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...

The Ostrich Egg Omelet

Our morning hunt on the fith day was unsuccessful, we didn't even spot any animals. No jackals had come to our bait laid out the previous day. But the evening was when things got interesting!

We spent what must have been hours stalking oryx to shoot one for meat, with no luck, things seemed dismal. Yakub radioed Francis t bring over the truck, and we were happy to rest. Once again, there seemed to be no animals out... Until we rolled right by an Oryx just standing near the dirt road.

Yakub signaled to Francis to stop the truck, and placed the rifle on the pick up's railing.

"Take it," Yakub told Jason quietly.

The Oryx just seemed to look at us blankly until the shot went off. It fell down from the impact, then ran off. We all vaulted over the truck railing and ran after it, finding the Oryx lying dead only a few meters away from where it had been standing. Jason had delivered a perfect shot!

 We drove back to the lodge, and I was allowed to participate in the skinning. Which, surprisingly, is not as hard as it looks.

Yakub told the two of us that tomorrow we would go early to see if we could find any Jackals, since it would be our last day. But that evening, our plans were changed.

We hadn't been told this, but the owner's daughters were coming to the lodge due to the long weekend. They turned out to be a lot of fun, and we were asked to stay until Sunday at no extra charge!

The next morning we got up bright and early just as the sun began to rise. As we drove through the African bush, spotting giraffe and ostrich, it felt a lot like the beginning of The Lion King. Unfortunately, there were no Jackals to be found. But we did find an ostrich egg! 

It took a bit to convince the cook Anita to make me a lot of scrambled eggs, but they turned out delicious...

We sent the rest of the day with the owner's daughters swimming in a dam and constructing a giant raft out of rope and blow up pool toys -and getting some really gnarly sunburns all around.

To Shoot or Not to Shoot... That is the Question

With no rain the previous night, chances of finding the Blue Wildebeest shot the day before seemed good. I decided to have coffee with breakfast, just in case we had to do another stakeout.

To my luck we began tracking the wildebeest on foot. It became clear that Jason's shot had broken the right front leg, which meant the Blue would be extremely vigilant. Yakub explained that in this state, animals would often stop to look back just to see if anything was following them, thus he concluded that hunting it on foot would be useless. He called Francis via radio and we jumped into the pick up.

 The plan was simple: Francis would follow the Blue while we drove around to hopefully catch it head-on. The owner Tinus was also joining us in his own pick up to help locate the Wildebeest. The radio began going off every other second: it was heading south of us.

We met with Tinus at one of the frequently driven on dirt path intersections just as a massive Blue Wildebeest burst into the clearing. With practiced motions, Yakub moved the .308 into position and fired, breaking the other front leg. The wildebeest fell forward. Yakub got out of the truck and hurriedly told us to get out as well. 

Yakub sprinted over to the railing above a water trough that is used in the dry season, resting the rifle on the metal bar. Jason grabbed the gun and began to look down the scope.

Despite its excruciating injuries, the wildebeest attempted to hop away. It used its back legs to jump this way or that.

"Shoot- no, don't shoot," Yakub kept having to say.

Finally it rested long enough for a shot, and Jason delivered a perfect neck shot. Yakub gave the Blue Wildebeest its last meal, and it took THREE guys to load it into the back truck. Jason was extremely proud of his shot, and had an even bigger smile than before.

 While we were driving back to the lodge with the wildebeest in tow, the craziest thing happened...

Animals at game farms don't just stand around in the middle of the roads as a pick up truck with hunters approaches, so the female waterbuck standing in the road was certainly a shock to see. She was sick, as we found out when Yakub tried to catch it and the waterbuck ran headlong into the pick up! 

It took two trackers, one hunter, and a belt to finally restrain the waterbuck. She couldn't breath, it turned out, and since there was no chance of getting her to a vet in time, Yakub put her out of her misery.

After all that, it was time to head back to drop off Jason's wildebeest. My little brother refused to eat Wildebeest Balls, so we took a break instead. I managed to find Afrikaans monopoly and convinced Yakub to play with my brother and I. By lunch, I truly don't know who had won, because Tinus had snuck me a monopoly and Yakub seemed to have a key to the jail lock...

The monopoly board got destroyed during an unexpected man made earthquake, and we were back out hunting. We took some Jackal bait along -entrails- and tied them to a tree trunk for a later stakeout in the afternoon. My early coffee had served me well. 

We chanced upon helmeted guinefowl while driving, and I got to shoot one from the back of the pick up! Turns out there's not much left after you shoot a guinefowl with a .308 though...

Not much later, we spotted baboon about a kilometer away. My attempt at shooting one missed, but it sure scared the pants off of all of em!

It had seemed that we wouldn't be finding much more out, until we drove right up to a Puff Adder laying in the road. For those that don't know, Puff Adders have a seriously poisonous bite that can kill in under an hour. Just like Jackals and Baboon, Puff Adders are serious trouble and killed on sight. Yakub used the shooting sticks and the stock of the rifle to effectively accomplish this, with the help of Francis, of course!

We hadn't gone much farther after that until we spotted blue wildebeest. Yakub stopped the truck and said I would be shooting one for meat. We got out and approached them from a kilometer away, careful to keep silent.

When we finally came close enough for a shot, the sound of a wildebeest calling out stopped us in our tracks. Yakub responded, and the whole herd faced towards us.

"Take the one farthest left," he whispered, placing the rifle on his shoulder and motioning for me to move forward.

Once again I fired, so focused that the recoil couldn't be felt and neither the shot heard. We ran up to find it unmoving on the ground. Yakub congratulated me on another perfect shot.

Yakub and Francis loaded the wildebeest into the back of the truck so we could get on with our stakeout. 

No jackals came to our bait, and we ended up waiting for two hours with no luck. But that wasn't the agonizing part. Halfway through the stakeout, the wildebeest I had shot decided to have the last laugh, releasing its stomach gasses through its mouth and making the ENTIRE pick up smell like a dead animal. It smelled awful!

We were all glad to get going when evening fell, and spent the rest of the night playing yet another round of monopoly.

Why Coffee is the Drink of Choice

The weather finally decided to be kind to us the third day. Just sunshine, no rain to spoil the hunt. We saw a herd of black wildebeest soon after crossing into the hunting zone. Yakub explained that they are called the clowns of the bush, since they will run around and around as a herd in circles to confuse predators. 

Just in case you're wondering why there isn't another stalking story upon seeing these creatures, it's because there are huge differences between the Black and Blue Wildebeest. The Black Wildebeest is a dark brown in color, has a white tail, front facing horns, narrower hooves, and a smaller body. The Blue is a grey-blue in color, with side facing horns, wide hooves, and is much larger of an animal.

Besides a herd of impala, we weren't seeing much that morning. Things seemed pretty slow until Yakub spotted a Jackal 500 meters away. The vehicle stopped and Yakub took the shot from atop the pick up. The Jackal managed to run off, but after we drove up and saw the spot where it had been, there was no way it would be able to cause any more trouble.

Another hour of driving without seeing much meant we would try our luck at a stake out. When we arrived at the watering hole, the usual spot that they used was currently occupied with wasps. Instead we set up behind two large bushes... and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Now I realize why coffee is the hunter's drink of choice. You need SOMETHING to keep you from falling asleep with boredom! Thankfully we got to go back for lunch, because picking grass doesn't keep one entertained forever.

With such an unsuccessful morning, we were worried that there wouldn't be much of a turnout in the afternoon. But then we spotted Blue Wildebeest tracks, and left the pick up to follow them deep into the bush. We must have walked for miles, but it didn't matter when we finally drew close! 

Before we could spot them, a huge warthog stepped into our path. Yakub silently asked Jason if he wanted to shoot it, but my little brother shook his head. Yakub nodded, and after a few tense moments of walking as silently as possible around it, we continued to follow the herd. 

The day began to grow old, and the hours of sunlight left was at bare minimum. We were all exhausted after stalking through the bush, and Yakub radioed Francis to pick us up and take us back to the lodge.

"What if we don't find a wildebeest?" Jason asked me as we began the drive back.

"Don't worry about it, we will," I assured him, crossing my fingers we would.

Yakub stopped the car and got out to look through a clearing, he crept back slowly and grabbed the .308 and his hunting sticks, "Blue Wildebeest," he simply stated, "One kilometer."

Jason smiled from ear to ear. We both hopped out and began to weave our way through the bush towards the herd. The excitement reached its peak, and so did the mosquito hour.

We finally drew close, now crouching as low as possible while we crept towards the herd. Then one of the Blue Wildebeest made a noise that I can only describe as the cross between a snort, snore, and a sneeze. Just like the jackal from two days before, it was telling us that it saw us, but it was unsure what we were. 

And just like two days before, Yakub mimicked the noise, making the entire herd curious as to what we were!! They drew closer. Yakub placed the rifle on his shoulder and Jason moved over to shoot. All was silent until the Blue Wildebeest called again. Yakub called back. A mosquito buzzed next to my ear, and I felt it land, but avoided the urge to flick it off in case the movement spooked the herd.

"Take the big one on the left," Yakub whispered before answering another call. 

Jason fired and the Blue Wildebeest dropped. The herd dashed off, and it raced after its companions. By now it was almost dark, but we followed after the tracks. Yakub explained to us quietly that the Blue Jason had shot had broken off from the herd. They do this when they are very sick or dying, so it is a good sign that the shot may have been lethal. 

We followed until we couldn't see any longer, then marked the tracks for the morning. Once again we had to go to sleep with hopes that no rain came during the night.

Safari Excitement

Pictures coming soon

Jason and I were nuclear explosions of excitement radiating adrenaline at nine a.m. Monday morning, February 10th. After what felt like months of waiting -which it was- we were finally going to go on a hunting safari in Namibia, alone! No parents for a week. Just us, our professional hunter (PH) Yakub, Francis our tracker, the cook Anita, and the safari farm's owner Tinus. 

My mom had to work down in a place called Tsumeb for the week, which left my brother and I with nothing to do for several days except sit in a hotel room. But after a brilliant idea, and a couple phone calls, we found Osonjiva Hunting Safaris. They were perfectly OK with letting two kids come and stay alone for the week, and would provide us with hunting rifles and shooting lessons. 

A white van drove up to the hotel lobby. It was covered with thick mud- due to the massive downpour that had started around 7 and hadn't yielded yet- and on the side door a sun-faded sticker read 'Osonjiva Hunting Safaris.' The driver stepped out and introduced himself to us as Yakub (pronounced Yak-oob), our PH for the week. He was a tall, burly German with short red hair and mustache, and light blue eyes. Despite the cold weather, he had on shorts and a button up short sleeved shirt. Yakub reassured my mom that he would take good care of us, and helped load our luggage into the back of the van.

After we said our goodbyes to my mom, it was off to the gun shop to pick up ammo for the .308 Winchester we would be using to shoot throughout the week. Yakub told us that the rifle was his, and that if aimed into the ear, it could even kill an elephant. This led to my little brother asking A LOT of gun related questions...

Our second stop was the taxidermist. I had never been to one before, but it's impressive to see. The van pulled up to a huge warehouse, and Yakub led us inside so we could see the process of how they really make the trophy heads, and get a price list so that if we wanted trophies to be made of our kills, we'd have an idea of pricing. Inside, the warehouse walls were lined to the roof with trophy heads of every animal imaginable. There were racks to hold more of the finished trophies on the ground, and taxidermists were busy sculpting full body mounts of every shape and size. 

After looking around some more, we got back in the car. This time joined by our cook Anita, the owner Tinus, and Tinus' dog, Mango. From there we headed to the Game Lodge, driving far away from town on dirt road. The rain had finally stopped, but when it rains in Africa, it floods. So the supposed-to-be 45 minute drive became an hour and a half.

When we finally arrived everyone was starving, and Anita whipped together one of the best lunches I've ever had. Yakub said we could go out for shooting lessons after we put our stuff away. Usually unpacking takes a while, but we shoved our stuff in the closet in record time.

An olive green pick up truck was waiting for us outside when we were done. Yakub was carrying two rifles over to it. Our .308 Winchester, which had a scope and a silencer screwed on the front, and a .458 with iron sights for any leopards we might run into. He told us to hop into the back with Francis, our tracker for the week. 

We drove out of the lodge and past the herds of cows the lodge used for fresh milk and meat, arriving at a large gate that separated the game farm from the rest of the area. Francis jumped out and opened it up so we could drive through, and then jumped back on. We drove through the bush for a while until we came upon an open area with termite mounds in the distance.

 The pick up stopped at a "shooters table" and everyone got out. Francis picked up a cardboard box from the back and walked it out to the termite mounds, when he placed it down, we realized there was a target taped to it. 

"You will shoot from ninety meters," Yakub explained, "This is the usual distance from which you will also shoot while we are hunting."

Yakub sat down at the "shooters table" and positioned the .308 on the shooting bag, telling us he just had to adjust the scope. Upon asking if we needed ear protection, Yakub told my little brother that he could cover his ears if he wanted, but that most people didn't care to out here, since the sound wouldnt be deafening. 

After a few shots had gone off we both agreed that the sound wasn't bad at all. It didn't take long before Yakub offered us the chance to shoot. My first shots were pretty decent, and Yakub said that on a big animal, a couple inches off wouldn't make a difference. 

It began to rain heavily after that, and since rain isn't good for rifles, we ended up heading back to the lodge. Thankfully the weather cleared up soon after, and Jason was able to shoot as we'll. By then it was about 4 in the afternoon, and Yakub told us that we still had plenty of time before dinner, which would be around 8. So we began hunting!

The first day we spotted plenty of animals: ------. I had decided to shoot Gemsbok/Oryx, while Jason was still making a hard decision between Blue Wildebeest and Warthog. 

At Osonjiva, Jackals and Baboons are free to shoot; they cause trouble in the farm, so if any are spotted, they'll be shot on sight. We spotted a Jackal while we were out, and Yakub got out immediately. He whispered to Jason that he should take the shot, and we began to crawl towards it quietly, taking cover behind a small termite mound. Yakub placed the rifle on his shoulder and steadied it with his hand, then beckoned Jason to come take a shot. But before Jason could look down the scope, the Jackal made a sound quite like the comedic kissing noise you hear on tv. Which meant that it saw us, but it was unsure about what we were. 

Yakub cupped his fist to his mouth and responded with the same noise. The Jackal drew closer. Curious.

 

Once again the Jackal and Yakub called out to one another, the Jackal again drawing nearer. It was facing straight towards us now.

"Take the shot where the neck and chest meet," Yakub whispered.

BLAM! The Jackal fell over from the shot, but was up again instantly and took off running towards the bush. We ran over to where the jackal had been standing to find red coloring the dirt. Jason had shot the jackal high in the neck, and a couple inches to the left. 

Francis rumbled over in the truck, and we began to track. Jackals are small, light animals, so following their tracks in the dirt is quite useless. You can only follow them as long as there is blood. We ended up losing the trail, and our adrenalin slowly lost affect as well.

It wasn't until about six thirty that we finally spotted some Oryx and Blue Wildebeest. They were a good 1 1/2 kilometers away from the pick up, and hadn't noticed us. Yakub jumped out of the car and grabbed the .308, beckoning to us silently to get out as well. We began stalking in a single file line, weaving through the bush, slowly drawing nearer to the animals. 

The closer we came, the quieter our footsteps fell. A light rain had begun to fall as it got darker, and as we finally came close enough to take a shot, the sun had disappeared behind the horizon. Yakub set up the shooting sticks quietly, as neither the Oryx nor the Wildebeest had taken notice to us yet.

This time it was my turn. I watched the Oryx through my scope, but Yakub told me not to shoot yet, as right behind it was a wildebeest. Neither moved, meaning there was no clear shot. Then suddenly Yakub whispered for me to take the second wildebeest off to the right, which was facing forwards towards us about 70 meters away. He quickly explained that it would just be for meat.

I shot a bit to the left on the neck. The wildebeest fell over and stood up, stunned. Yakub took the rifle and tried to shoot again, but the rifle was jammed! Suddenly everything felt frantic. Yakub had to slam the rifle on the ground to remove the live round that was stuck, and ended up firing the rifle!! It spooked the Oryx and Wildebeest. With the pounding of hooves they raced deep into the bush.

Tracking was useless, as it began to get darker and darker. In Namibia, it is only legal to hunt until sunset, and our time was almost up. We could only pray that raid didn't cover up the tracks as Francis drove up in the pick up and we had to call it a day.

Visiting the Himba

**pictures coming soon**
One of the last indigenous people, Himba are very proud of their culture which has survived wars. Meeting them was a unique experience I won't forget.

To actually communicate with the Himba, we had to get a guide who could speak Herero, their language. Our guide turned out to be a former Himba herself who went to school and learned English. The tribe we visited was her own, and our experience went something like this:

7:30 am We woke up early and drove to the market to meet our guide/translator, since we had to drive her to the tribe. While at the market, we picked up bread, oil, and maize to give as a gift to the tribe. Our guide, Queen Elizabeth, said this was a customary procedure for visitors.

8:00 am After paying for our gifts, we drove for about thirty minutes along a gravel dirt road, leaving houses behind and replacing the city with spaced out clusters of mud huts. Most of these small villages were empty, as the Himba are still semi-nomadic. But the one Queen instructed us to drive up to was full of people.

The Himba villages are made up mostly of women. In fact, upon first look, that seems to be the only people there! We walked up to a small mud hut where an older woman was sitting and watching over the porridge bubbling in a large, black iron pot. We greeted her and gave her the gifts we had bought. She introduced herself as... well... I have no idea how to spell her name at all.

The older woman called the rest of the tribe over to us, and suddenly we were surrounded with women and children. The air smelled strongly of ochre, which is the red paste Himba women apply to their skin for sun protection. We introduced ourselves to everyone, and they had a good laugh teaching us how to say hello in Herero.

Queen told us we could take pictures as much as we wanted, so we snapped a couple group photos with all the Himba children. I also became a big point of interest, because they hadn't seen hair like mine before. The girls especially enjoyed to touch it, and tried to teach me how to say "hair" in Herero.

We were then led over to a grinding rock. My family was led by Queen, while I was led by both hands by the village children. One of the older girls showed us how they ground up barley for porridge with the stone, and then we were urged to try it. There is something very funny about watching a foreigner try out grinding, for all the children were giggling by the end. Even Queen thought it was amusing.

After that, the chief of the tribe came over and introduced himself to us, shaking each of our hands with his in turn. Queen explained why there weren't many men in the villages: most were down in town, drinking beer. But the chief usually stayed in the village, as it was his responsibility to make sure the tribe had enough to eat. He had several wives as well.

From there the kids led us to the main hut, where the chief usually stayed. It was mud, like the others, but inside the small hut was decorated quite thoroughly. There were mats of cow hides on the dirt floor, piles of maize flower given to the tribe by the Namibian government, and trinkets hung from the ceiling and walls, some of which were broken walkie talkies, a radio and a dirt covered cell phone.

A Himba woman was inside, and had the small fire pit going. Queen explained that the women would burn sage and use it as a natural cologne, since there was very little water here. The Himba woman showed us, squatting over the embers and fanning herself with the scent just like splashing water on yourself during a shower.

The woman then proceeded to rub herself with a mixture of Vaseline and ochre. The red ochre clay has a unique smell to it. Very earthy, and muddy. Queen told us the women do this multiple times as a daily ritual. The Himba woman then asked Queen something in Herero, which made her smile and chuckle to herself. We were asked if we'd like to try some of the mixture as well. I had thought we had gotten a laugh out of grinding...

The woman rubbed the ochre all over my face, which felt like a thick, grainy cream. She finished, and took a step back, saying -to my surprise- in English, "You are Himba now." She smiled, and I thanked her, turning towards everyone else. The hut was filled with laughter at my changed appearance, and no one else in my family opted for a Himba makeover. I sat back down amongst the Himba children who giggled and took some of the ochre from my face and rubbed it on their arms. They giggled and played with my hair and the buttons on my shirt, holding my hands with theirs.

Queen and the other Himba talked in Herero. I figured they knew each other, as Queen had lived here before moving into the city. One of the kids began to clap, and upon my joining in, the others did as well.

Then the Himba  children got up and performed a little dance. They stomped their feet excitedly and clapped their hands, making themselves a beat, then added in singing, which I cant exactly describe since the sounds were so foreign I'm not sure if they have a spelling, and one by one got up and danced in the small hut. It was a unique sight to see, and hear!

11:30 am We were then led out to the final stop of our Himba experience. While we had been busy learning about the culture, some of the women had set up a display of necklaces and other trinkets to sell us. Queen told us everything -bracelets, anklets, necklaces, drums, dolls, to name a few- were all handmade by the women and girls. We bought a few items, and Queen bargained a bit to get us a discount. Then we said our farewells, heading back to the car still surrounded with the curious village children. When we opened our doors, the kids took an interest to the empty water bottles laying on the floor. Queen asked if we would donate them, which we agreed, as the entire bottom floor of the car and back of the trunk were littered with them. The Himba people used them for multiple things. Most importantly was baby feeding.

12:00 Upon emptying our car of plastic treasures, we said our final farewell and left back to the city, dropping Queen off back at the market. All of us were still excited with our experience of a unique culture, and it was the topic of discussion for most of the drive back home.

Mario Bros. Meets Africa

 

 

 

My mom recently took a trip up to Tsumeb, and came back with the biggest mushroom ever. It reminded me of the giant mushrooms from Mario Bros. The top part was the bigger than my face, and the stem was as big as my forearm! These monsters grow on the sides of the termite mounds, and are considered a delicacy in Namibia. People sell them on the side of the roads and restaurants supposedly buy up as many as they can.

 Well, I tried them, thinking they'd be good. But not so much. The whole boiled mushroom looked like a squid, and it had this nasty, slimy texture. Again, like a squid. I'm not a fan of squid at all. So my final review is yuck. :P

 

Just in case you're curious as how to prepare a giant mushroom, or you happen to find someone selling them along the side of the road since their in season, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 giant African mushroom, with the black/brown spots on top scraped off

1 cup hot water

1/2 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions:

1. Put  water and oil into a pan on medium high heat. Place mushroom, stem and all, face down into the pan.

2. Boil until mushroom is easily pierced through with a fork.

3. Serve with more olive oil for dipping and salt+pepper for taste.

Kwashiorkor and Marasmus Put into Perspective

This past week my mom attended a meeting, and a part of it was a lecture about malnourishment. She brought back samples of the food supplements they give children with kwashiorkor or marasmus, and we got to try them.

For those of you who don't know, kwashiorkor is a version of malnutrition where a person doesn't get enough protein in their diet. They may be eating, but not a balanced diet, resulting in enlarged livers, and protruding stomachs, to name a few side effects. The supplement is called Plumpy Nut. 

It's quite close to the peanut butter they put in power bars. It's full of protein to help families and induviduals with kwashiorkor, and the lecturer said that 'it tastes so good, they'll give it to the children, and the adults will eat it too!'

Sadly kwashiorkor occurs in the villages here in the North. There is a lack of education and variety of foods available to the people up there. :(

Marasmus is different than Kwashiorkor. People with marasmus have not gotten any nutrition at all. They will get extremely thin, and lose muscle. The supplement is a pap (porridge).

The porridge supplement tasted like bread, and actually wasn't that bad, despite what I was told. Much of the cases of marasmus are also in the villages up North here in Namibia. It's tragic to think that 30% of the children here in Africa are malnourished, but hopefully these supplements will help improve the lives of millions!

Swakopmund: Surf and Camel Turf

No trip to a beach town is complete without a surf trip! Everyone on the water was really friendly, and I got close to yet another seal. There was a decent reef break that got a bit too close to bare rock for comfort (If you don't know: a reef break is when waves will break over a reef that has rock on the bottom of the ocean floor instead of the usual sand). After surfing for a good three hours -and catching up on my tan- we headed to a great restaurant with a spectacular panoramic view of the ocean and massive dunes.




Camels might be some of the most dramatic creatures I've ever ridden. Whenever you mounted or dismounted, they would groan loud and long, kind of like an old man getting up in the morning. The morning before we left to go back to the north, my parents decided we would go on a last minute camel ride. And it was a bumpy experience! Camels have the same gait as horses, but their huge size makes every step feel like a jerky roller coaster that could use a breath mint. The rumors about camels having a lot of saliva is true. I didn't get spit on -sorry for those of you disappointed ;) - but others did.
<I cannot add pictures due to a bug in the blogger system>

Season's Greetings

⭐Happy Holidays to everyone back home! Hope the new year is a great one!⭐

Swakopmund: Sea Lions and Quad Biking

 

It's winter time, which means it's time to bundle up with a good book and some cocoa and sit by the fireplace. Or you can do as the  Namibian natives do, and head to Swakopmund for the holidays!

This year, my family skipped the presents and drove for two days down to a German beach town to spend our Christmas by the ocean. After you live right next to the beach your whole life, and then suddenly move to an area where there aren't even lakes to swim in, it's not easy to take no for an answer! 

Our first sight in Swakopmund is one I like to call the sass-ful sea lion. The beach was abandoned at the time, since there was a freezing cold marine layer covering the shore.
Everyone gone except the seal lion and my camera! By far my favorite picture ever!

 On the first day of our stay here, we went Quad Biking through the enormous dunes of the African desert. It was an experience that combined the rush of adrenaline and adventure with desert wildlife. Imagine gunning it up the side if a dune the size of a five story building, and then turning sharply to speed back down it... and yelling like a crazy person despite yourself! Your heart leaps into your throat for a second and your stomach must have left you back at the top!

But if that doesn't have you psyched, seeing one of the deadliest snakes in Africa will! Our guide could find any creature just by the unique tracks it left in the sand. We saw a lot of crazy stuff, but the Sidewinder was by far the most intriguing. Our guide, Johannes, had stopped at a small cluster of plants that had managed to survive in the harsh, ever-changing conditions of the desert, and smiled, "Snake," he told us simply, using his walkie talkie to move it onto the large dune above us. A small, brown and tan snake glared at us. When Johannes tried to move it once more for a better camera view, it moved diagonally across the dune towards the sandy floor in a way that gave the Sidewinder it's name.

Unlike a normal snake, which usually uses its entire body to slither forwards across a surface, the Sidewinder moves sideways, winding its body in a backwards and forwards S shape so it only has to touch two parts of its body to the hot desert at any time. they are extremely venomous, so if one of us got bit out here, we probably wouldn't survive. But the only thing I took away from that lesson was that it looked like the Sesame Street show character, Cookie Monster, would have a hard time dealing trying to munch on this tough S-shaped cookie!

 When it had arrived on the floor, Johannes told us he would pick it up. It was a unique process of holding its head down with a tyre pump and inching his fingers up until he held it right behind the head, which I caught all on video and will hopefully get a link out to you all soon. We got to touch it and feel it wrap around our hands -okay, besides my mom ;)- which is much less intimidating when you know the venomous part is under control. But just the slip of his hand, and we'd all be in trouble...

 The chameleon we found that reminded me of a cross between Godzilla and Yoda....

 If you manage to tear your eyes away from my extremely attractive sanitary hair net, youll notice that I gained a fabulous pair of ear rings during the tour!

 Johannes explained that this horse skull below was just one of the two thousand horses killed during the war. :(

 

 

Quad Biking was by far one of the coolest African adventures I've had yet. But there's plenty more in store!

Etosha Prison

Even the nicest places seem to get inhospitable at night here in Namibia. Maybe it's cause of the country's history of wars starting up in the late hour, but no matter how you look at it, we were locked inside Etosha National Park with no way out.

It all started when my family decided to spend our holiday vacation in Swakopmund (a German town by the beach) which is about 10 hours from our home up in the north. For some reason we had gotten the idea that this ten hour excursion could be possible even though we decided to go through Etosha along the way. We started our journey at about 10 am, and made it to the entry gates of the park at 2 pm. In Etosha, the speed limit is 60 kl so you don't slam into an animal going 120 around a turn. Even if we hadn't cared about the speed limit, it still would have taken us hours to go through the place. During the rainy season there are usually no animals at all, but I saw leopard turtles, dung beetles, meerkats, and giraffes. Also, our car became surrounded in a herd of 200-300 Springbok! And we came upon at least a hundred Gemsbok soon afterwards, who gave us a great sparring match to watch as they took down one another using their horns.

By the time all of that was over, it was 6 pm, and we were still inside the park, sitting down to eat at Okaukuejo Lodge inside of Etosha. As we left to drive the last 20 kilometers to the gate, our car hit three birds that we hadn't even noticed. The road became even darker as the sun set over the horizon, and we illuminated the closed gates of the National Park. It was like the surprise birthday party you never wanted! Yay! Isn't that just awesome? 

After realizing no one was there, my dad turned the car around and we stayed the night at Okaukuejo. The next day was filled with driving- again!

 Above: the entrance to Okaukuejo Lodge. Below: the look out tower built by invading Germans during the war.

 Above: one of the many jackals that snuck in to steal food from campers. Below: a great view of the camp from atop the lookout tower.

 

 

Meet Dosquie

On New Year's Eve, my brother adopted a dog. Her name is Dosquie (pronounced Dawskey) and she's two years old. The poor thing got sterilized the morning before we drove back home, and slept most of the way. At first, we all thought that her calm temperament in our house was from the meds, but it turns out we got lucky! Dosquie enjoys curling up on the bed with Jason, is great with walking on a leash and we've already taught her to sit!! Now all I need to do is teach her to cook and clean...