A Visit From the Easter Hippo

Happy Easter!!! I'm writing this while trying to scrape all the soot from the fire pit out from under my nails, and realizing that some tasks are too hard to accomplish simultaneously! Instead of the usual Easter we're used to back home -they don't have egg hunts here in Namibia- my family and I used the holiday to travel up in the Caprivi region. Sure, there weren't any bunnies or baskets. But who needs them when you have crocs and hippos? 

It was a two day's drive into the "pan-handle" section of Namibia. On the second day, we got stuck while trying to get across a flooded section of road in our 2x4, and had to get taken across in a safari truck!

 But it was well worth it. We stayed at a place called Ngepi Camp, and got to sleep in tree houses that were literally on the Okovango river. Ngepi also had a pool that was floating in the river, some pretty funny toilets, and a huge fire pit where we sat and talked with people until way past late. We got to hear hippos at night as they meandered through the swamp around the camp, and saw families of them when we went out on boats down the river, as well as crocs! Crazy part is? That's not even the best part!

On our third day in the Caprivi region, my family and I had been talking around our own little fire pit near one of our tree houses when we heard rustling in the swamp. We looked over to see a giant grey mass of a hippo who was munching away at the grass! To our disappointment, it ended up making its way back into the thick of the brush when we tried to get in close enough for a picture. 

Later that evening, the hippo came back! I had been walking back from grabbing water from the other tree house, and had heard some familiar noises of hippo.  When I walked back to our fire pit, my suspicions were confirmed! My whole family was up on the deck because the same hippo was ten yards away! This time it was munching grass on land, and was a formidable dark mass in the evening light! To get an even better view, we followed the hippo and snuck around a bush hut to look at it from a better angle. We got close... But a bit too close. 

When a hippo gets irritated or feels threatened, especially a bull (male), it can turn ugly real fast. They are quite unpredictable animals, and have killed more people than elephants or lions: one second your calmly watching, and the next a hippo is mauling everyone. 

No one got killed. But the hippo gave a mock charge towards us all as a once off warning. It is quite the same as a bull's mock charge, except over 1,000 pounds scarier! It definetly got our adrenalin going!!! They might be big animals, but when they want to, they really can move! We got to see an example of this later at dinner by the main lodge, when the hippo bolted across the grass to the swamp!

This was by far the best and most memorable Easter ever. Even though there weren't any eggs to be found, the last morning I discovered owl pellets in my sink! Hope your Easters were all great, and filled with plenty of owl pellets and hippos too! ;-)

Viva la France!

After the trip to Boston, we got to spend a week in France before heading back to Namibia. After one gets over the pure exhaustion of time change, you realize that there's a reason this is one of the most talked about destinations in the entire world. There's so much to see and experience that one trip never really can cover everything.

My family and I only had enough time to visit Paris, but it was amazing nonetheless. We visited the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and so much more I might as well just show you my pictures!:

I Have Lived in America for 14 Years, But I Felt Like a Total Tourist...

Since my mom had an AIDS conference in Boston to attend, my brother Jason, my dad and I got to spend a week as tourists! Being back in America for the first time in six months was a shock...

 Boston felt like a deep freezer after coming from Africa. It was below freezing every day of our visit, which is just a tiny bit colder than the ninety degrees weather I've grown used to. We actually ended up getting flurries on the last day.

Despite the cold weather, my dad, brother and I spent most days walking around looking at the city. You have no idea how mind blowing it is to see skyscrapers and fancy buildings after being surrounded with one room huts built from scrap metal & car pieces. We also checked out the historical sights as well, and had lovely conversation about Africa with the active duty Navy personnel aboard the U.S.S. Constitution.

The speed at which everything happens in the American lifestyle was blindingly fast after living in Namibia. I mean, the chefs must marinate their ingredients in some sort of Speedy Gonzales steroid cooking juice, because that food just appears on the table like magic! Not to mention the metro made transportation waaaay too easy compared to what I'm used to: 'what do you mean I don't have to walk several kilometers if I want to reach the next town?' Despite the bedazzlement, Jason enjoyed a Subway sandwich and we all had fun getting treated terribly on purpose at Dick's Last Resort!

 

Three Time's The Charm

Our second day of hunting began early in the morning in hopes of following the wildebeest. We wolfed down breakfast and were jumping in to the back of the pick up at around 5 a.m. Unfortunately, we didn't have any luck with tracking once again, and had to give it up.

But it wasn't long until we spotted Oryx. The first time we stalked them that morning, they spooked before we had gotten close enough for a shot. During the second attempt, we spotted rhino tracks while we were making our way through the bush; the Oryx was walking away from us, which is never the ideal time to take a shot, as shooting too high can ruin a trophy head. But as they say, three time's the charm.

And they were right. We managed to get close to two of them. There wasn't any rain, so the flies and Mosquitos had come back out to reap havoc on anything and everything. The two Oryx were especially annoyed. They would reach their hind leg up towards their head and itch, and whip their tails in annoyance. Both were side by side, taking turns looking or grazing.

 We stepped out silently into the open towards them, and only then did Yakub spot a lone male Oryx laying in the grass. 

"Take the one lying down where the neck-" he began; we watched it stand up in surprise at the sight of three strange alien-looking life forms. 

"Take it now! Take it!" Yakub whispered.

I didn't even hear the shot. Barely felt the recoil. But suddenly we were running over to the Oryx which had fallen over and couldn't get up. It's a crazy feeling. A weird mix of awe and adrenalin.

 Yakub congratulated me, telling me that the shot was perfect. Dead on. Francis drove up in the truck, jumping out with a smile. He congratulated me as well. 

Yakub explained that there was a tradition in Namibia called "The Last Meal," which is done out of respect for the animal. He took a piece of shrub, breaking it in two. With the first half, he rubbed it in the wound, and gave it to the oryx -a last meal. With the second, he rubbed it in the wound, then rubbed it on my face and stuck it in my shirt pocket -showing that I had shot an animal. 

With that completed we loaded the animal in the back of the pick up and headed back to the lodge so my Oryx could be skinned and assessed for trophy. (For those who don't know, the thickness, length, and overall condition of the horns will determine trophy.) The horns were measured, and I watched the skinning. 

Halfway through the skinning process, Yakub brought out a plate of what I was to find out later was my Oryx's... balls. Yep. Not bad though. Actually quite good.

We still had a good three or four hours until lunch, so we went back out once more. All the animals must have heard the shot, despite the silencer, because the only things out after that were birds! We got to try out our skills at slingshot until lunch hit, and I came quite close to a dove more than once. 

Bad weather and a lack of animals cancelled afternoon hunting plans...