Our first camping trip...we return alive

Tristan is in the midst of a 2.5-week holiday from School. We took advantage and planned a trip back to the south, where Larkin had visited before with a Polytechnic colleague. You can click on the archived photo link to view photos of the trip. There are only about 80 of them, so pace yourself. There are captions galore, so we won't repeat the details here.

We left on Tuesday, traveled straight south past Hardap Dam and then angled to the southwest to Helmeringhausen, where we spent the night in a hotel. We were traveling with another Fulbright family, the Bates'. You can follow the link here to their blog for their nice description of the trip.

Wednesday found us driving slightly north of Helmeringhausen to the Jorn Miller farm Aubures, where we set up our first campsite with rooftop tents on our rented 4x4. Poly, our lil' Toyota stayed home on this trip. We received a great tour of the farm, and Tristan got his first good taste of rock hounding. A wonderful secluded campsite.

Thursday was a drive through blowing sands of the Namib desert, straight west to Luderitz on the coast. Windy weather kept us from camping, but we had a great night in a guest house high on a rocky hill.

Friday found us searching for agates on the beach and driving northeast of Luderitz to Farm Namtib, another wonderful guest farm where we camped. Camping in these sites is great--running water, showers with hot water (sometimes you have to heat it with firewood), and real toilets out in the middle of nowhere. We met some wonderful ladies from Switzerland who camped near us that night.

Saturday, we drove north to Sesriem, passing through more dry scenery with the Namib on our left and mountains on our right. Check out photos of some friends that Kelly made on the way. We camped at the Sesriem campground, part of the Namibian National Park system. After playing 'road tag' with the ladies from Switzerland, we ended up offering to share our campsite to them this night--when the campground lost their reservation.

Sunday started with an early morning trip to Sossusvlei through the red dunes of the Namib. We climbed a dune. Well, Larkin climbed 1/2-way. Kelly and Tristan got a great view. Larkin got great photos. Then, we headed for Windhoek.

The trip ended with a breakdown of the Bates' Land Rover. We were rescued by (in order) men on horse and donkey carts, a US AID couple who we know, and a wonderfully nice mechanic from Windhoek. All happened to pass by on the lonely road near Klein Aub--two hours from Windhoek. Amazingly (late on Sunday afternoon), a part was found, the vehicle was repaired, and all made it home that night.

It was a great trip. Perhaps a bit aggressive long on the planning for 4 kids to travel each day--and in an area where we could have stayed 2-3 days at each place we stopped. But, we saw great country and met wonderful people. In fact, we didn't meet anyone we didn't like on the entire trip. The hotel owners, farm families, folks on the street, donkey cart drivers, and mechanics all smiled, waved, and went out of their way to make our days great. It's a great country to travel in, for sure.

Feeling Scarlet

Just a quick news note. Powell family and blog featured in the Scarlet--the weekly Newspaper for faculty at UNL. You can read the article by clicking here.

Ingenuity meets need

The diversity of various types of vehicles in Namibia is astonishing. There are traditional-type semi-trucks (lorries), and pick-ups (bakkies). But, every time you turn around, you see someone has taken a chassis and done something creative with it. Similar to trucks used by vets (with storage for equipment and medicine) or ranchers (flat bed trucks) in the States. But, many more adaptations. People movers (such as the photo at right) used to carry tourist-campers around Namibia are one example.

So, it was no surprise when I discovered that Polytechnic had its own people-mover vehicle. The need: field trips to take students out to study natural resource management where it happens. The problem: you need a 4x4 truck to get there, in most cases. Second problem: class size is usually 20-25 and your standard 4x4 truck can squeeze in 8 people, if you stick people in the back. The solution: the lorry to the right. The faculty bought a Mercedes chassis, used, and designed the 'box' that carries everyone around. It can carry 25 students easily, and has room for field equipment. And, it's 4WD. It can fit down the narrowest roads fairly easily.

Students take week-long excursions to various parks around the country, and the lorry gets a lot of use. During game counts, there is a hatch that students can open to get on the roof--for great perspective for the game counts. Later this semester, we plan to compare detectability of wildlife during a survey between students on the roof with those inside the lorry.

Kelly has a book that we brought over here called "Desert Peoples". Neither one of us has read it yet, but it talks about the contribution of people who lived in 'tough' environments to human history. The basic idea is that when you're literally stuck between a rock and a hard place, ingenuity happens. And, the results can be interesting. For an obvious example, think of Egyptian culture and contributions to irrigation technology.

On a daily basis, we see people in Namibia that have an idea, and are trying to make a living with it. Entrepreneurship is rampant. Example 1: a older lady sits outside the grocery we use, and she sells muffins (perhaps she knows the store doesn't sell muffins). One day, I bought some muffins from her. She smiled, and opened another container next to her. "Would you like some fish?" she asked. "Not today," I replied. "I used to be a nurse," she told me--perhaps to convince me the fish was OK to eat?! She had some nice fried fish, but that wasn't what I was expecting to see in that container. Example 2: guys wandering parking lots selling knives, padlocks, candy, and just about anything. Again, how they make the choice of what to sell is interesting.

It reminds me a bit of when we lived in Georgia and saw people selling socks and pillows on the side of the road. Interesting decision, and first reaction might be to chuckle. Who really went out thinking they needed socks and might find someone selling them on the way to church? But, it's creative. It's a way to get the bills paid.

Maybe some of the ingenuity will rub off on us. Because, for a year, we are desert people.

Toilet key update

This blog is for all NTN readers who have been waiting to hear if I have been able to access the men's toilet at work, since my unfortunate incident back in February. Your concern is heart-warming.

The good news is that I am the proud owner of two keys to the men's toilet on the 4th floor of the Polytechnic staff office complex. The interesting news is that I did not get them from Polytechnic. In fact, the requisition for a new key for me has still not resulted in a key--over three weeks later. First, they had to price it, which I believe entailed someone going to the store, finding out the keys cost US$0.70, and then coming back to report this information. Then, I had to request petty cash. Then, they decided to wait until all other key needs could be gathered from faculty, so their 'key person' could make one trip to the store downtown. That all makes sense, but it was causing me some uncomfortable days--if I couldn't find a key to borrow.

When I heard the keys were at the store downtown, I decided the best option was to go buy one myself. A guy can only keep his legs crossed for so long. Each key has a number engraved on it, indicating the type of key--luckily for me, it's engraved on the part that I did not break. So, I went to the store and bought two--just for insurance purposes. I realize my limitations.

I'm also thinking I might go into business of selling keys to the men's toilet on 4th floor. And, I'm also considering asking my colleagues for the number of their floor's keys--so I can own a key to every men's toilet in the building.

It's all about access...is my American side showing?!