December 2013: ZAMBIA!! Sarah Snuggles a Cheetah, Walks a Lion, Swims in Devil's Pool, and Rafts the Zambezi

After going to Namibia, I experienced what is common among PCV's upon returning to site: post vacation blah. I had no motivation to do anything other than watch re-runs of Are You Afraid of the Dark and teach my once-a-week PACT Club. My best friend in Botswana, Diane, mentioned that she was going on vacay in Zambia after our Mid-Service Training (MST) in December. She invited me to go and, after tossing it around in my brain for all of 30 seconds, I decided to make it happen. I wanted to see Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the world. I also wanted to see some animals in Chobe National Park, a safari mecca. 

But first, Mid-Service Training. I left my village the last day of November to have a few days in the big city, in air conditioning, before I had to meet up with my fellow PCV's. I relaxed, played 10 cent video roulette at the casino, and slept on a real mattress. Although I was happy to hang out with Diane, MST was a typical Peace Corps conference: volunteers complaining about the lack of support from the organization and medical. We aired our grievances, cried a little bit, and reflected on our challenges/successes from the past year. After three days of that, I was beyond ready for another vacation. Is it bad that one vacation every two months just isn't enough?

Kazangula border crossing, Zambia and Botswana

After MST, Liz, Eden, Diane, and I set off for two days of bus travel to Zambia. We travelled as far as Francistown the first day and spent the night with the volunteer there. Early the next morning, we boarded another bus, determined to make it to Livingstone by nightfall. Six hours later, we got off the bus at the Kazangula Border Post. Zambia and Botswana are separated by a wide river, crossable only by ferry. The ferry first loads a semi-truck, then the pedestrians walk on and stand as the ferry crosses the river. Best part about the ferry? It's free!

Free ride across the river!

After getting off the ferry and going through immigration, we hired a van to drive us the half hour to Livingstone. Livingstone is a major tourist town, named after the first European to see Vic Falls (he went on to become an anti-slavery activist!) He was so impressed by the giant waterfall that he named it after his queen, Queen Victoria. But enough history. We checked in at Jolly Boys Backpackers, unpacked, showered, ate, and went to bed. One of the advantages of staying at a backpackers hostel is the interesting people you meet there. The first night, I met an awesome guy named Mike, a former marine traveling the world.

Jollyboys Backpackers. Lots of lounging space.

My first full day in Livinstone was by far the best experience I've ever had on a vacation. I signed up to go on a "cheetah and lion interaction." I had heard good things but I was without some of the required "equipment." I needed close-toed shoes and long pants. I had brought neither so I rushed to a cheap clothing store, bought a pair of clearance shoes and some leggings, and ran back to the hostel just in time. A gentleman picked up me and Eden and drove us to a big cat sanctuary. The sanctuary rescues cheetahs, lions, and caracals from the wild and rehabilitates them. They also have a few cats that were born in captivity that serve as ambassadors to raise money and awareness.

Caracal

After paying for the excursion and snapping some photos of a caracal, we were led to a large grassy area bordered on all sides by dense bush. Three men were waiting for us there. Beside the men, three cheetahs were stretched out on the ground relaxing. Each cheetah wore a harness and a leash similar to the kind your dog would wear when you take him for a walk. I started by petting the cheetah, which progressed to hugging the cheetah, kissing the cheetah, spooning the cheetah, and finally, being groomed (licked) by the cheetah. I was in animal lover heaven. After bonding, me and my new cheetah friend, Leela, went for a walk. Leela is a three year old female, born and raised in captivity. We walked around the bush for about 30 minutes
before the cheetahs had to return to their enclosure for the morning.

Me and Leela the Cheetah!

A little kiss kiss.

Leelah loves to be scratched on her chin. She purrs just like a giant house cat!

Just spooning a cheetah. No biggie!

Leela and I take a walk!

Eden, our guide, the other ladies in our group, and I went back to the office to receive instructions about the next part of our adventure: lion interaction. The lions are twice the size of the cheetahs, much more aggressive, and much more deadly. We weren't able to kiss them and hug them and snuggle them. Sad face. We had strict instructions not to touch their heads, always approach them from the back, and to talk to them when we approach. We met three adolescent lions, two females and a male. One lazy girl decided to cool off by laying on her back and spreading her legs wide. I can proudly say that I am a woman who has rubbed a lion's belly. That's right. A LION'S BELLY! After lots of pictures, we took the lions for a walk.

Just pettin' a lion.

Me and Eden with the lion cubs.

Bet you didn't know that lions like to have their bellies rubbed!

Got your tail!

 Apparently lions don't like to wear harnesses. When I asked how I was supposed to walk Terry the lion, the guide said "Just grab his tail. That's how they walk in the wild." GRAB HIS TAIL? Are you sure about that? I grabbed Terry's tail and he didn't mind. We walked through the bush, Terry every once in a while spotting something he wanted to chase. Keep in mind that lions are just big cats. Terry would think about chasing the animal, then he'd lay down, exhausted from the effort it took to consider such an exertion of energy. The lionesses would come up and join him, laying in the shade, yawning. Then we'd have to walk ahead like we didn't care about those lions. They'd eventually get jealous that we were "leading the pride" and they'd catch up and go ahead of us. We walked them back to their enclosure so that they could spend the rest of the day napping in the shade.

I know you've always wondered "how do you take a lion for a walk?" Now you know!

 Of everything I did in Zambia, hanging out with lions and cheetahs was my favorite. It's hard to describe the feeling of being sniffed, considered, and then accepted by a cheetah. An animal that could rip your throat out, but chooses to lick your face and snuggle instead. My colleagues in Peace Corps jokingly refer to me as the animal whisperer, but that day I felt legit.

Booze cruisin down the Zambezi.

Diane, Eden, Liz, and I spent the next day hanging out at the hostel. The hostel has a pool with a small waterfall, lots of lounging areas, and mango trees galore. I can't even estimate how many mangos I ate. They'd fall off the trees willy nilly, just waiting to be eaten by a hungry traveler. That afternoon, Liz and I showered and put on our finest dresses and even, gasp, makeup! We signed up for a dinner sunset cruise on the Zambezi River, aka a booze cruise. For those of you who aren't familiar, a booze cruise is a boat ride in which you eat dinner, watch the sunset, and drink all the booze you can in two hours. Let me just say that 1) I got my money's worth, and 2) I am never going on a booze cruise again. Vodka + chronically dehydrated volunteers = one way ticket on the Hot Mess Express. That's all I'm gonna say about that!

The next morning I woke up only mildly hungover. Thank goodness too because that was the day that we had planned to go to Victoria Falls! The four of us took a taxi to some fancy schmancy hotel on the Zambezi, the rendez vous point for our excursion. A small boat picked us up and took us to Livingstone island, a tiny island in the middle of the river. We were met by a man with a tray of traditional maize drink in tiny glasses. How classy is that?!? Led by a guide, we walked a ways to the most beautiful scenery you can imagine, a waterfall spilling over a cliff, so far down that it is obscured by the steam rising from the falls. In Zambia, Vic Falls is called Mosi oa Tunya, the smoke that thunders. It really is smokey and the smoke really does thunder. Because we are adventurous Peace Corps Volunteers, just looking wasn't enough.

Mosi Oa Tunya, The Smoke That Thunders, the amazing VICTORIA FALLS!

WHEEEE!!! Devil's Pool.

 During the low season, you can swim out to a small pool on the edge of the falls known as Devil's Pool. Believe it or not, we swam against the current to this tiny pool. We climbed out, over some rocks, and back in. The pool is unimaginably deep and scary as hell. You have to hold on to the edge to keep from being swept over. One by one, we climbed onto the edge and looked over while the guide held our legs. It was awesome and terrifying at the same time. After spending a few minutes in Devil's Pool, we swam back to our clothes, toweled off, and followed our guide to our next activity: breakfast on the island! We ate our breakfast in a classy, fancy tent like real rich safari people. We had eggs benedict, toast, and coffee. It was the first proper breakfast I'd had in...a year?

Breakfast at Victoria Falls.

That afternoon we laid by the pool and enjoyed word puzzles. Then it started raining. And just like Forrest Gump it rained and rained and rained. It rained for the rest of our trip. I started to think that maybe I'd somehow ended up in Vietnam, a Vietnam somehow inhabited by Zambians. 

Word puzzlin like champs.

 The rain didn't matter so much the next day as we climbed in the truck for our all day rafting trip. Life jackets, helmets, and a short safety briefing later, we were hiking down the gorge to the wild Zambezi River. All four of us, plus one random lady, were in a raft together. Our guide, Steve, sat in the back with two giant wooden oars. Although we had paddles, Steve did most of the work. On our very first rapid, one of 25 we'd be going down that day, we capsized, sending all of us rushing down the river. We were, literally, down a river without a raft. Rescue kayakers swooped in to save Liz and I before we got too far away. Yeah, I said RESCUE KAYAKERS. Serious business.

Rafting trip of doom.

Being trapped under water beneath an overturned raft is terrifying. Being swept down the river through more rapids, constantly pummeled by water and running into rocks...that's worse. And that happened to use three times. There's  a reason rapid number 7 is called Gnashing Jaws of Death. Class 4 and 5 rapids, no experience needed. Right. We came upon a rapid that was so dangerous that we had to get out and walk around. Steve, fearless leader, went down the rapid in the raft all by his lonesome. But anyway, after the third flip, discouraged and bruised, we climbed out to have a quick lunch. I was about ready to call it quits but Steve assured me that the afternoon rapids weren't nearly as bad. We shuffled the weight around (me and Liz) and finally got our paddling coordinated. The afternoon was smoother sailing. We didn't capsize once but we ended the day cold and shivering from the cool temperatures and all day rain storms.

But wait! There's more! If nearly drowning three times isn't enough for ya...the rain had caused massive rock slides along the sides of the gorge. The first time it happened I was like "Hey! Anybody else hear that train?" We looked to our right and it wasn't a train, it was a wall of boulders the size of exercise balls falling down the rock face and into the water. We paddled frantically to avoid being crushed to death, and luckily, none of the kayakers were hit.

 I slept really well that night, despite my aching muscles and fried nerves. Our last day in Zambia, we were blessed with a clear morning. Liz, Eden, Diane, and I went to the local market looking for authentic crafts and fabric. The women of Zambia wear long pieces of fabric wrapped around them like skirts and dresses. They are called chitenges. Chitenges of all colors and patterns can be purchased at the market. I went crazy and left the market with 7 chitenges. I couldn't help myself. I also bought a signature Zambian purse made out of the same fabric.

Shopping!

 During my stay, I befriended several PCV's who are based in Nambia. We hung out and played cards during the rainy times when we couldn't go out or swim. Our last night in Zambia, one of the PCV's, an Indian guy named Mayank, took us out for Indian food to celebrate my birthday. He treated us to a delicious meal and two bottles of wine. After dinner, we said goodbye to him as he boarded a bus to Malawi. Mayank is one of those awesome people that you meet at backpackers hostels. Even though we had only known each other for a few days, he took it upon himself to make my birthday the best birthday I had ever had. If you're reading this, Mayank, thank you again!

Birthday dinner and dancing with my girls!

After a long, wet week in Zambia, we crossed the ferry back into Botswana. A short taxi ride later, we arrived at the Chobe Safari Lodge. We set up our tents on the concrete patio of one of their fancy, expensive canvas tents. It was still raining and it was our only chance of staying dry. Of course by then, everything we owned was damp from the water in the air but at least we wouldn't be rained on directly. Liz and Eden decided to spent the extra money to rent the fancy tent (it has beds in it!)

Our tenting area. In case you can't read it the sign says "BEWARE CROCODILES"

 I spent my last two days in safari heaven in Kasane. Diane, Eden, and I went on a 3-hour land safari. I saw a herd of elephants, a pair of giraffes, lots of monkeys and baboons, wart hogs, water buffalo, and mongooses. Diane and I went on a water safari in the cold rain and saw hundreds of hippos. During the rainy season, the hippos leave the water to graze on the lush, grassy islands. Hippos feel most comfortable in the water so when our boat would get too close, they'd jump in all crazy to hide. At one point, a hiding hippo jumped up out of the water JAWS style beside our boat. I almost peed myself. Did you know hippos can launch their big ol' selves out of the water like that? Me neither!

Rainy safari in Chobe National Park, Botswana

Elephants!

Oh hi!

Giraffes are BIG.

Who needs a beauty shop when you've got friends to groom you?

Baby elephant lady

Me and Diane on our boat safari!

Hippos are hongry. They have a staring problem too.

Nom nom nom!

Ermagerd! Sooo maanny hippos!

Hippos like to swim too.

On December 17th, I boarded a bus for home, sad that vacation was over but looking forward to drying out. I rode with the girls to Nata and then got out as I was going in the other direction. I quickly got a lift to Maun with a teacher. I always take a ride in a car over a ride in a bus. She dropped me off in Maun four hours later. I immediately got on another bus for Ganzi, determined to get as close to home as I could that first day. After 12+ hours of travel, I arrived in Ganzi, greeted by one of the new PCV's. Peggy welcomed me to her home, where we chatted for a couple of hours before I passed out. The next morning, I made the relatively short 4 hour trip to my village. And that was the end of vacation.

I'm wearing a traditional Zambian chitenge. That's 12 feet of fabric clumsily wrapped around my big ol' body.

I relaxed for a few days and then it was Christmas time. Christmas is just another day when you live in a strange country thousands of miles from friends and family. But we do the best we can to enjoy it/avoid getting drunk and crying ourselves to sleep. On Christmas eve, I met up with two other PCV's, Ashley and Adriana, at Adriana's house in Kang. We spent Christmas eve and Christmas day eating good food, drinking bad wine, and enjoying each other's company. I went home on the 26th, spent a quiet NYE at my house, and counted down the days until...

TODAY!!!! I've been waiting for TODAY to happen for a year now. Today I am flying to America. That's right. AMERICA! I'm meeting my mom in Miami for two days of shopping and eating and then we're off on a Carribean cruise! Sunshine, snorkeling, food, beaching, food, food, and food are in the forecast. And also spending quality time with the love of my life: my mama. I'll be returning to the desert on January 18th with 10 months to go until the end of my service.

One of my All Year Resolutions is to do a better job at updating my blog. After this post, I'm gonna put up some bonus short blog posts. I want to start blogging not only about my experiences, but also about the many random thoughts and ideas that occur to me on weekly basis.
Thank you to those who are still following my life here! I promise to do better this year so that you won't have to read hours-long blog posts!

Namaste!

October 2013: Nambia! Sarah Kayaks with Seals, Climbs Sand Dunes, and Goes to Oktoberfest

Namibia!

Hey you! Remember me? It's Sarah Stewart, your trusty yet estranged Peace Corps Volunteer. I know I've been MIA for a little bit...umm try 3+ months...and I apologize for that. My only excuse is that I've been on adventure after adventure and every time I sit down to write I get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of experience that I need to describe! Because there is so much,  from snuggling with a cheetah in Zambia to climbing sand dunes in Namibia, I've decided to break this up into several individual posts. And without further ado, I introduce...NAMIBIA!!!

Himba ladies

Namibia is a small country, maybe slightly larger than Botswana. Like Botswana, the country is sparsely populated due to the mostly uninhabitable Namib desert. Most of the population lives in the Northern part of the country, including the Himba people. When you think of Africans and you think of naked people covered in dirt, you're thinking of the Himba. They cover themselves in red clay mud each day, a practice that replaces bathing. That's right. They don't bathe. The women wear traditional clothing made of skins and beads, their breasts unexposed. Never have to shower? Get to let your tatas be free? That's the life right there!

Namibia has several large, touristy cities: Windhoek (the capital) and Swakopmund (on the coast.) Because Nambia was colonized by Germany, the German influence can be felt everywhere, from the doll house architecture and high density of white folks, to the most amazing party ever: OKTOBERFEST. Do you know anyone who's been to an authentic Oktoberfest celebration, complete with wursts and women in drindles? Now you do!

So getting to Namibia...I was blessed with an amazing amount of good travel juju. On October 19th (I know-I'm REALLY behind) I rode the bus for an hour to Kang, a tiny village that serves as a major thoroughfare for truckers taking loads to Namibia from South Africa. After getting off the bus, I was able to hitch hike with a truck driver to the Namibian border, about 5 hours northwest. I walked across the border and set off walking in the desert sun, hoping for another ride. I walked just long enough for the sweat to soak through my clothes before Herr, an Afrikaans trucker, swooped me up. I spent the next 4 hours admiring Herr's Native American Dream Catcher collection (TIA!) and enjoying some air conditioning. We pulled into Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, after 6 pm. I had been hitch hiking for 12 hours and I was WORE OUT.

Not only did Herr not charge me for the ride, but he drove me all over the city until we found the backpackers hostel where I was staying. The first truck driver also gave me a ride for free. That means that I traveled from my house to Windhoek, Namibia for 20 pula, $2.50. That's good juju right there.

Me in Swakopmund

The next morning (Sunday), the good karma continued when I got a ride to my next destination, the coastal town of Swakopmund, with a nice Angolan man named Gervasio. He dropped me off at the Villa Viese guest house and Pam, my PCV travel companion, and I checked out the town. We had a nice lunch on the beach followed by an even nicer dinner at The Lighthouse Pub and Restaurant. I was able to really appreciate my bottle of sauvignon blanc and mussel pot after eating maize meal all month to save money.

On Monday morning, we woke up early for a big day of adventuring in Walvis Bay, a small town 30 km outside of Swakopmund. A gentleman from Pelican Point Kayakers picked us up from the hostel, filling us in on the history of the area as we drove. At the Pelican Point office we were treated to coffee and cookies while Naude, owner of Pelican Point, loaded up the gear for kayaking. We piled in his truck and drove down the deserted beach, passing herds and herds of giant seals, to our destination. While Naude unloaded the kayaks, we donned waterproof clothing. I expected to get wet. I mean, kayaking in the ocean. You expect wetness. It wasn't until a seal popped up out of the water and splashed me with his fin that I understood the purpose of the gear. This wasn't just any ol' sea kayaking. This was kayaking with seals. Thousands of them! Swimming all around us, playing and splashing. As if that wasn't amazing enough, a humpback whale decided to join us. Although I didn't get to see him super up close (they're shy) I was able to watch the 60 foot long creature surface to breathe. After kayaking, I tried to swim with the seals. What a nice idea! I got in up to my crotch and then decided that, as much as I wanted to say that I'd swam with seals, hypothermia wasn't worth it. That water was COLD. We ate some sandwiches and drank some beer. Can you imagine? Kayaking with seals and a whale, and drinking beer before 11 am? That's my kind of adventure.

Me and Pam kayaking with seals.

That afternoon, Pam and I hitch hiked back to Windhoek, checked in at the backpackers hostel, met up with our friend/PCV Christina, and enjoyed dinner at Joe's Beer Haus. During our week in Namibia, we would end up eating at Joe's 4 times. That night I had a kebab of monkfish, kingklip, prawns and mussels in a light tarragon-mustard sauce. Yes, I wrote down the menu description of everything I ordered. I'm that kind of tourist now.

Flamingos everywhere!

Me and Mr. Moose McGregor, Africa's Best Applie Pie baker

On Tuesday morning, Pam, Christina, and I left Windhoek on a 3 day safari into the Namibian sand dunes. The safari outfitter provided transportation, tents, a guide, food, and an attendant to prepare the food. On our way to our dune destination, a place called Sossusvlei, we stopped in a one building village known as Solitaire. Solitaire is home to the world famous Moose McGregor, baker extraordinaire, maker of Africa's Best Apple Pie. Mr. McGregor charmed me with his cheesecake and we became fast friends.

The first day of our safari was driving and stopping to snap photos of wildlife. We pitched our tents, ate supper, drank some wine, and went to bed early to prepare for our sunrise dune climb. Wednesday morning we got up at 4:45 and drove the short distance to Dune 45, one of Namibia's most famous dunes. We were given the option to climb to the top and watch the sunrise. Ok. Easy Peasy. NOT. Sand dune sand isn't like any regular ol' sand. You sink. A lot. Not to mention the fact that if you take one wrong step, you could fall off the side of the dune. Each step was a tiny terrifying mountain in and of itself and by the time I was halfway up, I was exhausted. But by God, I didn't come all the way to Namibia to quit halfway up the dune. I put my big girl panties on, took off my shoes, and hoofed it the rest of the way up that dune. I made it just in time to watch the sun rise over the beautiful, desert landscape. From up there, I coulda been the queen of the world. A very tired queen.

Sunrise on Dune 45

When it was time to go down, I realized that you can't actually fall down a dune. If you fall, you just sink a little bit and then stop. Then I saw somebody RUNNING down the dune. With renewed courage and energy, I ran down the dune too. I didn't even care that Japanese tourists were giving me funny looks. If I wanna act like a 5 year old and run down the dune that almost bested me, then I will.

"Big Daddy" dune

The rest of the day was spent hiking over dunes and through valleys. I tried to slide down a dune on my butt. I ran and jumped, expecting to "wheeeeeee" slide all the way down. 15 minutes of scooting and undies full of sand later, I finally got to the bottom. Not quite what I expected but still fun. The goal of all the walking was to get to Deadvlei, a dried up lake in the middle of the Namib desert. The lake had existed for some 300 years, with trees growing right out of the water. When the lake dried up 600 years ago, the trees died but remained intact. Because there is no fungus or bacteria to decompose them, the trees still stand, reminders of the unpredictable nature of our fragile habitats. After Deadvlei, Pam, Christina, and I were all duned out.

Deadvlei, Namibia

Sossusvlei Canyon

In the cooler early evening, our guide took us to Sossusvlei Canyon, 30 million years old, formerly a river. All that is left of the river is a tiny pool of stagnant water, home to some miracle catfish. We decided that the canyon needed a margarita stand and headed back to camp. Shower, game meat kebabs, bedtime.

Teddy, Ambassador cheetah

Thursday was a travel day, this time back to Windhoek. We passed through Solitaire again and partook in more of Mr. McGregor's tasty treats. All of the rumors are true, his apple pie is Africa's best. We also had the opportunity to visit a cheetah sanctuary. We met two cheetah "ambassadors" as they napped in the shade. We spent the long ride back to the city debating requirements for future husbands, appropriate times for body glitter, and how to recognize a Peace Corps Volunteer (dirty, poor, faded holey clothes, shoes falling apart, hitch hiking, may smell of booze, backpack, talking about the consistency of their poop.) After showering and resting, we went out for canneloni and wine at Joe's.

Cafe time!

On Friday, we met up with a bunch of other PCV's from Botswana. Christina and I went shopping at a local craft market and drank tea at a cafe. Nothing like a cup of mint tea in a cafe to make you feel like a real person again. In the afternoon, I decided to cool off in the hostel pool and I ended up meeting a nice, young farmer by the name of Peter. Peter was born and raised in South Africa but lives on a ranch in Namibia. We hit it off right away and I invited him to dinner with the gang. We all went out to Joe's (again!) Get ready...I had a game kebab of zebra, oryx, crocodile, ostrich, and kudu meats. How's that for some protein? We followed up our amazing dinner with cocktails at the skybar on top of the Hilton hotel. Vacation done right!

German Dancing at Oktoberfest

All of this was pre-gaming for our biggest, most highly anticipated day- Oktoberfest. People travel from all over the world to come to Oktoberfest in Namibia. I was super pumped to be a part of a celebration of one of the world's most cherished beverages. Not water. More important. Beer. And let me tell ya, when your beer celebration starts at 11 a.m. you expect big things. Shenanigans, if you will. Loaded up in Peter's car, we were some of the first people to arrive at Oktoberfest. We got a table right up near the stage, souvenir beer tankers, free cotton candy, and some authentic German food. The 13+ piece band, flown in all the way from Germany, rocked the stage. Occasionally they would come down and perform dances, leiderhosen, drindels, and all. Since coming to Africa, I have never seen so many white people in one place, much less so many blonde-haired blue-eyed white people. We drank all day, danced, and ate. Christina, Emily (another PCV), and I went to the hostel and were asleep by 10.

Peter!

Pam and me. 500ml tankers of beer + $1.50 refills = DRUNK.

Me and Christina burning off some of them beer calories!

Do you know what happens when you start drinking at 11 am? You feel like shit the next day. And we did. Pam and Christina set off for Botswana early as I pondered what to do. Peter had invited me to come stay with him for a few days at his ranch. When our plans fell through, I left Windhoek at 11 am with the intention of making it home that day. I hitch hiked all the way to Kang with truckers. None of them charged me! Granted I had to do a little flirting, but it was worth it. I arrived in Kang after 10 pm. For obvious reasons (lions and rapists), I couldn't just hitch hike on the side of the road. I hung around a gas station, where some ladies made it their personal mission to find me a ride to my village. I ended up getting a lift in the mail truck all the way to my house. I arrived around midnight and crashed, sad that my awesome vacation had ended.

The whole gang in Namibia! Skybar at the Hilton Hotel.

So that was Namibia. Namibia is awesome. The people there are beyond friendly. The scenery is breathtaking. The wildlife, flora and fauna, is breathtaking. If you stay at hostels and hitch hike, it's possible to explore Namibia for less than $1000! I sometimes talk about karma in my blog posts. The universe blessed me on my trip, lining me up to meet the right people time after time. When I needed a ride to Swakopmund, somebody swooped me up. When I needed a SIM card for my cell phone, somebody gave me one. When I needed a reminder that people are inherently good, somebody picked me up out of the desert and took me to my hostel. Namibia was truly more than just another patch on my backpack!

Namaste

PS-Check out my next post for details of my CRAZY trip to Zambia!

23 Sep 13: Repost: Sarah Celebrates One Year In Botswana!

Note: This is a repost. If you commented on the first post, I apologize that I had to delete it. As often happens, I got in trouble with Peace Corps for what I said about my shadowing experience. So here's the original post, minus any details about that.

In my last email, I told you that you aren't a real Peace Corps Volunteer until you've pooped yourself. I've broadened my definition to include the following:

You aren't a real Peace Corps Volunteer until you've...

-hitchhiked 6 hours with a Namibian trucker to get to the only swimming hole in the country that won't give you Shistosomiasis (Google it-it's nasty)

-spent two months arranging to teach a workshop at a bushman settlement--then on the day of the workshop you get all dolled up and don your finest dress only to spend two hours riding in the bed of a truck in deep sand to get to said workshop, thus showing up COVERED from head to toe in dirt

Transport in Botswana is...sketchy.

-taught your pubescent girl students about menstruation and accidentally horrified them by describing the mechanics of a tampon (apparently tampons aren't prevalent here)

-had to spend the morning sitting at the village health post because you drank too much wine and gave yourself a full-thickness burn trying to make apple fritters

-used your own pee as a fertilizer for your garden

Trailblazers Backpackers!

I've been here for a year folks! Whoa! To celebrate, some volunteers and I decided to get together for some bonding over booze and braii. The weekend after shadowing, me and about 8 other PCV's met up in Ganzi for a few days of fun in the sun (with water.) We stayed at Trailblazers Backpackers for the low price of 65 pula per night (about $7.) The first night we met some tourists from England. The one guy in particular I talked to/played cards with all night was awesome. His name is John Moss, he's a PhD math student, and he is from a tiny village of 60 people that is owned by a Lord and Lady Beckett. How freakin' cool is that? I've gotta visit him someday. He promised me that we'd go fox huntin on Lord and Lady Beckett's horses and then he left for Namibia. 

Happy One Year Bots 13!

The Gat

On Saturday morning, me and my peeps packed up our swimmin stuff and went to The Gat (pronounce haht.) The Gat used to be a granite quarry, a very small but deep one. The diggers didn't realize that they were digging so close to the water table and when they hit it the quarry filled up with water! They abandoned their digging and sold the quarry to the lady who owns Trailblazers. She built restrooms, camping areas, and bbq stands. She drove us there and let us spend the whole day swimming for free! Because it was a quarry, it has a steep drop down into the water and it's very deep. Animals can't use it as a water source so it is unpolluted. It is the only place to swim in the whole country that won't give you Shistosomiasis. We spent the day layin on the dock, swimming in the deep crystal-clear water, and bbqing!

No parasites = happy swimming!

It was by far one the nicest days I've had here. Most of our group refused to come complaining that it was too far from their sites (EVERYWHERE is far for me and Ashley-we had no sympathy) but the group that did come was just good, quality folks. On Sunday, Ashley and I bought groceries and headed home.




Last week was CRAZY. Me and Ashley scrambled to prepare for the workshop that we were scheduled to do on Friday. It wasn't even certain if it was still on until Thursday morning when we found out that the Ministry of Ed had done their part in providing food and transportation, a pre-Christmas miracle.

On Monday, I noticed that my 6th graders didn't have a teacher. She was on leave for the whole week. They were just sitting in their classroom, unsupervised, acting a fool. So Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I taught them for the first half of the day. We watched several educational films, played a card game called Safari of Life that teaches sexual health, and then played sexual health Jeopardy for prizes. On top of adopting 34 12-year olds I also did my regular activities: PACT Club, Yoga at Prison, and a staff meeting.

Final Destination Go!

On Wednesday, the wind was ridiculous. I thought the roof was going to blow off my house. I didn't get any sleep that night and to make matters worse, the wind blew down the electrical poles 100km north of my village. The power was out for over a day, which isn't that big a deal unless you're trying to prepare for a workshop and make lots of photocopies. In the middle of the night Thursday, the power finally came back on. Ashley and I ran around like chickens with our heads cut off on Friday morning, trying to print and copy the materials. When we were finally ready, we found out that our ride to Monong (a bushman settlement an hour down a deep sand road) was going to be in the back of a truck. We chucked it up to TIA (This.Is.Africa.) and made the best of it by taking funny pictures. We also entertained ourselves with our most successful round of "Final Destination Go" ever. Final Destination Go is a game I developed based off of the Final Destination movies. When someone says "Final Destination Go!" you have to list all of the ridiculous ways that you could be killed right then. In the back of the truck some of ours included: the driver (who was driving like a bat outta hell) hits a rut and a plate from the workshop dishware flies at you separating your head from your body; the welding on the jinky truck comes apart and the back end detaches from the cab ejecting us, and then our bodies are eaten by hungry lions. Final Destination Go = hours of fun for the whole family.

A workshop well done!

Although we arrived an hour and a half late, the workshop went really well. We were able to teach the teachers of Monong Primary School how to teach life skills using Botswana's Living Curriculum, which is our real job here. We got back Friday afternoon earlier than we expected, dirty and tired. I started unpacking my bag and realized that I had left my wallet in the back of the truck. I frantically called every contact I had at the Ministry office asking them to please get ahold of the truck driver. My wallet had my American credit cards, my ID, my visa, and my credit card linked to the bank account where I get my allowance. I was so tired and frustrated that I just started bawling. Fortunately, they were able to get ahold of the driver and he returned my wallet that evening. I felt bad for making him come all the way back out to my village so I compensated him the best way I could: with a tin of instant coffee and a bar of lavender scented soap.

This weekend I was feeling lazy. On Saturday, I read/napped for most of the day, drank wine, and then accidentally burnt the crap out of the inside of my arm frying apple fritters. On Sunday, I was mad at myself for being so careless so I read for the whole morning to get my mind off things. Then I got a burst of motivation and spent the rest of the day in my gardens. I have my big main garden and also Millie's former chicken house, which is now the Millie M. Stewart Memorial Herb Garden. I reshaped the beds, tilled in the manure, and planted all my seeds: peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sage, cilantro, spearmint, dill, fennel, and basil. We had a drizzle of rain one night last week but it didn't do anything to replenish my JoJo. I'm still watering with dishwater which is a pain but it's ok. It feels good to recycle water!

Summer is here in full force. The sky is dark in the late afternoon tempting us with rain that doesn't come. It has been at least 6 months since we had rain. They are forecasting that there might be rain next week. The cows and donkeys are dying because there is no water for them and even less food. When you drive down the road to my village you can see dead cows rotting beside the road in the sun. Really sad.

Ruby sittin on her eggs.

The good news on the animal front is that Ruby the chicken has been sitting on her 12 eggs in my yard for a week now. She just sits there and sits there and occasionally gets up to look for bugs. Me and the girls next door have decided that she must be bored, which has led us to the the timeless questions: What is the best way to entertain a chicken? Millie loved to watch movies but I can't very well set my computer out in the sand for Ruby. I'm about to start the third Game of Thrones book and I'm thinkin that maybe I should try reading to her. I bet Ruby would love an adventure story chock full of murder, deceit, and incest. Who doesn't? I'll have to fill her in on what happened in the first two books so she doesn't get confused. We also tried to shade her from the hot sun with an umbrella but the wind blew it away. She is a tough chicken. I also have a new best friend named Jethrow. She is a black and white goat and she comes to my yard every afternoon for scraps. She has a tiny black baby goat named Elmer.

Jethrow and Elmer

Look at that precious face!

This week looks to be only a little less busy than last week. I've prepared my reports about the workshop in Monong which I'm going to deliver in Hukuntsi tomorrow. I've got PACT Club, yoga at prison, and a health talk at prison. I didn't get much accomplished today as I spent the entire morning waiting to get my burn dressed at the clinic. Normally I would just tend it myself but I'm not trying to get gangrene in Africa. Florence, my favorite nurse, is on leave in Zambia so I was seen by a young male nurse named Pakati. He's funny and seems to know what he's doing! He gave me antibiotics because everything gets infected here and I'm going to go back every other day to have the dressing changed. Maybe I'll see if Pakati wants to hang out sometime.

Ashley is leaving tomorrow for America. She will be gone for two weeks. As she is my constant companion and closest neighbor, I think I'm gonna miss her a bunch. Let's hope she brings me some candy. In October, there will be two new PCV's coming to live in Hukuntsi. They are an older married couple, rumored to be very down to Earth and fun. I'm looking forward to getting some new blood around here!

My next closest PCV, Pam in Hukuntsi, has planned a trip to Namibia for me, her, and several other volunteers late next month. We are going to tour the country and then go to the famous Oktoberfest in Windhoek. I'm hesitant to spend the little bit of money I have saved but then again I'm not coming back here. Might as well do all the traveling I can before I go!

A year and two weeks in country have made me into a person that I wouldn't have recognized. Having so much time on my hands and the drive to self-improve, I find myself more accepting of people and their situations, more accepting of myself and my situation, and best of all- confident that I can do anything! I am hoping to funnel this confidence into a Women's Empowerment Workshop at the end of this year. Pam, Ashley, myself, and another volunteer named Tate have busted our butts for three months to get our grant proposal published on the Peace Corps website. You all probably received an email from "Ashley Rice" with a link to donate to our cause. Unfortunately, Peace Corps didn't put anybody else's name on the dang email.

Toilet paper roll art. I have a lot of free time.

This workshop is going to be all about empowering 40 women, chosen by us from our villages. These women will be taught about gender-based violence (some women still don't know that rape is illegal!), yoga, meditation, how to talk to their kids about sex, financial planning, and a handful of other essential life skills. We are trying to raise a little over $2,000 to cover the cost of transporting the ladies to the workshop and feeding them. At the end, the ladies will be responsible for planning and implementing an empowerment camp for young girls. The Peace Corps staff is so impressed with our effort that they have gotten the US Embassy and USAID involved. We might just put on this women's camp and become famous! If you feel like contributing to our effort, you can donate directly to us (when the money is raised it is directly deposited into our bank account) at the link:

[Thanks to everyone who has donated! Since I wrote this, our grant has been fully funded!]

Thank you guys for your continuing support. I wouldn't be here without the help of all of my family and friends and the constant stream of loving cards, emails, and texts.

From Africa with Love!