Interlude 1

So, I view this trip as 3 main parts, with smaller sight-seeing in between: the delta, etosha, and the sossuvlei. The first in-between I will call interlude 1.
After leaving tiger island, we returned to guma to spend one more night by the delta before heading on to etosha. We got back to guma pretty early, so we all had time to do some laundry, take showers (in the light, even!), and hang out for a while. I found a quiet, out-of-the way area by the delta where I could think. Mike ended up joining me there, and we talked for a while and then went for a walk around the campsite. We found the horse stables (they do delta pony-trekking, I think) where the older/pregnant/nursing horses who aren’t fit to ride are kept. There was one mare with a young foal, a colt if I remember correctly. I enjoyed walking through the stables. It’s been a while since I have been in a horse stable, been able to smell the smell, etc. there are horses in Lesotho, of course, but not in proper stables, and most of them aren’t trained to be particularly friendly (like most of the animals here).
We got back just in time for a game of touch rugby. I think it started off as a 4 vs 3 game, and then george and Alfred joined, making it 5 vs 4. Barbara opted not to play. Over the two weeks of this trip I got to practice throwing and kicking the rugby ball a decent amount. I did get at least a little better, especially at kicking, and I thought it was a pretty fun game. I learned a little about the rules, too, like different ways of putting the ball back in play. Anyways, if alfred’s eccentricities had not become apparent during the mud fight on tiger island, the definitely did during rugby. He takes rugby very seriously. He also prefers to kick the rugby ball, rather than throw it. My most vivid memories of this game are Alfred yelling “just kick it!” to his team-mates so that he could run forward to get the ball and score. It was amusing. My other vivid memory of this game is me tackling someone. Now, this was supposed to be a touch rugby game, but anyone who knows me knows that I am not the most graceful individual in the world. So, towards the end of the game, mike and I were both running for the rugby ball, which was loose and heading towards mike’s goal (I was playing defense). I tried to kick the ball away (this is legal, I’m pretty sure) but instead tripped mike and ended up going down as well. We landed in a pile of prickly grass and poor mike, who already had splinters in his feet, got splinters in his hand. I was also picking splinters out of my hand for the next couple days, but I guess I deserved it. The game ended soon after, and I went to take another shower (2 in one day!) because I was covered in dirt (I had fallen a couple times during the day). By then it was after dark, so I took another shower in the dark, washing my clothes as best I could. Unfortunately I had played in my jeans, and also unfortunately I discovered by the light of the next day that I had managed to rip them in an inopportune place. Drat. Anywho, that night we sat by the fire and chatted, drank beers, etc.
The next day, we headed out of the delta, out of Botswana, and back to… Namibia! We crossed the border right at a national park, so we got to drive through the park on the way to etosha. We saw quite a bit of wildlife, including sable, roan antelope, kudu, wildebeest, impala, zebra, tree squirrels, monkeys, and several types of birds. We also saw more hippos, and on the land. I had been hoping to see hippos on land. Actually I really wanted to see one trotting along, as I’ve heard they’re extremely graceful given there bulk. Unfortunately, they hippos we saw were far away and lying down. Clare and Andrew, wise british folk that they are, had thought to bring binoculars, so we were able to see the hippos through those. They looked like big gray boulders whose edges had been smoothed down. It was cool to see them on land, though, to see most of their bodies instead of just a nose or a head above water. They are amazing creatures.
We drove on and spent the night in rundu, though I can’t remember the name of the camp. We got there around dusk and everyone but I went for a boat ride on the water. I stayed to sew my pants back together. One of the boys had brought a sewing kit with him, thank goodness. I did get to watch/hear the end of the boat ride. They missed their turn to get back to camp, and I think the engine died and they got suck in the reeds. Alfred, the crazy one, decided to jump in to try to pull the boat back to camp. This didn’t work, but a crocodile did swim past him. From what I heard he got out of the water pretty quickly. The only other memorable part to the evening was that I got to try kudu meat, and I actually liked it! I have discovered a liking for game meat (more later). I think there was also a rather intense discussion about gender equality, but perhaps it is best not to expound upon that now. Eventually we went to bed. I think it was relatively early, too, since a large group of germans had taken all the space by the fire.
Next day we woke up, had breakfast, and were on the road. I think we had lunch by the road. I think it was at this lunch, by the side of the road, that we were accosted by children. It may have been another time, but I’m going to tell the story now anyways. Basically, the car had barely stopped when this gaggle of kids comes jogging across the street. They must have been lying in wait for some tourists (tourists = easy prey) and seen us coming. We got out of the car with a soccer ball (or football, if you will) that alfred had kindly purchased, and bummed around with it, and with a couple of the kids, until lunch was ready. We ate, while the kids stared and hoped for some food. One of the kids I’m pretty sure had kwashiorkor. His stomach was incredibly distended, while the rest of him was bones. And it was sad seeing them, but I guess living in Africa for a year and having to deal with people expecting hand-outs all the time had hardened me some, because I don’t think I took it nearly as badly as some of the group. Barbara gave them some cookies (biscuits) she had, and as we were leaving on of the guys in our group gave them some more food. The boy to whom he gave the food responded “tell madam [he was referring to me] that we want the football [soccer ball],” or something similar. I happened to have taken the soccer ball onto the bus. This is why I don’t feel too much pity for the kids. They can’t just say “thank you” for the food, but try to milk you for all your worth. And I guess I’m being western and wealthy and unfair, and if I was in their position I would try to get as much as I could out of every opportunity, but what can I say, I am western, and used to western forms of politeness.
Anywho, we continued from there to etosha, and arrived in time for a short game drive prior to hitting our campsite for the night. Almost as soon as we passed into the park, we came across two young male lions (their manes weren’t yet fully grown) just lying by the side of the road. We were off to a good start in the game-finding. Many of the animals in the park are so used to cars that they are completely indifferent to them. Our guide was telling us that lions can’t differentiate between cars and people in or by the cars. He had actually used this information once to scare off a lion that had come close to the car while a tourist was outside of it using the bathroom. One of george’s many fun stories. And better him than me. Anyways, these lions were completely indifferent to our presence, or to the presence of the car. So we hung out for a few minutes, lifted the top of the car up, and got some pictures. Then we moved on. A little while further down the road we spied giraffe. Now, I had wanted to see a giraffe on this trip, as I had never seen one before. Little did I know how greatly my dream would be fulfilled. We were all really excited by the first giraffes we saw, but then as we began to see 10, 20, 50, seemingly hundreds of them, their appeal died in favor of more rare sightings. Seriously, they must breed like rabbits in etosha because we saw them everywhere over the next couple of days.
Giraffes are very graceful animals, though. They look like they should be incredibly awkward, with their spindly legs and long necks. One ran right in front of our car, though, and it had an incredibly smooth, loping gait. It was like a tower moving on wheels, instead of bumping up and down as you would expect.
We turned the corner in the park and went up to a water hole. On the way we saw springbok and impala (these were also very common) and dik-diks, which george said were a relatively rare find. They were also hard to see, as their coats blended into the terrain. They looked like a cross between a rabbit and an antelope.
At the watering hole, we got to watch giraffes drink. They have two different methods: bend their knees, or spread their front legs. How they choose which method to use, I know not. We also saw some Egyptian geese. Why they were in Namibia, I know not.
By this time, it was getting late, so we headed for camp.
To be continued…