PNewL PNewS
PNewL PNewS
Volume 24 Issue 2 “All the pnews that phits.” June 2016
Namibia!
One of the
reasons I often say that I went to Namibia was because I wanted to be able to
say I had been there. I have found many people don’t know where it is and have
a bit of a hard time pronouncing it. But really, the main reason I went was
because some seasoned travelers I know or met on the road said it was their
favorite trip... ever. And then Betsy, my smart strategic travel mentor said
she was going and I asked if I could come. And I went—and I am glad.
I have a
very hard time saying “Favorite Trip Ever”—it’s like picking a favorite child
or pet. They are all my favorite though some were better in different ways than
others. It’s complicated. This trip was incredibly satisfying in so many ways;
it’s hard not to list it at the top of or close to the top of a list, if I had
one. Namibia is a crazy amazing gorgeous friendly country—and our guide
Orlando, voted #2 in the world by Wanderlust World Guide Awards in 2015 (and
former captain of the national soccer team), is a national treasure and really
a great ambassador for his country.
We started
in Windhoek (pronounced kinda like vendhuck), which is the capitol, and located
pretty much smack dab in the middle. We headed north to a game preserve that
works with AfriCat, a big cat (and a few wild dogs) rescue organization. They
have some stunning lodgings and almost 50,000 acres for wandering. We had
cheetah outside our outdoor shower and warthogs in the front yard. We were
upgraded and our room was a lovely maze of dressing room, kitchen, two large
comfy beds with big fat squishy duvets and windows facing the animals, gorgeous
art, and a bathtub surrounded by candles. This was going to be hard to
beat.
Continuing
north we spent a couple days driving around Etosha National Park where we saw
lions and though no tigers or bears, we saw a lifetime supply of springbok,
oryx, zebra and a good number of elephant, red hartebeest, jackals, two hyena
and a rhinoceros, among others. Very satisfying time of it. This is a pretty unforgiving
landscape with boreholes to create some of the life saving water holes that
attract the animals. Orlando drove to one specific waterhole at 9:30am in
search of elephants. They were running a little late—arrived around 9:40. They
are apparently creatures of habit, like many of us, and they need their morning
bath and water. Watching the parade of elephants of many different ages was
really awe-inspiring—and like everything in Namibia, they were accompanied by a
cloud of dust.
From Etosha,
we headed west to visit Himba folks at a settlement a wee bit off the beaten
track. These types of visits, to tribal people living a very different life
from ours, are always awkward to me but it was pretty, their lifestyle IS
different and it was brief. From the Kalahari, we headed west and south into a
land that reminded me a lot of southern Utah—red sand, large rock formations,
great sunsets. Damaraland. Oh my. The sunsets. And the desert adapted elephants! And, oh
just everything.
Continuing
south and west to the Shipwreck Coast and Swakopmund. Love that name. En route,
we passed the area where “Mad Max: Fury Road” was filmed. After filming, the
crew removed everything related to the shoot and even hired locals to rake the
desert so that you would never know they were there. This is a delicate
environment and their tire tracks would have lived on for generations.
Swakopmund
is a charming seaside town (which provided an opportunity for some “retail
therapy”) surrounded by large expanses of sand dunes. To the south, it goes on
for hundreds of miles. We flew over those sand dunes and it was fascinating.
The dunes towards the ocean are…well, sand colored. As we went further inland,
the sand was “cooked” a reddish-bronzy-orange. The views from above were
breathtaking.
Oh my, how I
do go on but I can’t stop here—some of the best is yet to come: we drove into
the sand dunes of Soussusvlei at dawn as the light was gorgeous and before the
winds got so fierce we couldn’t see through the blowing sand. We got sand in
our teeth but wow. Just wow. And then we walked into the desert for two nights
of sleeping under the stars in our own little sand dune suites in one of the
darkest places in the world—they are a “Gold-tier International Dark Sky
Reserve.” I have never seen the stars like this—I would wake up in the middle
of the night and just watch. The Milky Way was muddy with stars—in a good way!
One shooting star looked like a piece of popcorn rather than the usual streak
we see here. And we were introduced to some of the little critters who make the
desert their home and how they manage under these incredibly challenging
conditions. (Most of them are truly little, as in bugs, but there are mammals
and birds as well. Gotta appreciate their chutzpah!)
Go to Namibia!
See the animals. Experience the environment. Breathe the sand.
Things I am Learning
& Miscellaneous Observations
• One of the charming things about elephants is the way
they look like they are smiling. Now that I think of the animals that we are
naturally drawn to—dolphin, manatee, elephants, otters—they are all smiling.
• I had a great birthday this year. I may have learned
something about creating my perfect day or, in this case, weekend—doing what I
want rather than allowing myself to commit to something ahead that I may not
want to do by birthday morn. This year, I went to a blacksmithing festival with
Pam and mid-way she said, let's see if we can get into this restaurant, which I
have always wanted to go to…and we got a table! And the neighbors mowed my
lawn, and my other neighbors say they are going to plumb my new shower and I
had dinner with a high school friend and her husband. Birthday Eve, I went out
with two guys from across the road and had a lot of fun and in the afternoon,
went to Hot Springs for a hot tub. And the day after my birthday? NOTHING. A
perfect weekend.
• A month after the remodelers left—I found a sandwich to
go box under the table in my sewing room, which I apparently had put there
while storing lots of other stuff. The sandwich was long gone (thankfully) but
most of the potato chips were still there. Stale, thankfully.
• In case you were wondering, I don’t like to be called
Peg. Seems to be coming up a lot lately so I thought I would mention it.
• Two minutes in the life of a puppy: Jump up on the
chaise notice bone and settle in get up take the bone to the other chaise
(hopping, always hopping) stop look what was that noise turn around in circles
remember bone hop where’s Roger oh look a thread chew on it tug on it bite into
the cushion was that a noise is it edible jump down and go to find oh look a
toy that squeaks once twice three four five a bug I think that might be edible
and it’s moving stops moving under paw bite the table leg no let’s gnaw on it
oh look Roger wants to play bite his foot ear roll over when he growls play
non-alpha dog bite him again let’s play let’s run what’s that let’s bite it
green leaves of plant ick chew and drool bone take it to the chaise and repeat.
• This new strategy of orgs sending out duplicate emails
saying the same thing and wondering if maybe I missed reading it the first time
is annoying. Just stop. Grrrr.
• Roger is still limping but he uses his leg more often
than not so I am trying to be optimistic. Which is hard.
• Forgot to mention: I got to see flamingos in Namibia!
Flamingos--twice in one year! How am I going to top that? Hmm. Better start
working on it…
• Outdoor showers are the best—and mine is up there with
the greats. You have an open invitation. Bring your own towel.
These two quotes are from an interview on On Being (NPR)
with Kevin Kling.
The first was said to him by a friend.
“You can survive anything with a sense of humor and a
sense of self.”
“If you are able-bodied, it’s only a temporary condition.”
