Oh, Etosha – Erich

Let me tell you about two amazing days in Etosha National Park. But first, let me explain what it is. Etosha is built around the Etosha Pan. This is a salt pan. A few hundred million years ago, this was a lake. A few different rivers flowed into it. But then there was a change in elevations due to continental drift. And the rivers took a different course. So the lake dried up, leaving a huge lake shaped salt and sediment pile. When it rains, the salt pan is very permeable, so the water can soak through it. But beneath the salt layer is a clay layer that is impermeable. The water flows downhill (mostly south) on this clay layer until the clay layer meets the ground level and the water comes out.

This has formed watering holes for the animals. There are three kinds, as I learned. Contact springs are when the water is between a permeable and impermeable layer, and the water cannot go down the impermeable layers so it has no choice but to soak up to the surface. Water level springs are when the elevation of the land dips below the water table level. And artesian springs are when pressure from the weight of material above the water presses on the water, forcing it up and out of the ground.

Regardless of the types, the watering holes are places where many, many animals congregate to get a drink. There are many watering holes along the southern and western edge of the salt pan. So lots of game is found here.

When the first European settlers came, they thought this place was great! Hunting paradise. But about 100 years ago, the then governor of the region declared the lands around Etosha Pan as a preserve. He was trying to stabilize populations of these animals. Now it is a national park and there are huge herds of many different antelope species and so much more.

Etosha is a driving park. We camped at Okaukuejo, a campsite with swimming pool, restaurant, and most significantly, a permanent watering hole that is floodlit. So you can even watch at night and possibly see some of the nocturnal species. But when not in camp, we drove to various watering holes to see what we could see.

Let me tell you some of the most impressive moments we experienced. Then I will give you a full list of the different species we saw.

Our first night in Okaukuejo, we went to the floodlit watering hole after dark. There was thunder and lightning. Seeing the lightning in the background was an experience I cannot easily describe in words. At first, there were only a pair of ducks in the water itself. We felt a few drops and were about to leave when Syarra saw something coming. We stayed and watched and a white rhinoceros and her baby came down to the watering hole to drink. They hung out for awhile and then headed out. After that, we also saw (more or less in silhouette) a giraffe browsing on trees in the distance beyond the reach of the floodlights. When the lightning flashed, we could sometimes make out its shape more fully. But it never decided to drink and to come into the light.

The next day, we were traveling from watering hole to watering hole. Along the roads we saw many species, including some that are very rarely seen. For example, we saw a honey badger. It walks much like the badgers in the U.S.A. But they have black fur on their sides and underside. Their tops are more of a tan or brown. They are called honey badgers because they work together in symbiosis with a species called the honey bird to get honey. The birds apparently lead the badger to a place where there is a bees' nest. Then the badger breaks into it and eats honey. After which the honey bird gets to enjoy the mess of honey left, for the badger is neither complete nor neat in his honey consumption.

But perhaps most exciting and even rarer than the honey badger, we saw a leopard. We were at a watering hole called Aus. There we saw some kudu (large antelope with twisting horns and thin white stripes on their sides) drinking. After they left, we were about to leave. But along came a leopard! It didn't walk to the watering hole, but went partially around it. It got to a stand of trees and then laid down to rest. Leopards are the rarest of what is often known as the big five. So we stayed to watch. A bit later, three springbok (another antelope species that is a bit smaller than the kudu, though still large, and has a lighter coat) came toward the watering hole. But they seemed to suspect something was wrong. They were very slow to approach. Meanwhile, from the other side, a whole troop of kudu and several warthogs came stomping in. They must not have smelled anything amiss or suspected the presence of the leopard, because they happily marched to the watering hole.

While the kudu and warthog were approaching, the leopard got up, walked to a stone structure, leaped up onto it in one big jump, and then went over the wall. None of the prey species saw him. We thought perhaps the leopard was trying to get into a position to surprise one of the kudu or warthogs. We stayed until both of those groups had enjoyed enough water and left. But we never saw the leopard attack. Maybe that wasn't the plan after all. Still, we considered ourselves incredibly lucky to have seen the leopard at all.

Rhinoceros

Impala seeking the shade

Ostrich

Zebra

Hyena

Here is a more comprehensive list of many of the animals we saw at Etosha National Park:

• Leopard
• Black-backed jackal
• Side-striped jackal
• Spotted hyena
• Gemsbok (a type of oryx)
• Blue wildebeest (which is also called the brindled gnu and isn't blue)
• Red hartebeest (which isn't fire engine red, but does have a reddish brown coat)
• Bontebok
• Kudu
• Impala
• Black-faced impala
• Springbok
• Steenbok
• Damara dik-dik
• Black rhinoceros
• White rhinoceros (which is not white, but its name comes from the Dutch word for “wide”)
• Zebra
• Warthog
• Honey badger
• Goshawk
• Korhaan

If any of you have any interest in going to see the animals of Africa, ask me about Etosha and how you can do it. I can't imagine that you will be disappointed.

LARPing - Carver

I decided to save the major details for other people. Syarra and I have been hogging all the action because we have time to sit in the backseat and write a blog post. This isn’t exactly a minor detail, but an idea. Now I am sitting in the backseat and writing a blog post but I will not hog all the action this time. Now this is getting a little redundant but read on, it gets more interesting.

So, that was the skin of the blog post. This is the juicy, meaty, fatty part. Starting out simple, before we get to LARPing, you need some context. LARPing stands for Live Action Role Playing. As a family, we play a role playing game called D&D. You should look that up and maybe even try playing (there are probably D&D groups near you). If you live in Lancaster, the Ephrata Public Library had one and I would assume it is still there. You don’t need to start but if you want to finish reading this, you should look up the idea of a role playing game.

… (Looking up role playing games)

All right, now we can continue. We were talking about this as we drove yesterday, ate dinner yesterday, and breakfast this morning. Keep in mind that I wrote this on December 3rd and I might not post it that day. So today means December 3rd and yesterday means December 2nd. So LARPing would be a role playing game where you are the character. It would most likely be D&D which is the most common role playing game. We were discussing as we left Brukkaros that this would be great land to build a LARPing palace. It was all a goofy idea but I found something more in it. LARPing is small, just groups who get together because it is fun. A LARPing business would be a huge step up from current LARPing. But what if we bought a bunch of land near Brukkaros. It is a sandy soil that is hard to grow in. So the land would be cheap but fine for LARPing. The business would hire the poor locals to put on costumes, act like monsters, swing fake swords, and do what the DM tells them to. The DM might need to be more experienced. The issue is transport. The players would walk to the dungeon where the monsters were from the city as the characters. However getting them to the Brukkaros area will be hard. Will the players care enough to fly to Windhoek and then drive to Brukkaros? Probably not. So there are some issues. And maybe it is just a crazy idea. Maybe LARPing will stay confined to small groups. But maybe the idea will work. And if I can make a profitable LARPing business, I plan on being the DM.

This post had no details that other people will want to write about, I would assume.

Waterberg Plateau – Erich

Our last posts were made on December 2 or 3 as we stayed one night in an exceptionally nice Hilton hotel in Windhoek, Namibia. Aside from the internet being a bit jumpy, the experience was delectable. There was a rooftop heated pool, set at a bathwater like temperature of 38 degrees Celsius. Next to this was an executive lounge that offered fruit and nuts and tea, as well as computers, printers, and a printout of news of the day from various nations (U.S.A. included.) We were given a free upgrade to a two room suite, each room as big as a standard hotel room. In the bathroom was a warming rack for your bath towels. I mean, this is serious spoilage. And the hotel's restaurant offered a buffet with delicious choices and so many desserts your head might spin. (Especially after the sugar rush.)

The next day, after another swim, we left the hotel and headed north out of Windhoek. As we traveled, we saw warthog, baboon, and giraffe. That afternoon we reached Waterberg Plateau Park. Here our accommodations were what they would call a caravan park. It's camping, but it would work for RVs as well. You have hopefully seen Syarra's post showing you what we are traveling in, so you know we aren't quite a recreational vehicle, but we pack our tents on our roof. The ablution facilities (as they call the rooms where the toilets and showers are) were very functional, though not fancy. Plus they offered two rooms with large sinks for cleaning dishes (which we took advantage of) and clothing (which we did not).

We grilled borevors (a special South African/Namibian kind of beef sausage that has been mentioned in the blog before) and had a relaxing dinner. Our dinner companion was a warthog who was grazing in the grass right next to our site. When warthog graze, they bend down onto their front knees and then walk that way as they get to the next bit of grass. But when anyone comes near, they hop up on their legs again and run with their tails straight up in the air. It was Alrica's birthday that day, so she got the honor of naming our friend. I'm not sure I would have chosen Mister Grumplestein, but he doesn't look entirely dissimilar from the Grumplesteins I have known in the past.

Mister Grumplestein

Also present in the campsite were packs of banded mongoose (is the plural mongeese or mongooses or just mongoose?). We saw a scrub hare. It was like a large tawny rabbit with extra long ears. But when he runs, it isn't in the back foot then front foot hop of the rabbits I'm used to. It looks more like the gallop of a horse.

The next morning, we got up just as dawn was breaking and had a quick breakfast. It was time to hike! Early morning and late afternoon are the best times to hike as there are more animals out and as it is much cooler than the middle part of the day. We hiked up the Mountain View Trail. Waterberg Plateau Park truly is along a plateau. The campground is at the bottom of the mountain. But the trail we took scaled the side of it and brought us up to the top of the plateau. Here we had amazing views of the landscapes below. They aren't lush, but covered with scrub.

The Plateau from below

Along the way we saw more banded mongooses (I'm going with mongooses). We saw a couple of rock hyrax, which are also called dassies. These look like large brown rodents. But apparently they are more closely related to African elephants than any other animal. You wouldn't know it from looking at them. We spied a family of black long low creatures. I'm not sure what they were, but they looked like the kinds of things one would have trapped for the furring industry. Maybe they were sable? We also saw several of the Damara dik-dik which is the world's smallest antelope species. They are small, maybe a foot and a half tall to two and half feet tall. The males have two short black horns.

The most dangerous creatures we saw were baboons. Everyone warns visitors about the baboons. They have figured out that humans with backpacks means food. They also know how to steal out of your vehicle. I was told that if I saw baboons, they probably would ignore me. But if not, I was to shout and throw a rock in their direction, that would scatter them. When we saw them, I had a rock at the ready, but I never needed to use it.

While we were able to climb to the top of the plateau, we had to stop there at the edge. The plateau is protected. To go onto the plateau you either must do a guided tour or get a permit. But the permits must be requested months in advance. And they only give out six or fewer at any one time. They are trying to protect the ecosystem up there.

We climbed back down the plateau and took a swim in the super clear pool there. After that we relaxed a bit, then had lunch at the park's restaurant. After lunch, we stayed at our camp in the heat of the day and played some cards. Later, Syarra and I went for another hike. After that, I went for a hike by myself (no one else really wanted to join me.)

I had a great time. At one point, I saw a bird in a tree with something in its beak. So I took out some binoculars and focused in. It was an owl, staring right at me. In its beak was a dead lizard. It stared at me, I stared at it, and eventually we both decided that was enough of that. I saw more warthog, mongooses, and a rodent that looked like a shaggy gray mouse but slightly larger than I think of mice as being. It was too quick for me to get a detailed view.

We stayed one more night at Waterberg, and wow, it stormed. But our tents kept us dry and the strong winds felt good. The next morning, we again got ready early. This time we packed everything up to head out for Etosha National Park.

That's where I am now, and as I type this, a black bird with red rings around its eyes is staring at me. But I will tell you about Etosha (or someone in the family will) in another post. Because this is already getting long, and trust me, there is a lot to tell about Etosha.

The Road to Windhoek - Alrica

Saying goodbye to Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa

I’ve spoken of fear before and my intent to not let it impact this adventure so I have been trying to ignore a new fear ever since we booked this trip to Namibia. Specifically, all of the tour guides say that the way to see Namibia is on a self-driven tour in a 4x4 vehicle. Further research introduced us to double cab trucks with tents on top. This was very exciting to all of us and with a bit of negotiation, we were able to get a company to lower its price to fit our budget. We rented from a company called Zebra if anyone is looking. Now it was the morning to pick up the vehicle. Here is where the fear comes in. 

These trucks are standard transmission South African vehicles which means that the driver is on the right side of the car and the gear shift is to the left (in the middle). They drive on the left side of the road. On top of that, the windshield wipers and the turn signals are switched. At least the foot pedals are standard. To start, I haven’t been able to drive at all since my surgery and, while I have been healing nicely, I had some fear about all the stress on my right leg. Secondly, I haven’t driven a stick shift in twenty years. Finally, I have never driven on the left side of the road. Yikes!

Erich doesn’t drive stick shift at all so it is all me unless there is an emergency. We finished packing up our Cape Town apartment and called an Uber driver to pick us up. Setting up Uber was a pain, but the rest went really nicely. Our driver was also a part time tour guide and gave us a running commentary on the way to the airport. When we got there, our truck was there and waiting and Wanda (our driver) spent well over an hour going over details: how to set up the tents, all of the equipment that came with it (including a refrigerator), and all of the safety and repair gear. He was thorough and reassuring.

Then we were on our own. Happily, the driving came back to me pretty quickly. The first half hour was fairly stressful as we drove through a busy city complete with roundabouts and stop and go traffic. It also involved filling the gas tank and replacing a broken taillight (which the garage did for no charge!). A stop at the apartment for final checkout and a grocery store run and we were on our way.

Within ten miles of Cape Town, we saw our first ostriches! We passed vineyards and drove through mountain ranges and stopped for construction. All part of the adventure. Leaving a bit later than we expected meant a need for flexibility. We had planned to make it to a campsite in Springbok, South Africa the first night but we wouldn’t make it that far. As I drove into the late afternoon, Erich started looking up campsites that would be closer. We considered getting a hotel but we were all really eager to try out the tents. Finally found a place pretty late and set up camp by the light of flashlights (torches). Ate a cold dinner and enjoyed amazing stars and went to bed.

Wanting to make up some lost time, we had a quick breakfast and got on the road again. Continued north on the N7 to the Namibian border where luckily there was hardly anyone in line ahead of us. That still meant nearly an hour and a half at the border crossing. South Africa had to check us out and Namibia had to check us in and charge us the road usage fee of N$242. With all of my research, one of the things that hadn’t come up was that Namibia changed their law several years ago that now requires US drivers to carry International Driver’s Licenses, not just state licenses. The US state dept. hasn’t caught up with that yet. According to our rental company, most people aren’t given an issue though and that was our experience. At no time did anyone ask to see my license.

The first couple hundred KM of Namibia are flat, golden desert. It is very beautiful at first, but soon develops a sameness that had us wishing for change.  The turn onto the gravel road that lead us to our night’s camping brought us that change.  Being off the beaten path, we were forced to drive more slowly and enjoyed seeing birds and wildlife alongside small subsistence farming communities. A flock of ostrich crossed the road in front of us, the dust devils twisted along the dirt roads, and a stop at the Fish River let us watch a small herd of mule-like creatures.

Our nights lodging was an abandoned community campground on the side of an extinct volcano called Brukkaros. The ornate gate was abandoned but unlocked and we had the entire place to ourselves. This time we got there early enough to set up the campsite and the kids got to go for a hike while we got dinner made. A wind storm had kicked up and we ended up eating inside the truck to avoid eating the sand that was pelting us. Then, despite the wind, we climbed to the top of the nearby hill and watched the sun go down.

Day three put us back on a leisurely drive to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. We got checked in to the Hilton Windhoek early and were given a free upgrade to a lovely suite of rooms. With two bathrooms, it still took us nearly an hour to get all of the dirt scrubbed off of us and we headed up to the roof to enjoy the pool. We took advantage of the free wireless, ate a wonderful dinner and dessert (I highly recommend the carrot soup and the bread pudding). It was nice to feel pampered after a few days of roughing it.

Tomorrow morning starts my fortieth birthday as we head north to Waterberg and then Etosha National Park. Another forty years of overcoming fears to live the life I choose. What an amazing adventure I get to share with my family!

Ice and Lemon? ‒ Erich

The rest of my family is doing a great job at covering our thus far short time in Namibia. They are hitting all of the big things to tell you about. I wanted to cover one of the small things.

For set-up, though, you need to know that while our trip to Namibia is mostly about the great outdoors, camping, wildlife, and terrain, we are, tonight, for one night, staying in a Hilton in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Windhoek is nice, but not amazing. It looks like any none too big capital city of a westernized nation.

So tonight, we ate a restaurant. And when the kids ordered tap water to drink, the waitress asked, “Ice and lemon?” This is not unfamiliar to us. In South Africa if you order tap water, the same two part question is always asked. And, again, just like in South Africa, when the water was brought out it had ice cubes in it and a slice of a citrus fruit with a green rind. We've noticed this many times before. But, unlike those other times, this time, I asked about it. I told the waitress, Anna, that in the United States, our lemons are yellow and our limes are green. I asked if they had limes in Namibia. She seemed very confused by my confusion. She started to explain, but then said, “I will bring you a lemon and a lime.”

Here, my friends is a picture of one lemon and two limes. And you can see the color of the lemon!

Now she described the lemon as yellow and limes as green. And while I agree that the lemon is yellower than the limes, I would have called it green as well. I asked her how she knew it was lemon in the tap water rather than lime. And she pointed out that the lemons are rougher, they have a more textured rind. And the slices in our water glasses did indeed have that rougher rind. So they were lemons.

We tried to explain to her why we were confused. Alrica showed her a yellow daisy that had been decorating our table. Alrica explained that this was closer to the color of a lemon in the United States. This surprised Anna very much. So I guess our surprise was less surprising after that.

So there you have it. A small thing. A tiny mystery explained. Now I am wiser traveler, knowing that a lemon by any other color would still be sour. (Though Anna assured me that the lime would be much sourer.) But I am still left to wonder one thing: When South Africans and Namibians visit the States and get their tap water with a slice of lemon, do they ask, “What is this fruit?”

Namibia 2 and 3 - Syarra

                     Namibia 2

The first day in camp we drove all of seven hours and had lots of stops for construction. We also had to stop closer than expected for the sun went down earlier than we thought it was going to. We tried to find a camp but we had some difficulty. We found one in Kamieskroon (A town) that had camping which here is called caravan parks.

That night we slept on top of our 4x4. Which looks like this.

We have two tents that are for two people each. And they fold up so cool, like boxes on the top they look so small, but then you unfold them and the scene is totally different. I am very glad we got the 4x4 instead of just a car.

I like being able to see the stars so clearly and in Lancaster we never got the chance. Then you wake up and your high off the ground but you see so much. And we were the only one camping so we had a quiet night I enjoyed the night with my family, we had a dinner of salad.

We also have been seeing tons of animals when we are away from civilization and the animals are amazing. We have seen antelope like animals, ostrich, and some birds already. All thought there is lots of animal there are also a lot of trash. I think we should make that more of a concern to save the animals from the trash we put in this world. The world is not just ours. We have to remember we share with the animals and we can't pollute it. 

Namibia 3

The volcano

The volcano is a campsite. Anyway, we left the last campsite and drove another seven hours. Then we got to Brukkaros campsite on Brukkaros volcano. We went up a long winding path up the side of the mountain. On the way we saw a flock of ostrich running away from the road. When we got up to the campsite, the wind was blowing so hard it could knock you down if you weren't careful. That made it very difficult to set up our tents and to make dinner. So, for dinner we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while sitting in the car to hide from the wind.

After dinner, we climbed up a hill on one side of the campsite. Here, we watched a brilliant sunset of orange turn into a beautiful peach that was lovely to see from off the side of the hill.

We then went back to our camp and all gathered into one of the tents. We told stories, and at last, the wind began to die off. Then we went to sleep.

 

My half-birthday - Carver

I know Syarra started out the trip with a post called My Birthday and another one will be coming soon. Tomorrow, I would assume. So I wanted one and it was in fact, my half birthday. In exactly six months I will turn 12. Anyway, last night we slept in Kamieskroon Hotel and Caravan Park. I write this as we sit and wait at a construction site where only one direction can go at a time. I will publish this in Springbok when we have reception for Internet, I hope. It was fun sleeping on top of the truck. We hoped to get to Springbok yesterday but we left later and took us longer to drive then we expected. So we stopped in Kamieskroon. We got there late and set up the tents by flashlight. In the morning we drank a naartjie squash blend, not realizing squash (a juice) needs to be diluted with water. We are moving again, driving down the one lane road. After drinking the squash and eating Good Morning breakfast biscuits, we drove away. We packed up the tents before eating. We turned on to N7 North and immediately hit the construction.

I must post this in Windhoek, Namibia. There was no reception in the area where the highway was close to Springbok. I write this as we drive down a road in desolate Namibia. So I know more to post about.

We soon arrived in the border post. It was hot and annoying but we got through. I saw the Orange River which the sign showed water and said Oranje. We stayed at a dormant volcano. It was an old abandoned community campsite. We climbed up a great hill. And when we were all at the top, I sang a great song about it.

Oh say does that hill climbing prowess yet climb,
For the land of the two-legged,
And the home of the mountain dwellers.

Now driving, we saw an ostrich run, a shepherd herding sheep, and a dick-dick (a tiny antelope).

When I post this it will only be a couple hours after my half-birthday. I was born in Edison, New
Jersey so my half-birthday ends at midnight, eastern time.