Opuwo Country Lodge: First Night

The first night at Opuwo was when I really got to know everyone else on the trip, and where I made my friends from other schools. We set up our tents (by now we had gotten the hang of this) and walked down to the pool for a swim. Now I was expecting an average hotel pool, but instead, the lodge had an infinity pool looking out off of a clip. I had never seen anything like it. The pool was freezing cold, but we braved the ice-cold water in order to get a better view of the valley. We hung out around the pool for the entire afternoon, and enjoyed the most beautiful sunset that I had ever seen. To quote a famous, modern philosopher (@pwithers): "It's impossible to caputure the beatury of an African sunset. But you can try your best."

After the pool, we had an exception dinner, cooked my the master chef (Colleen). All the students played our own version of "never have I ever", without drinks of course. Later, I went with four of my friends back to the pool to look at the African night sky (one of the best views of the trip).

Opuwo Country Lodge: First Night

The first night at Opuwo was when I really got to know everyone else on the trip, and where I made my friends from other schools. We set up our tents (by now we had gotten the hang of this) and walked down to the pool for a swim. Now I was expecting an average hotel pool, but instead, the lodge had an infinity pool looking out off of a clip. I had never seen anything like it. The pool was freezing cold, but we braved the ice-cold water in order to get a better view of the valley. We hung out around the pool for the entire afternoon, and enjoyed the most beautiful sunset that I had ever seen. To quote a famous, modern philosopher (@pwithers): "It's impossible to caputure the beatury of an African sunset. But you can try your best."

After the pool, we had an exception dinner, cooked my the master chef (Colleen). All the students played our own version of "never have I ever", without drinks of course. Later, I went with four of my friends back to the pool to look at the African night sky (one of the best views of the trip).

Etosha National Park

Wow, there is absolutely no way that I am going to be able to accurately capture the experience of Etosha, but all I can do is try my best. After a (relatively) short drive, we arrived at the huge, stone gates of Etosha. Upon arrival, we were disinfected for "foot and mouth disease." Then, we set off for our camp. Almost immediately, we saw herds of different types of antelope, zebra, and birds. It wasn't too far to our camp once we were in Etosha. The drive was entertaining, what with all of the animals, but everyone was exhausted from waking up early. Finally, out of nowhere, we saw the camp in the distance. The camp was fairly large, maybe the size of the Collegiate campus. There was an observation tower, a curio shop, a general store, and my favorite feature of the entire trip: a watering hole. The watering hole was just outside of the walls, about twenty feet out. there was an electric fence separating us from the animals, but they didn't pay any attention to us anyways. My favorite memories of the trip were  made staying up until the late hours of the night with my group of new friends, silently observing the watering hole. During our three nights there, we saw: giraffe, elephant, white rhino, black rhino, jackal, hyena, and many different types of small game.

The next three days were spent doing game drives with our excellent field guides where we saw: giraffe, elephant, rhino, jackal, bat eared fox, antelope, zebra, lions, wildebeest, and more! Rob (the chaperone of Head-Royce) even saw a caracal! Our favorite pastime was playing hacky sack at bushy-bushy stops.

Etosha was undoubtedly the highlight of my trip, and I hope I will one day be able to return!

Etosha National Park

Wow, there is absolutely no way that I am going to be able to accurately capture the experience of Etosha, but all I can do is try my best. After a (relatively) short drive, we arrived at the huge, stone gates of Etosha. Upon arrival, we were disinfected for "foot and mouth disease." Then, we set off for our camp. Almost immediately, we saw herds of different types of antelope, zebra, and birds. It wasn't too far to our camp once we were in Etosha. The drive was entertaining, what with all of the animals, but everyone was exhausted from waking up early. Finally, out of nowhere, we saw the camp in the distance. The camp was fairly large, maybe the size of the Collegiate campus. There was an observation tower, a curio shop, a general store, and my favorite feature of the entire trip: a watering hole. The watering hole was just outside of the walls, about twenty feet out. there was an electric fence separating us from the animals, but they didn't pay any attention to us anyways. My favorite memories of the trip were  made staying up until the late hours of the night with my group of new friends, silently observing the watering hole. During our three nights there, we saw: giraffe, elephant, white rhino, black rhino, jackal, hyena, and many different types of small game.

The next three days were spent doing game drives with our excellent field guides where we saw: giraffe, elephant, rhino, jackal, bat eared fox, antelope, zebra, lions, wildebeest, and more! Rob (the chaperone of Head-Royce) even saw a caracal! Our favorite pastime was playing hacky sack at bushy-bushy stops.

Etosha was undoubtedly the highlight of my trip, and I hope I will one day be able to return!

Reflective Quote:

"Westerners arriving in Africa for the first time are always struck by its beauty and size - even the sky seems higher. And they often find themselves suddenly cracked open. They lose inhibitions, feel more alive, more themselves, and they begin to understand why, until then, they have only half lived. In Africa the essentials of existence - light, earth, water, food, birth, family, love, sickness, death - are all more immediate, more intense. Visitors suddenly realize what life is for. To risk a huge generalization: amid our wasteful wealth and time-pressed lives we have lost human values that still abound in Africa" - R. Dowden

Reflective Quote:

"Westerners arriving in Africa for the first time are always struck by its beauty and size - even the sky seems higher. And they often find themselves suddenly cracked open. They lose inhibitions, feel more alive, more themselves, and they begin to understand why, until then, they have only half lived. In Africa the essentials of existence - light, earth, water, food, birth, family, love, sickness, death - are all more immediate, more intense. Visitors suddenly realize what life is for. To risk a huge generalization: amid our wasteful wealth and time-pressed lives we have lost human values that still abound in Africa" - R. Dowden

CCF Lectures: Poaching

While at CCF, we were given multiple lectures to help educate us not only about the cheetah, but also about big, current issues in Namibia. The lecture that I found most interesting was about the poaching problem that is highly affecting wildlife and livestock in Africa. We learned that there are two different types of poaching: subsistence and commercial. Subsistence poaching is small scale and often intended to provide food for a family, while commercial poaching is large scale and performed for economic benefit. Both types of poaching are growing increasingly problematic, but for different reasons. Subsistence poaching is becoming more and more popular around CCF land because of hard times in town and a lack of livestock on other farms. Commercial poaching is affecting both South Africa and Namibia greatly, and many elephants and and rhinos are being killed for their tusks and horns. In South Africa, everything is so corrupt that it is bad for someone witnessing a poaching to call the authorities because they have then given the location of valuable wildlife. Namibia had always been an a country "untouched" by poachers, but in the last two years the poaching rates have increased severely. The worst part about the entire poaching process is that the poachers, especially commercial, are rarely caught because they have extremely advanced tools to assist them. These tools include helicopters (for use in national parks), drones, airplanes, night vision goggles, heavy weaponry, inside intelligence, and sometimes even laws that work in favor of the poacher. Poaching is so hard to control not only because the poachers possess these tools and advantages, but also because of the money they make. A kilogram of rhino horn is worth approximately $60,000, and approximately $3,000 per kilogram of ivory (elephant tusk). Poaching has been such a massive problem that there are only 300,000 elephants left in the entirety of Africa! People around the world need to be educated that poaching is an increasing problem in Africa, and that animals like the rhino do not need to be killed for their horns. Awareness of the issue is key in prevention, and CCF is making efforts to increase anti-poaching education throughout Namibia.

CCF Lectures: Poaching

While at CCF, we were given multiple lectures to help educate us not only about the cheetah, but also about big, current issues in Namibia. The lecture that I found most interesting was about the poaching problem that is highly affecting wildlife and livestock in Africa. We learned that there are two different types of poaching: subsistence and commercial. Subsistence poaching is small scale and often intended to provide food for a family, while commercial poaching is large scale and performed for economic benefit. Both types of poaching are growing increasingly problematic, but for different reasons. Subsistence poaching is becoming more and more popular around CCF land because of hard times in town and a lack of livestock on other farms. Commercial poaching is affecting both South Africa and Namibia greatly, and many elephants and and rhinos are being killed for their tusks and horns. In South Africa, everything is so corrupt that it is bad for someone witnessing a poaching to call the authorities because they have then given the location of valuable wildlife. Namibia had always been an a country "untouched" by poachers, but in the last two years the poaching rates have increased severely. The worst part about the entire poaching process is that the poachers, especially commercial, are rarely caught because they have extremely advanced tools to assist them. These tools include helicopters (for use in national parks), drones, airplanes, night vision goggles, heavy weaponry, inside intelligence, and sometimes even laws that work in favor of the poacher. Poaching is so hard to control not only because the poachers possess these tools and advantages, but also because of the money they make. A kilogram of rhino horn is worth approximately $60,000, and approximately $3,000 per kilogram of ivory (elephant tusk). Poaching has been such a massive problem that there are only 300,000 elephants left in the entirety of Africa! People around the world need to be educated that poaching is an increasing problem in Africa, and that animals like the rhino do not need to be killed for their horns. Awareness of the issue is key in prevention, and CCF is making efforts to increase anti-poaching education throughout Namibia.