Journey's End

Bloggin'

Sitting in our daughter's apartment in Manhattan, I have had a few days to absorb and reflect on our trip to Africa.

To paraphrase Dickens; It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was a time of wisdom, it was at many times pure foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season Darkness...we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.

To say we started this trip with trepidation would be an understatement. The "dark continent" was a place to be feared. Crime was rampant, animals were wild and dangerous, and Africa was a difficult place to travel. However, early on in our travels we concluded that for the most part these perceptions were inaccurate.

While it is true that there are some crime ridden places like Nairobi or Johannesburg, we found most African cities reasonably safe...provided that one exercises the normal caution one would use anywhere in the world. There are definitely wild animals in Africa but with a little knowledge and common sense one can safely interact with even the most dangerous of animals. (The caveat here is "at a reasonable distance". The interesting thing was that as our trip went on, that reasonable distance became closer and closer as we learned to "read" the animals and their individual temperaments) Finally, the perception that Africa is a difficult place for the independent traveler is just not true. In most places public transportation, while not always the most comfortable, is readily available. Where we could not find public transport, we resorted to hitchhiking and found that to be easy as well. During the last few weeks of our journey we rented a car and wished we had done it sooner.

Forest fire-Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

We camped for most of our trip and I could not imagine doing Africa any other way. Our goal was to fully experience the wildness of Africa. We wanted to be out in nature every waking and sleeping moment. Yes, we did have wild animals outside our tent at night. However, to me the thrill of hearing an elephant tromping by your tent or the roar of a hungry lion was just something I would not want to have missed.

Our camp in Opuwo, Namibia

Africa exceeded our expectations on many levels but nothing compared to the wildlife. I expected to see so much less than we did. Many times I was overwhelmed by the number and diversity of the wildlife we saw; not just overall but oftentimes the numbers in one place at the same time. Many times we saw predator and prey at the same watering hole seemingly living in perfect harmony. (Perhaps we humans could learn some lessons from this). We learned so much about the animals from the many excellent guides we employed along the way. While some of them were difficult to understand at times, invariably they were very knowledgeable about the animals, birds and eco-systems.

I kiss a rhino skull on a bet-Does this count Dick?

Tourist infrastructure in East and Southern Africa is excellent. Roads are generally good, petrol is available everywhere, campgrounds and lodges are well developed and safe. Western food is available in nearly every town of any size with western style grocery stores and, in the larger cities, shopping malls that would not be out of place anywhere in the developed world. While we did travel down some lonely roads, I never felt that I was in any danger and there would always be someone along to help you in case of a car breakdown.

Himba girls-Namibia

We had many opportunities to meet with local people especially after we left the overland truck. Both black and white Africans were friendly and almost without fail helpful and welcoming. Even the hustlers and touts were less obnoxious than many places we have been. We had many interesting conversation with people from all walks of life. We had the opportunity to visit many of them in their homes and villages and were deeply touched by their spirit and generosity even in the most humble home.

Seal colony, Skeleton Coast, Namibia

While we greatly enjoyed our time in Africa, it was not all fun and games. There were times when we were at our wits end dealing with normal everyday tasks. Even more disturbing is the pervasive and rampant corruption from the cop on the street to the heads of state. Ancient tribal allegiances and a growing disparity between rich and poor are not only impediments to progress but can and do lead to violent upheavals. Upcoming elections in places like Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa all have the potential for disruption and violence. Despite these almost insoluble problems most of the people we met were optimistic about their future and their country's future.

Africa was not the assault on our senses and sensibilities that I had anticipated. Yes, there were days that we were so hot, dirty, frustrated and tired we just wanted to quit. Yet on the next day we would be totally blown away by a vista, a wild animal sighting or the warmth of the people. In the final analysis, Africa was ultimately a lot easier to travel in than either India or Southeast Asia. Pollution, noise, population and poverty were not problems to the degree we expected. This is not to say that Africa does not have these problems, it was just less overwhelming than other places we have visited.

Much of the terrain east and southern Africa presented as desert or near desert. For several weeks it seemed that all we saw was scrubby Mopane forests barely alive in a sea of dead yellow grass. Yet we were told when the rainy season comes this all changes and the landscape becomes a lush Garden of Eden. As we traveled south into Namibia and South Africa where spring had come it did become lusher and greener. The landscape became much more dramatic. Giant red sand dunes pierced a sky so blue it hurt your eyes. This slowly transitioned into towering craggy mountains cradling lush green valleys. Finally, we came down out of the mountains to the dramatic setting of Cape Town with the gigantic escarpment of Table Mountain tumbling into an azure blue sea.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

The good news is that all of the countries we visited are making concerted efforts to preserve their wild places. However, they can't do this without a lot of money; money that mostly comes from tourists. So if you care about keeping wild things wild, get out there and see it for yourself. Not only will you contribute to the preservation of something wild, but you just might find something wild in yourself.

Happy Trails

Richard

Road Signs

One of the interesting things about travel in foreign countries is seeing how things are done....differently. On this trip, much of our travel has been over the roads of Africa and we came across several interesting road signs that we had never seen before. Many are unique to Africa, some are confusing, and some I just have no idea what they mean. I have included our favorites below.






It took us a while to figure this one out. It all has to do with sign placement; it was on a lawn

This is a warning for wild horses

Warning for ?

Watch out for exclamation points?

Not sure which way to turn? These signs are sure to help :)

Penguins in Africa? Really?!!!!

Political commentary on the road? (This is Deb's personal favorite)

Shifting gears-Sesriem to the Cape of Good Hope

The last week of our sojourn through Africa was a frantic drive through Namibia to its massive sand dunes, the town of Luderitz and Fish River Canyon and, with a last minute change of plans, to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

Our drive to the sand dunes of Namibia was another bouncy dusty ride over endless washboard and rock strewn gravel roads. The difference this time... we were out of the flat nearly featureless plains of the Namib desert and into scenery much like the American southwest with flat topped or conical pointed buttes layered with multi colored sedimentary rock. The valleys were a riot of color with an other worldly greenish yellow grain that gave way to low lying shrubs with vibrant magenta, yellow and purple flowers providing a garish counterpoint to the red and beige tones of the buttes.

After six hours of pounding we arrived at Sesriem which is located in the Ai-Ais National Park. We quickly pitched our tent and rushed off to catch the sunset from atop Elim Dune a few klics away. As the sun was setting in the west we arrived at the 300' high dune. The sand was the color of rust and as fine as could be. We kicked our shoes off and scrambled to the top to catch the sun dropping below the horizon. A brisk wind inspired me to draw the genie from out of the its bottle. (See picture below)

Next morning we arose well before dawn to drive to Sossusvlei which is the "must see" dune in the park rising to over 600 feet. Our car was only allowed within 3 miles of the dune as the final approach was through deep sandy washes. Shuttles were available for a price but we opted to walk in the pre-dawn coolness and experience the desert and shifting early morning light on the dunes at a slower pace.

Actual picture of a dune

The tranquility was a nice contrast to our usual brain pounding drives through the desert. We arrived at the dune just as the sun rose and hiked up the ridge line to the summit to enjoy the seemingly limitless vista of the dunes around us.

Deb and I atop Sossusvlei

After enjoying the rest of the park which included several other dunes and a small slot canyon we headed out the next day to the town of Luderitz over, you guessed it, miles and miles of brain pounding, back breaking, lung choking, dirt and gravel roads.




We arrived in the late afternoon delayed by a blowout of a tire which we had to change in the howling winds that sweep this part of Namibia. Again, dusty and dirty we rolled into town and found a beautiful little guest house to rest our weary bodies for the night. While Deb shopped this bastion of German culture, I went to the local tire shop to try to replace our shredded tire. Of course none was available as the car was so new (at least prior to our abuse) that only a few manufacturers even made the tire. Through the heroic efforts of Elizabeth, manager of Tren Tyre, she located one in Windhoek and browbeat Hertz into picking it up and overnighting it to us via Nampost.

Luderitz

We spent an interesting night in Luderitz safe from the howling winds of this mecca of world speed record kite boarding in the congenial atmosphere of a german beer haus munching on excellent hake and downing Winhoek draft beer. We met a gent who was in process of biking and rowing his way around the world.

Erten and his boat

Next day as promised our tire was there and installed on the car and we were on our way after stopping at the harbor to see Erten's boat. If you are interested check out his web site at www.around-n-over.org.

Once again we were on a gravel road in a race against our rapidly diminishing time in Africa to Fish River Canyon. After our usual six hour drive on the gravel roads of southern Namibia, we arrived at the canyon for sunset. Unfortunately, the dust laden air caused by high winds coupled with the low light of the setting sun in our face obscured our view of the canyon. We resolved to return the next morning for a hopefully better view.

Deb on the edge of Fish River Canyon

The next morning we did return to find a crystal clear view of a colorful wild canyon cut by a serpentine river visible 1500 feet below. While not nearly as spectacular as the Grand Canyon, it was truly an awesome spectacle well worth the trip.

We took off from the Fish and went through more awesome desert scenery to Ai Ais hot springs 100 klics away for a quick look and dip in the springs before heading towards our final destination; Johannesburg. We drove into the canyon at AiAis through a twisty windy slot canyon which opened into a Shangri-la of towering green trees flanked by even higher canyon walls. A large blue pool fed by the hot springs was the center of the camp resort. We quickly stripped to our bathing suits and eased into the body temperature water. While there, Deb struck up a conversation with two women from Jo'berg who strongly advised us to skip Jo'berg and just go to Cape Town, drop our rental car there and fly to Jo'berg. After talking at length with them Deb flagged me from the edge of the pool and convinced meto take their advice and drive to Cape Town. By this time we had whiled away most of the day and decided to spend the night and hit the road early the next morning. We spent the rest of the afternoon climbing a nearby peak and walking along the sandy banks of the Fish river.

Climbing above Ai Ais

Fish River

The next day we were out early for what turned out to be the most scenic drive of our whole trip through Africa. The desert buttes soon gave way to the soaring peaks of South Africa's Cederberg Mountains which flanked the lush green valleys of the wine country region. We drove for miles through the rolling vineyards interspersed with fragrant blooming lemon trees and as the day wound down, camped in the town of Citrusval. We rose early the next morning, gave a quick bucket wash and wipe down to our incredibly filthy little Picanto and climbed the pass out of the Cederbergs and within a few hours dropped into Cape Town. After a quick drive through Cape Town to Table Mountain for a scenic overlook we were off to the Cape of Good Hope via an incredibly scenic coast road that reminded us of the Amalfi and Dalmatian Coasts. Along the way we stopped to see the South African Jackass penguins that breed on South Africa's rocky shores.







We arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in the late afternoon to a blustery and sunny seascape, literally at the end of the world. This provided the counterpoint to our voyage to Cape Horn a few years ago.

At the end of the earth

It was now late afternoon and we reluctantly left this beautiful cape and headed off into the night to find a place to lay our weary heads prior to our flight back to the good old US of A the next day.

The interior of this car is black

Swakopmund, Namibia

The last few weeks of our African adventure has become a true adventure. The insulation of the overland truck is already a distant and not too fond memory. We have been on our own for three weeks now and it has become a whole different trip. The first week we spent busing and, when necessary, hitchhiking our way across Botswana and Namibia. The buses were fine and not too overcrowded and the hitchhiking some of the best and easiest of my life. Not since we hitched with Katie and Ian over the alps in Italy have I attempted to hitchhike with such a large amount of baggage….four large packs and suitcases, two day bags, a jug of water and a bag of food. We were picked up rapidly and had incredible rides; one of over 300 miles that took us from Ghanzi, Botswana all the way to Windhoek, Namibia. We had to pay a little for that one but it was still less than the cost of a bus…had there been one.

We have found the Africa that everyone imagines. It has been hot; too hot. It has been dry and dusty. Our little Kia Picanto looks like someone stuck it in a big bag of dirt with the doors and windows open and shook it like it was a piece of chicken in a paper bag full of flour. (My southern roots are showing). Some days Deb and I looked like we had been in that same bag. We have traveled nearly 1000 miles on dirt and gravel roads, driven our car like it was a 4x4 complete with an unsuccessful river crossing.

(We made it across the river but got stuck in the sand on the other side.)

We have been up close and personal with more wild animals than I ever imagined. The most memorable were:

Being charged by a bull elephant while paddling by in a dugout canoe; nearly being gored by three terrified warthogs while walking past their hole. ( Our guide said they thought we were elephants.);

getting a dust bath from a bathing elephant;

seeing 19 giraffes drinking from a water hole no more than 100’ from us; seeing 8 rhinos drinking from the same water hole;


getting close enough to a lion and her cubs to count the whiskers on her nose;



seeing hundreds of zebra and gazelle milling in a watering hole very close to us.

The people of Botswana and Namibia have generally been very friendly and helpful. However, there have been a few instances where our smile and friendly greeting have not been reciprocated. We hope this was because they may have thought we were South Africans because of our rental car’s registration. Almost universally, once people learned we are Americans they were friendly…unlike other parts of the world we have visited.

While most of the scenery in Botswana and the north of Namibia has been scrub desert and Mopane trees,as we have started to move south in Namibia things have improved. Over the past few days we drove through landscapes that would not be out of place in the American southwest with flat topped buttes surrounded by grasslands and shrubs.

Not sure what this sign means but Deb and I had several exclamatory remarks over the next 12km

Yesterday we visited the Skeleton Coast of Namibia, so called because of the countless shipwrecks. Like the west coast of Chile, the west coast of Namibia’s climate is affected by a cold current coming out of Antarctica that condenses all of the moisture in the atmosphere into fog before it has a chance to form into rain. Invariably, the Namibian coast is foggy and windy and one of the driest deserts found on the planet. The relentless winds drive the sand into huge dunes rising 600 feet above the adjacent sea.

Tomorrow, we are off to explore these dunes and further test the 4x4 capability of our two wheel drive Kia.

Hwange National park or the lion sleeps tonight...thank god.

The Landrover bounces down the rough washboard track through a landscape of scrub, barren trees and grass that glows gold in the light of the setting sun. The crescent moon ascends in the east seeming to push the sun in the west below the horizon. We are on safari in Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe. We have just left one of the few remaining waterholes in this desolate place where we observed hundreds of elephants bathing, drinking and just seeming to have a good time.







A pair of giraffes nervously drink nearby. I say nervously because the only way they can drink is to splay their front legs to get their heads low enough to drink. However, they are remarkably agile in drawing their legs together in a snapping motion to be fully upright in a split second in order to flee any potential predator. A few crocodiles laze on the bank of the water hole only moving when an elephant tromps by.




Our Landrover accelerates, rattling our brains and backsides. Our guide, Andy, promises a treat we will not forget. After about ten miles of this bone rattling ride the sun sets and the sky turns a dusky gold. I catch a whiff of rotting flesh which soon turns to a full on assault on my olfactory nerve. Andy excitedly yells over the rattling of the Landrover, “Smell that? It’s a dead elephant!” I think to myself, “Great! We went all this way to see and smell a dead elephant.” Andy stops the truck and points through the dimming light through the brush at the carcass of a dead elephant. In the dying light the gray mass is barely visible. Then I look over to the other side of the truck and notice a lion lying in the dirt. Andy has seen it too and cautions us to move slowly and not stand up as we are in an open truck and just a small leap away from the lion.




Deb notices several other lions lying a little further back in the brush. In a soft voice Andy tells us that the seven lions have been feeding for the past two days on this elephant. It is unknown if they brought it down or if the elephant died in some other way.

We sit and watch the lions watching us for a few minutes and as the sky begins to darken, Andy says it is time to go. He turns the key in the ignition and only gets the tell tale click of a dead battery. We are miles from camp, it is getting dark, we are in an open vehicle and we are surrounded by lions. What could be better than this? I became even more nervous when Andy pulled out his 416 rifle and cautiously walked around the truck. I wondered what he was doing then saw him pull out the front seat to inspect the battery. Keeping one eye on the lion a few feet away, he removed the battery cables and cleaned them. He reached over to try the ignition and we heard, “click, click,click.” Now I was getting very nervous. Just then the other truck in our safari pulled up.

Note the lion just past the outstretched hand

The other truck had jumper cables and I breathed a sigh of relief, but our battery was so dead it would not start. “Oh, s%^$!,“ I thought. Then, Peter, an Australian on our tour, suggested swapping batteries. (If you remove the battery of a running car, you can put it in the car with the dead battery and start it without the running car dying. This is a good note to remember if you are ever in a similar situation.) When they pulled the battery out of the running car it died. I thought now we are really screwed. Fortunately, the second try was successful. Andy put the two trucks back together, re-sheathed the 416 and as the last light of day faded from the sky, we roared off leaving the seven lions to sleep off their big meal of which, thankfully, we were not a part of.

I hold the guide's gun while he works on the truck...is this a scary picture or what?

Yes, those elephants are as close as they look