Animal Attraction

I have spent quite a bit of my time helping various charitable organisations here in Swakopmund. Six months in one place gives plenty of opportunity to pick ones battles and hope to make a difference. I have already written about my initial involvement with Tears of Hope Orphanage. Fund raising for the orphanage is ongoing, and newspaper promotion certainly hasn't hurt the cause.

Another charity that has inspired me is an organisation called "Mondesa Youth Opportunities", a non-profit after school enrichment program that promotes academics, athletics, the arts and life skills as a means to bring an end to the cycle of poverty that is prevalent in Swakopmund's townships. The primary objective is to develop and foster an environment where children living in communities such as Mondesa and DRC (an informal settlement on the outskirts of Swakopmund) are given opportunities to learn and grow in areas that are imperative to their success in life. MYO supplements over-crowded and under-funded schools.

MYO's website (www.mondesayouth.org) drew me to the organisation and I was able to help produce their latest newsletter.

Children from impoverished backgrounds selected to attend MYO have to show an aptitude and willingness to learn. They must also show a record of respectful behaviour - disruption in these classrooms is detrimental to those who want to learn. The local schools recommend certain children based on these qualities.

Formal school, for all children over the age of 7, begins between 7 and 8am and finishes between 12 and 1pm in Namibia. That leaves plenty of time after school for children to play, drift, get into mischief or...learn. Children who attend MYO are given a healthy lunch and a cool drink before they line up for classes which run between 2pm until 5pm. The Students, or "learners" as they are called here in Namibia, must be in at least grade 4 to attend MYO. Each subject lasts for about 30 minutes and then the children move on to the next classroom for a different subject - much like a high school method of learning.

The teaching staff are paid, but all ancillary staffing is voluntary. I interviewed the teachers for the newsletter and they all agreed that it was a pleasure to teach these children who actually love learning. The teachers also like being given time to plan lessons properly - apparently unlike in the state system.

While I volunteered my time, my son was allowed to attend lessons with the grade 4 children in their shipping-container classrooms. Little and lost in the small crowd, he was made to feel welcome and assisted by the children in every aspect so that he, too, could enjoy his time learning at MYO.

At MYO, my 6 year old discovered a way to remember the rough shape of Namibia.

He also discovered that Namibia is a far bigger country than he realised.

A combination of that realisation; a certain amount of (though I am ashamed to admit it) compassion overload; a visit from an Australian girl-friend and urging from my time-poor, over-worked husband, made me realise that I really should take time out to see some of this part of Africa while I'm here.

Aussie friend, 6 year old son and I booked a camping safari trip. All transport food and accommodation and two guides included. It was a fantastic way of seeing the country and its animals.

Waiting outside our building for our Wild Dog Safari guides to pick us up and begin our Namibian adventure.

Chacma baboons crossing the highway. We also saw warthogs, springbok and oryxes on our journey, but I seemed to take lots of bottom photos (I swear I'll put together a "Bottom" album at some stage to highlight all the fleeing animals) so I haven't included them here.

Road-side stalls sell sand in bottles and hand made wooden artworks and sculptures - none of which can be brought into Australia, so we paid the stall holders for photo opportunities only.

This sign greeted us at the gates of Etosha National Park. Note all the things you can't do. People who do not abide by these rules can, AND DO, get eaten or trampled by the "Dangerous Animals" mentioned also on the sign. All camping areas in the Park are surrounded by big, strong, secure fences (yep, I checked).

Etosha national park was proclaimed as Namibia's first conservation area in 1907! It is one of the larges game reserves in Africa. Bring it on!

Literally five minutes after entering the park, Elephants crossed our path...

...soon to be joined by giraffes.

So many animals visit the water holes in the early morning - to stock up for the day - and in the evening - to rehydrate after the hot, drying day. It felt to me as if I was on a movie set. I could almost hear the director muttering into his/her walkie-talkie, "Cue the elephants. ... Enter the giraffes. ... now exit elephants... Giraffes to approach waterhole...wait for it...now..." They all take turns in a sort of mutually decided pecking order.

Giraffes...necking.

A black-backed jackal, searching for food.

Plains Zebras.

Wildebeest are apparently so short-sighted that they are often seen hanging around with other animals, like these zebras, so that they can rely on the the other animals to signal when there is danger. "Zebras run...I run. What is it? What...a lion!! Which way did they go, which way did they go?"

These banded ground squirrels came out onto the road to warm up in the sun. Nights are very cold here in the park. 

Two elephants having a drink together.

In this night photo it is hard to see the rhino on the bank of the water hole, but check out the reflection.

Dawn at a water hole. I think all the animals were scared away by the really annoying shushing noise made by my wind jacket every time I so much as breathed. All the other early-risers who had come to the water hole to see animals gave me the dirtiest looks. Sheepishly, I left (so at least they got to see a sheep...)

This little cutie is a Damara Dik Dik.

Springboks at a water hole - with ostriches waiting for their turn.

Savannah plains

Thanks for the warning.

Giraffes never eat a tree to the point of destruction. The trees they prefer to eat have a natural protective reaction. When the trees have had enough leaves nibbled off, the tree makes the leaves taste sour so that the giraffe moves on to the next tree. Clever, isn't it?

Can you see the leopard? This was taken at dusk and I didn't see it untill the guide pointed it out. Not a good photo, I'll grant you, but proof that I saw a leopard in the wild.

Our guide wouldn't let us get out of the van and get our photograph next to this "stay in your car" sign. A good thing, too. 5 minutes later, we saw a lion - stalking.

I think we can safely say that that question has been answered: Black with white stripes!

Cheetahs 1: Spingbok nil.

Vultures waiting...

A pride of lions sharing a giraffe.

Hippos at a water hole.

The ungainly stance of a giraffe, drinking, makes them an easy target for predators, but the fact that the zebras are politely waiting behind for their turn - not fleeing from ,say, a lion - allowed this giraffe to relax and have a good long drink.

Now it is the zebras' turn.

Our guide, Gabriel - also known as The Scat Man - was able to differentiate between all the different droppings to allow him to track some animals. This, he informed us, had the texture and taste of elephant poo. (He played the same trick on us as my mother used to play on us: touch something with one finger; then carefully swap fingers to do the taste test. My six year old was successfully tricked into believing that elephant poo is saltier than rhino poo. Nightmares in the tent that night led me to reveal the trick)

Lioness watching some tasty springboks near a waterhole. Soon after seeing this, we were taken to a long-drop toilet for a much needed...interlude. He assured us that he would keep an eye out, but the van we were travelling in wasn't able to park close enough to the toilet in my opinion. Thank god for my nurse's bladder.

This vast salt pan, Etosha Pan - from which the National Park takes its name - is a bleak expanse of white, cracked mud which shimmers with mirages.

Camping in style - marred only by the projectile vomiting provided "on" me by my six year old (hence all our camping equipment "airing" on the grass). It is really cold at Etosha at 3.00am! (and at 3.30, and at 4, and at 4.30 and at 5). Luckily, this camp ground was one of the best and there was plenty of hot water in the well appointed shower block.

Camp breakfast - all prepared while we packed our belongings. Very civilised.

While we saw so many animals on our safari (and I took many more photos, but this blog is long enough already), it was the elephants who greeted us that impressed me the most.

Calmer Chameleon

I have been here in Swakopmund long enough to have established first name basis friendships with many of the local artisans. Well, they are first name friendships if you consider that I am known as Mrs Bert and my son is Young Bert or Boy. "Hello Mrs Bert. How are you today? Is today the day you will be buying things? You must look at this."

Now, I must advise you that the Namibian use of "MUST" can come across as very bossy and carry an imperative tone, but "must" is mostly used in place of the words "have to." For example: "You must come before 5" really is a polite reminder that "you have to come before 5". "You MUST walk down the street to the third corner then you MUST turn left and you MUST enter the third house on the right. And you MUST come and enjoy a cup of tea. You MUST try another piece of my cake." Well...if I MUST!

Some markets sell fresh foods, some sell hand crafted wooden animals and other art, some sell jewellery, some sell clothing made of hand woven materials, some sell lengths of hand made and hand printed materials, some sell wire craft and some sell photo opportunities. Fair enough in a tourist town with a large unemployment rate. Everyone is out to make a buck.

  

This woman is from the Himba Tribe. She and her extended family hand make jewellery, but they are fully aware and accepting of the fact that many tourists don't want to buy their simplistic braided trinkets but prefer to merely take photographs of them. The haggling starts as soon as the cameras appear.

The standout feature of Himba women (apart from their naked torsos) is that they coat their hair with a thick sticky mixture of buttermilk and ochre. They also coat their skin in a thin ochre paste. Himba people tend to have a lighter skin colour than many other Namibian tribes people. The ochre protects their skin and hair from sun damage.

We walk past a small group of Himba woman and their children most days on our way to the beach or playground. What I said about being on a first name basis with many of the marketeers is not quite true of these Himba woman. I can, I suppose, accept the name they have given me...Oma (I refuse to acknowledge that Oma means Grandma in this very German influenced town...Oma probably means "Oh Beautiful One" in Himba). Try as I will, I am unable to pronounce any of their names - which all involve clicks and glottal stops unfamiliar to my tongue. Anyway, I often take them food: fruit; biltong; Vegemite sandwiches (these Himbas have really taken a liking to Vegemite) and similar finger food. I get no verbal thanks for this supply of food and I have accidentally established a pattern of expectation, which was not my intention, but I don't mind. I bring the food, so they expect the food, so I bring the food!

 I also watch their small children while at the park - the Himba mothers let their tiny offspring wander where ever they like and the mothers got cranky with me the first time I pointed out that there were little ones in the park without a parent/carer. So I do it for my own peace of mind, not for theirs it seems.

All manner of hand crafted goods are available at open air markets. Tour buses pull up and the marketeers start spruiking. The general rule is that if you touch an item, consider it sold. Therefore the marketeers will try all kinds of tricks to get tourists to touch their goods. Then they simply won't take them back and the haggling/bargaining determines the price.

I am fascinated by the recycling that is used by these African artisans. They can even make items on request.

Aluminium cans become animals...

...and cars.

Bottle tops become handbags. (I have already informed my husband that this should not provide him with an excuse to drink lots of beer!)

Open air markets in Swakopmund.

Artists constantly look busy polishing their works. Even if the marketeers didn't make the the art works originally, it looks to the tourists as if they made them by the way they seem to be giving them their final polish.

It is not just arts and crafts that are available at markets. Food stuffs are available at the Kuiseb Markets - as are photo opportunities.

Mopane worms are available at the Kuiseb Markets...but I didn't buy any!

More aspects of some markets in Swakopmund.

Photo from the President's lawn - overlooking the markets.

One area in Swakopmund allows marketeers to set up in an alleyway to attract tourists to the other businesses. Here, I organised a craft afternoon by hiring wireworker, Wellington, to teach a group of children how to make wire animals. He began by allowing each child to make whichever animal they wanted. Pandemonium broke out with children getting frustrated and Wellington demanding perfection. I dashed to a craft shop, bought some more pliers and suggested that all the children follow Wellington's instructions for one animal. Much calmer.

The children chose to make a Chameleon. Several hours of "good fun" later, each child had their very own Chameleon to take home. And Wellington went home with a full pocket of cash. Happy all round, I'd say.

My son's chameleon. Not bad for a 6 year old.

A real chameleon. A calmer chameloen.