Sunday, December 27, 2015

I’m dreaming of a… Christmas in the bush


No need to dream. That’s what we did for Christmas – no internet, no electricity, no cell phone, no wifi…no problem. We rented a little cottage up near the Khwai community (about a 2.5 hour drive from Maun) for five nights to celebrate Christmas in the bush. While the weather has been extremely hot and dry in Botswana (think high 90s and 100s and no rain, despite the fact that it’s the “rainy” season…what I like to refer to as “hotter than Africa”), we actually had a couple of relatively cool nights which made sleeping possible. And, despite the fact that the skies kept threatening to rain and we saw some spectacular lightening off in the distance, we didn’t get much rain…just a few sprinkles here and there.

 

Even though Maun looks a bit like a dust bowl and cow ribcages are visible, the Khwai River, while the narrowest I’ve ever seen it, was still vibrant enough to sustain wildlife and we saw a good amount. There were zebras, lechwe, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, and bird life a plenty. We saw saddle billed storks and “thick knees”. We were even able to see some things we don’t normally see, like reed bok who are often concealed by the tall reeds which were nonexistent.

Zebras

Lechwe

Giraffe

Hippo and egrets

Crocodile

Saddle-billed Stork

Thick Knees

Reed bok


It seemed like all creatures were trying to find some relief from the heat and we spent many a hot afternoon under the shade of a tree watching herds of elephants play in the deepest part of the river. At a popular watering hole elephants would come down and drink and drink, sucking in 4-5 gallons in a slurp. Once satiated they would venture from the edge of the water to what must have been a steep drop off where they would sink themselves, sometimes head down first and butt sticking up, other times, butt down and head up. It is hard not to personify them as they dunk each other using their trunks to push their “herdmates” under. Some of the younger ones only left reluctantly after their entire herd had made their way off into the mopane trees disappearing beyond our sight (it still amazes me how something so large can completely disappear in silence just a few steps into the bush). 

Our days are spent game driving, reading, trying to stay cool in the cottage (which, while hot, was still cooler than the outside in the heat of the day), and "binge listening" to “Serial” in the air conditioned safari vehicle. We had downloaded, what we thought was, the entire season only to realize we were missing the last episode so… we listened to the first 11 episodes…twice. We got a little obsessive about it waking in the morning with new ideas of pieces of information that were missing or inconsistent that might make one party look innocent or guilty, depending… (it’s a great podcast about a real life case of a 17 year old guy sent to prison for life 15 years ago for killing his ex-girlfriend on very little “evidence”). 

We have some unexpected encounters as well including this incredibly creepy looking spider with an extremely long “arm” that lived in the bathtub of the cottage (he would use this extra “arm” to pull in his prey to eat). As if that wasn’t creepy enough, the second night he was joined by a scorpion...both of them trolling the bathtub for dinner. The third night there were two scorpions and the creepy spider. The fourth night…I couldn’t bear to look..but, of course, I did. When we couldn’t find them (after I had convinced myself that they couldn’t get out of the deep tub) we used Paul’s scorpion light to peer down the drain only to see their glowing bodies down there (the UV light makes their bodies glow). If I had ever had an idea of cooling off in the big tub mid-day, that was gone forever.

We are also visited by a mouse (perhaps the same one who visited when we were there in May with Paul’s son and his family). I refer to him as “Sponge Bob” because he has a real thing for sponges. One night coming in from the outside deck, where we ate our meals, to check on dinner we were cooking I notice the sponge is gone…completely. What the heck? We stir the pots a bit and go back outside where it is a bit cooler. When we come back in, the sponge is back on the counter but with a few bites out of it. At least he returned it…

Paul opening his Christmas gifts
On Christmas day we open our presents (many of which have been ferried over on the plane from the States), cook a gammon for our mid-day meal and then head off as the sun starts to set to visit the baby hyenas and their clan that we have been visiting every night since we arrived. After calling our families on the satellite phone (or trying to) to wish them a Merry Christmas, we head off toward the hyena den. Not far from where we’ve made the calls, we are trundling by when, sitting in a field not 15 feet from the road is a young male lion. He and another one just 50 yards down the road are particularly blonde. In silence they rise simultaneously and retreat into the mopane forest not giving us a second glance. Their silence suggests they are on the hunt.


They hyena clan has taken up residence in a den that has been used for several years now (Kelley, Nikki and Becca, do you remember seeing the hyena cubs in July 2010? That was the first year we learned of the den). During the day, it simply looks like a series of holes in the ground with no sign of the life but at sunset the entire clan emerges: three small cubs, one curious adolescent and at least five adults. One is clearly the mother and you can see the cubs climbing on her and suckling. She looks exhausted. 

 
 

 
 
 

On Christmas night the den is eerily silent. The night before, around the same time there appears to be one of the adults in charge of watching the youngest ones and, even as the adults sleep, the babysitter keeps popping her head out of the hole to check us out. On Christmas night, there is no movement. No sign of life. In back of the vehicle I hear what sounds like something stepping on sticks. When we finally make out what it is, we realize it is actually three adult hyenas (and the adolescent) chomping on the ribs of whatever their Christmas meal was (we can’t quite make it out). When we get out the night vision binoculars we can see that their bellies are full full. They have certainly enjoyed their Christmas feast. I hope you and yours enjoyed your holiday as well. We certainly did!

Paul checking out his new digital microscope

Friday, August 14, 2015

Southern Namibian Sojourn

Sundowners at Maribeb
The silence of Maribeb campsite is deafening. To even call it a “campsite” seems like a stretch of the imagination. There are just a few remote spots with a trash can and cement table. This makes the lick, lick, lick noises of the cape silver fox who joins us for a drink of water at the darkness of our dinner table even more magical. 
 
Lunch stop in Kuiseb Canyon
We’ve driven from Maun to Windhoek, Namibia (where we overnighting after the 8 hour drive) and then head off through the Kuiseb Canyon – one of the most stunning views of the entire trip until we see the inselberg (“island mountain”) of Maribeb. We arrive as the warm light of the sunset shines on the mountain and we hurry to set up camp and then find the perfect sundowner spot to enjoy our bottle of Blaauwklippen Zinfandel (Paul’s favorite). Life is short – we are advocates of drinking the best bottle of wine first!

At dusk as we return to our campsite we catch a glimpse of a tiny silver fox (smaller than a house cat). Paul promises he will visit if we put out some water. So we do and he does…more than once. This first visit is so magical it literally brings me to tears. He is so light, we hear no footsteps as he approaches and only notice him as we hear him drink. A few quick drinks then he looks up tentatively, not at us, but for potential sources of harm. He comes and goes as we clean up after dinner. On one visit he curiously comes within inches of me as I sit on a rock near the water we’ve put out for him. I come to refer to him as “The Fabulous Mr. Fox” and his visits are a highlight of our recent trip.
 
Campsite at Maribeb
Sunrise at Maribeb
Maribeb  
Bunny at Maribeb







Animal encounters are not our main motivation for sojourning to Namibia (it’s hard to beat the plentitude of animals in Botswana). We go primarily for the stunning landscapes and amazing German pastries (we had the most delicious apple cake at the coffee shop at the ghost mining town of Kolmanskop – it was to die for!). Striking canyons, monstrous sand dunes, forests of quiver trees, and a funky geological site called the “giant’s playground” (because it looks like a giant has been playing with rocks that he's stacked up in teetering piles) all fit the bill on this trip.

Fish River Canyon



Quiver tree forest
Giant's Playground




Many people come to Southern Namibia to hike the famous Fish River Canyon. The 5-day backpack hike is reputed to be quite rigorous. At Ai-Ais we hiked up into the canyon and came across several hikers on the last leg of their trip (the hike runs from Hobas, in the north, to Ai-Ais in the south). To be honest, none of them looked particularly happy. Driving along looking at view points up near Hobas we actually ended up rescuing two hikers who had just ascended one of the two "emergency exit" routes available on the trail. Off in the distance we see, what initially looked like ostriches, coming over the edge of the canyon. Once the woman started flailing her walking sticks we realized they were humans in need of help. It seems the older gentlemen (75 years old retired judge on his 14th hike down the canyon) had torn a calf muscle and his late-50s heart surgeon "girl" friend felt it was best for them to exit while they could. We ended taking them down to Ai-Ais with us and celebrating their good timing with cold beers and plates of "chips" (French fries) for lunch and an eland steak for dinner. Delicious!
In addition to remarkable landscapes we see plenty of desert adapted creatures like gemsbok, springbok, dassies (or rock hyrax whose closest relatives are elephants!?), a few mountain zebra and some cheeky baboons harassing campers at both Naukluft and Ai-Ais campsites. 
Springbok in the Transfrontier Park

Dassie at Ai Ais, Fish River Canyon  



Ai Ais campsite
Baboon with find, Ai Ais campground

In addition to “The Fabulous Mr. Fox” encounter (which sadly we got no pictures of because it was dark), we did see some meerkats when we stayed at Torgos Lodge which we would highly recommend for anyone who arrives at the Mata Mata gate of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park only to find the border closed due to the one hour time difference in Namibia during the winter – we arrived at 4 but it had closed at 3:30). We also were entertained by a yellow mongoose as we ate lunch in the park which we transited through on our way back to Botswana (on very corrugated roads that I thought might cause my teeth to rattle out!). He did cause me to leap off the picnic bench when he jumped about lap high to try to get to some of the chicken in the curry rice salad I was eating!
Torgos Safari Lodge


Yellow mongoose friend at lunch, Transfrontier park
As always, the African bird life was stunning. We saw love birds invading a socialable weavers' nest, flamingos trying to keep their footing in a very windy surf near Luderitz and we were serenaded by a pale winged starling seated on the spare tire of our vehicle at Ai Ais. Finally, we might be the only campers that travel with bird seed but it sure helps Paul make friends as we go. 
love birds invading a sociable weavers' nest
Pale winged starling

Paul, the birdman with a flock of weavers (yes, on the table)
One of the most curious sites we visit on the trip is a proper German castle in the middle of Namibia called Duwiseb Castle. Smack in the middle of nowhere (literally) lies a German castle made with American money. While Baron von Wolf is often historically documented as the owner of the castle, digging a bit deeper reveals that it’s actually the inherited money of his wife Jayta, originally from New Jersey, which has funded this bizarre project. We spent several hours on dusty roads hypothesizing what those conversations between Jayta and her husband might have been like…”You want to build a castle where??”
frozen faucet at Duwiseb
While we actually had the opportunity to stay a night in the castle, we opted for our tent because the temperature in the castle seemed much colder than outside. We weren’t disappointed with that decision when we woke up the next morning to find the leaky water tap at our campsite had actually frozen into an icicle! I’m not sure building a castle in a place colder than cold in the winter and hotter than hot in the summer was a wise decision. It may explain why Jayta never returned to claim the castle after her husband died in WWI (in just under two weeks of service). All that remains are wild horses in the area that are rumored to have been introduced to the area by von Wolf's thoroughbred horse breeding activities.

Duwiseb Castle
Wild Horses
In Luderitz we had hoped to stay in a lighthouse on Shark Island after reading reviews suggesting that it was difficult to pitch a tent in the campground on the island due to high winds but were unable to arrange that (while we were told others had booked it for the two nights we were there, we never actually saw anyone there – sad!). Camping ended up being fine and we both agreed that the sunsets over the ocean (while a little chilly) were some of the most stunning of the trip. We had two beautiful sunsets on one side of the island and a full moon rise on the opposite side.
Sunset at Shark Island
Moon rise at Shark Island
We ventured to Luderitz, the second largest port in Namibia next to Walvis Bay, only to find a rather sleepy town at the end of a very long and dusty road. Kolmanskop – an abandoned diamond mine town now turned into a tourist attraction – was definitely worth the trip providing a fascinating history of the opulence of the early settlers. We learned that not only did they build grandiose homes for their owners of the mine and an extensive hospital for the mining community (which was totally creepy and reminded me of something out The Shining) but they actually shipped in coal to fire their power plant from Germany. Amazing! 
Kolmanskop, Ghost mining town
Creepy hospital
Sand dunes taking over the town
the opulence of Kolmanskop
Our trip included many cold nights but also some hot springs. Often we were in the tent and under the covers right after cleaning up from dinner until dawn in order to stay warm, allowing me to lie flat for sometimes close to 10 hours which really helped my neck (I also read three books!). While visiting the Fish River Canyon (the second largest canyon in the world next to Grand Canyon) we had the opportunity to soak in the pool at Ai-Ais (pronounced “eye-ice” which means “burning water” in the local language) fed by a natural hot spring. Reputed to have healing properties the sulphur springs produce thermal waters rich in sulphur, choloride and fluoride. I’m not sure if any healing took place (although I did sink up to my chin in order to get at my neck) but I sure enjoyed wading directly in front of the pipe coming from the hot spring to the swimming pool. 
So despite the cold nights, windy days, and baboon raiders, it was definitely worth the dusty and sometimes corrugated roads to sojourn to Southern Namibia. We traveled over 3,500 km (2,175 miles) in two weeks and saw some amazing sites, had some magical animal encounters, and even rescued some injured hikers. It was even worth getting up before sunrise one morning in the transfrontier park to see a pride of lions perched at the top of a sand dune. Anything is possible on any given day in Africa (even me getting up before sunrise!).

Sunrise Transfrontier Park