally, there will be a “mountain” in the distance. (I put quotes around that word as someone who grew up near offshoots from the Rockies.) Casey said it looked exactly like the bush in Australia, and she kept waiting to see a kangaroo hopping along or doing whatever kangaroos do (boxing maybe?).
The last 40km or so was on a typical Namibian dirt road: bumpy and bumpy. A few of the boys were especially unhappy with this development because they hadn’t emptied their bladders in about 3 hours. I’m never really sure what to do when a kid starts shouting at me from the back of the combi to pull over. I sympathize with the bus drivers from my childhood—who I hated at the time—that would just shout something gruff about “only a few miles to go” when that obviously wasn’t the truth, I remember the power of will I honed while trying not to have an accident (although, does the term accident really apply in a circumstance like this?), but most of all I recall the fun of making river/waterfall sounds and shaking half-full bottles of water (for the real-life sound effects) in the ears of teary-eyed friends who honestly were on the brink of wetting themselves. Those were the days. So all that combined with the fact that we were “almost there”—I was pretty sure—made me debate whether or not to stop. In the end, I did pull over. But I couldn’t help myself from driving forward a short distance when each of them tried to get back in the combi. Ah, the little things.
Once we arrived and were directed to our campsite, we figured out the sleeping arrangements, unpacked and settled in. All of the adults got their own tents because the boys/girls decided to pile extra mattresses into their respective tents for big slumber parties. Sometimes it’s funny to watch kids at work. They operate on such a different level that I’ve honestly lost touch with in the last dozen years, and the journey back often makes me smile. The boy/girl/grown-up sleeping arrangements held up until a few of the kids got scared by howling jackals and raided Reggie’s tent for back-up. He really had no one to blame, though, since he started the scary story-telling around the fire about people being hung from trees, hunted by cheetahs, etc.
Since our driver had something else going on that weekend, I had the honor of taking the wheel. I’d made the same trip in reverse less than a month before so I didn’t mind. My iPod and Casey kept me company in the front seat. Casey provided the conversation that helped counteract the lulling effect of the desert during a 5-hour drive (when she wasn’t sleeping); Apple’s lovely invention aided me in keeping my sanity while 7 kids and 1 Reggie made what can only be described as a manageable African level of noise.
The drive itself was pretty. Someone asked me the other day what my favorite part of Namibia so far is; my answer was the inland semi-desert. It’s not easy to describe, but if you’ve ever seen The Lion King you can picture it somewhat like the savannah Mufasa ruled over… only not as green. There are a variety of durable plants and animals that only require a minimal amount of water, and the scenery is mostly composed of them for as far as the eye can see. Occasionally, there will be a “mountain” in the distance. (I put quotes around that word as someone who grew up near offshoots from the Rockies.) Casey said it looked exactly like the bush in Australia, and she kept waiting to see a kangaroo hopping along or doing whatever kangaroos do (boxing maybe?).
The last 40km or so was on a typical Namibian dirt road: bumpy and bumpy. A few of the boys were especially unhappy with this development because they hadn’t emptied their bladders in about 3 hours. I’m never really sure what to do when a kid starts shouting at me from the back of the combi to pull over. I sympathize with the bus drivers from my childhood—who I hated at the time—that would just shout something gruff about “only a few miles to go” when that obviously wasn’t the truth, I remember the power of will I honed while trying not to have an accident (although, does the term accident really apply in a circumstance like this?), but most of all I recall the fun of making river/waterfall sounds and shaking half-full bottles of water (for the real-life sound effects) in the ears of teary-eyed friends who honestly were on the brink of wetting themselves. Those were the days. So all that combined with the fact that we were “almost there”—I was pretty sure—made me debate whether or not to stop. In the end, I did pull over. But I couldn’t help myself from driving forward a short distance when each of them tried to get back in the combi. Ah, the little things.
Once we arrived and were directed to our campsite, we figured out the sleeping arrangements, unpacked and settled in. All of the adults got their own tents because the boys/girls decided to pile extra mattresses into their respective tents for big slumber parties. Sometimes it’s funny to watch kids at work. They operate on such a different level that I’ve honestly lost touch with in the last dozen years, and the journey back often makes me smile. The boy/girl/grown-up sleeping arrangements held up until a few of the kids got scared by howling jackals and raided Reggie’s tent for back-up. He really had no one to blame, though, since he started the scary story-telling around the fire about people being hung from trees, hunted by cheetahs, etc.
The next day we were up bright and early for our first activity at CCF: the cheetah run. They set up a rope and pulley contraption around the perimeter of the enclosure which held 3 of the younger cats—each named after a character from Harry Potter, probably because they look like young English wizards—to give them a chance to stretch their legs. Most of the cheetahs that live at the complex were orphans rescued too young to learn survival skills from their mothers (hunting included) so they get to chase a handkerchief tied to a thin rope around for exercise. Top speed of 70mph (110km/h) isn’t ever reached, but seeing the acceleration and running form of the world’s fastest land animal was impressive. They go from 0-60mph in 3 seconds flat and run the 100m dash in about 3.7 seconds, which means they would crush even sports cars off the line. Apparently, they can only keep this pace for around 300-400 meters before overheating and then needing to rest for a while. Still, the distance they can cover in that stretch of time is awesome. At full speed, their stride is 8 meters long. The way they place their paws while running basically amounts to them hovering off the ground the majority of the time. Long story short: I would not want one to decide to chase me. Unless ACME had just dropped off a set of rocket skates—but I think we all know how that usually turns out.
The next activity of note we watched was the daily feeding. Every cheetah has a bowl into which they chuck a hunk of donkey meat attached to a bone. Then they let the cats in—usually via a door suspended by pulley so no humans get caught in the hunger frenzy. Each one seems to recognize their respective bowl, or at maybe they have territorial claims to them, because within seconds they’re munching away without any problems. Once one finishes, however, it’s a whole new ball game. I shot a pretty sweet video of a male trying to steal leftovers from first his sister, then his brother. In the end, he lost the remnants of his dinner for being so greedy. I hope he learned his lesson.
After the feeding, the only other highlight consisted of an afternoon game drive out onto the open CCF property. We got to see bigger herds of animals than I’ve been treated to in Namibia. The most notable animals were oryx (I still love them), red hartebeest and warthog. We saw a few stragglers not belonging to those other groups, mainly a couple kudu (an elk-like animal that can jump like no other—another favorite), springbok, steenbok and Damara dik-dik. The last two are smaller/miniature antelope-ish animals. I always imagine them frolicking around in a miniature golf type wonderland so seeing them tends to bring a smile to my face. While nearing the end to the game drive, I found myself searching the nearby savannah grass for signs of predators. In the area, there are obviously cheetah, leopard (where there are cheetahs, there are leopards), hyena, lion, etc. I didn’t have any luck, but sometime during the investigation I started humming Lion King songs… the cool African ones.
Once we got back to camp, it was time for our braai dinner. Normally this would be the high point of my weekend, but I’m pretty sure I caught the bug that ruined the rest of my weekend from the meat I undercooked or the water I drank from the tap. Yes, I experienced my first serious bout with sickness since arriving last week thanks to poor decision making on a camping trip. Needless to say, Saturday night and most of Sunday was hell. Luckily I managed to raid a local grocery store’s pharmacy section and get all the Tums a person can eat. I spent the rest of the day sleeping/trying to sleep first in the combi and then on the couch once back in Swakop.
Monday was better, but Tuesday I decided an inaugural visit to an African doctor’s office was in order. It went a lot better than I expected. In fact, the whole experience topped most of the ones I’ve had at home. I showed up without an appointment, wrote my name and birth date on a slip of paper, waited 7 minutes, moved to a different waiting area, waited another 4 minutes, went into the doctor’s office, told him my symptoms, let him poke at my intestine for a minute or two, got a prescription, went back out to the reception (which doubled as a pharmacy), got my drugs, paid and was on my way… less than a half-hour after arriving! It was brilliant—almost as brilliant as getting rid of my bacterial invader. Now I’m back to normal and quite happy to be so.
Happy late 4th of July everyone!!!
The next activity of note we watched was the daily feeding. Every cheetah has a bowl into which they chuck a hunk of donkey meat attached to a bone. Then they let the cats in—usually via a door suspended by pulley so no humans get caught in the hunger frenzy. Each one seems to recognize their respective bowl, or at maybe they have territorial claims to them, because within seconds they’re munching away without any problems. Once one finishes, however, it’s a whole new ball game. I shot a pretty sweet video of a male trying to steal leftovers from first his sister, then his brother. In the end, he lost the remnants of his dinner for being so greedy. I hope he learned his lesson.
After the feeding, the only other highlight consisted of an afternoon game drive out onto the open CCF property. We got to see bigger herds of animals than I’ve been treated to in Namibia. The most notable animals were oryx (I still love them), red hartebeest and warthog. We saw a few stragglers not belonging to those other groups, mainly a couple kudu (an elk-like animal that can jump like no other—another favorite), springbok, steenbok and Damara dik-dik. The last two are smaller/miniature antelope-ish animals. I always imagine them frolicking around in a miniature golf type wonderland so seeing them tends to bring a smile to my face. While nearing the end to the game drive, I found myself searching the nearby savannah grass for signs of predators. In the area, there are obviously cheetah, leopard (where there are cheetahs, there are leopards), hyena, lion, etc. I didn’t have any luck, but sometime during the investigation I started humming Lion King songs… the cool African ones.
Once we got back to camp, it was time for our braai dinner. Normally this would be the high point of my weekend, but I’m pretty sure I caught the bug that ruined the rest of my weekend from the meat I undercooked or the water I drank from the tap. Yes, I experienced my first serious bout with sickness since arriving last week thanks to poor decision making on a camping trip. Needless to say, Saturday night and most of Sunday was hell. Luckily I managed to raid a local grocery store’s pharmacy section and get all the Tums a person can eat. I spent the rest of the day sleeping/trying to sleep first in the combi and then on the couch once back in Swakop.
Monday was better, but Tuesday I decided an inaugural visit to an African doctor’s office was in order. It went a lot better than I expected. In fact, the whole experience topped most of the ones I’ve had at home. I showed up without an appointment, wrote my name and birth date on a slip of paper, waited 7 minutes, moved to a different waiting area, waited another 4 minutes, went into the doctor’s office, told him my symptoms, let him poke at my intestine for a minute or two, got a prescription, went back out to the reception (which doubled as a pharmacy), got my drugs, paid and was on my way… less than a half-hour after arriving! It was brilliant—almost as brilliant as getting rid of my bacterial invader. Now I’m back to normal and quite happy to be so.
Happy late 4th of July everyone!!!
3 comments:
another fine blog! BUT...the lion king featured elton john songs, not phil collins. other than that snafu, i loved it!
beau.... i never get tired of reading of your adventures... I always feel as if I am right there with you... you are such an excellent writer and story teller! Hope you are having soo oooo much fun and can't wait for the next one!
Meesh!
touche erin...I was about the say the same comment! Beausive....hope all is well.hit me up sometime..miss ya, jacks!
Post a Comment