Author: Will Hidell

As the sun went down in Namibia, the stars followed opening a whole new world of exploration and adventure.

As the sun went down in Namibia, the stars followed opening a whole new world of exploration and adventure.

We woke up quite early at 5:40 to pack our bags, take showers, and put the bags in the truck.  Then we went to the hotel restaurant where we had breakfast.  After breakfast, we had a meeting in which we formerly met the rest of the group and were told rules that we had to follow along the trip.  We also met our Indaba Exploration Guides; Colleen, Lou-Lou, Dylan, and Richard.  After our meeting, we got onto the truck while others like Mrs. Cooke waited to either pick up lost baggage or other people arriving late.  On the trip, we saw a group of baboons on the street and many warthogs on the side of the road.  We were told that if we had to go to the bathroom we would have to take a bushy-bushy on the side of the road.  After about thirty minutes into the trip, we stopped at a large termite mound.  The mound was around ten feet tall and hard as rock.  It comprised of many maze like tunnels where the termites slept and farmed fungi, which is what they ate.  When making the mound, they mix the surrounding dirt and their saliva to make a rock hard material.  After our detour, we stopped at Okahanja, where we took our first toilet stop.  To go to the bathroom we had to pay one ren.  Afterwards, we travelled to the town of Otjiwarongo for another toilet stop.  This town was Lou-Lou's hometown.  Then we travelled to Outjo (pronounced ocho) where we ate steaks and fries at The Farm House restaurant and Beer Garden.  After lunch, we went to the Outjo supermarket.  At the Outjo supermarket, men with strange nuts in their hands approached me and asked my name.  I said Will and then they tried to spell it out on their arm with a pen.  After they perfected it, they picked one of the nuts and began to carve Will into the nut therefore forcing me to buy it.  I learned later that the nuts were the core of the palm tree fruit.  The men would get the palm tree fruit, split it open, and cook the molasses like substance inside of the fruit until the rock-hard core emerged.  On the sides of the nut were elaborate carvings of animals.  After buying a nut for all of my family members, we left the supermarket and journeyed to Kamanjab where we spent our first night in tents at Oppi Koppi rest camp.  That night we heard our first jackal howl.

We woke up quite early at 5:40 to pack our bags, take showers, and put the bags in the truck.  Then we went to the hotel restaurant where we had breakfast.  After breakfast, we had a meeting in which we formerly met the rest of the group and were told rules that we had to follow along the trip.  We also met our Indaba Exploration Guides; Colleen, Lou-Lou, Dylan, and Richard.  After our meeting, we got onto the truck while others like Mrs. Cooke waited to either pick up lost baggage or other people arriving late.  On the trip, we saw a group of baboons on the street and many warthogs on the side of the road.  We were told that if we had to go to the bathroom we would have to take a bushy-bushy on the side of the road.  After about thirty minutes into the trip, we stopped at a large termite mound.  The mound was around ten feet tall and hard as rock.  It comprised of many maze like tunnels where the termites slept and farmed fungi, which is what they ate.  When making the mound, they mix the surrounding dirt and their saliva to make a rock hard material.  After our detour, we stopped at Okahanja, where we took our first toilet stop.  To go to the bathroom we had to pay one ren.  Afterwards, we travelled to the town of Otjiwarongo for another toilet stop.  This town was Lou-Lou's hometown.  Then we travelled to Outjo (pronounced ocho) where we ate steaks and fries at The Farm House restaurant and Beer Garden.  After lunch, we went to the Outjo supermarket.  At the Outjo supermarket, men with strange nuts in their hands approached me and asked my name.  I said Will and then they tried to spell it out on their arm with a pen.  After they perfected it, they picked one of the nuts and began to carve Will into the nut therefore forcing me to buy it.  I learned later that the nuts were the core of the palm tree fruit.  The men would get the palm tree fruit, split it open, and cook the molasses like substance inside of the fruit until the rock-hard core emerged.  On the sides of the nut were elaborate carvings of animals.  After buying a nut for all of my family members, we left the supermarket and journeyed to Kamanjab where we spent our first night in tents at Oppi Koppi rest camp.  That night we heard our first jackal howl.

We woke up early so we could depart Oppi Koppi rest camp at 8 o'clock.  We had learned that we were going to pass the outskirts of Etosha National Park and we should be on the lookout for wild animals.  About thirty minutes into the trip, we saw our first giraffe on the opposite side of Etosha in a private game reserve. (I learned that people in Africa own private game reserves, huge pieces of land, in which they place animals bought in wild animal auctions for hunting and private safaris.  These reserves were normally marked by their tall fences to keep the game inside.)  The giraffe was so far away that we continued on; hoping to see another.  To our luck, we saw more giraffe in another private game reserve but this time they were much closer.  We spent about ten minutes admiring their beauty and taking pictures until we had to get on the road again.  The rest of the trip comprised of beautiful views as we travelled through the mountains.  We arrived at Opuwo Country Lodge and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in their infinity pool which is placed on top of a mountain and has amazing views.  Later that night, Colleen, one of our guides, showed us a scorpion and a very large spider that she had found in our campsite.  

We woke up early so we could depart Oppi Koppi rest camp at 8 o'clock.  We had learned that we were going to pass the outskirts of Etosha National Park and we should be on the lookout for wild animals.  About thirty minutes into the trip, we saw our first giraffe on the opposite side of Etosha in a private game reserve. (I learned that people in Africa own private game reserves, huge pieces of land, in which they place animals bought in wild animal auctions for hunting and private safaris.  These reserves were normally marked by their tall fences to keep the game inside.)  The giraffe was so far away that we continued on; hoping to see another.  To our luck, we saw more giraffe in another private game reserve but this time they were much closer.  We spent about ten minutes admiring their beauty and taking pictures until we had to get on the road again.  The rest of the trip comprised of beautiful views as we travelled through the mountains.  We arrived at Opuwo Country Lodge and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in their infinity pool which is placed on top of a mountain and has amazing views.  Later that night, Colleen, one of our guides, showed us a scorpion and a very large spider that she had found in our campsite.  

After visiting the Oritjotjombo primary school, we travelled to a traditional himba village.  The headmaster of the Oritjotjombo primary school accompanied us to be our translator.  Unfortunately, all the himba men had left for business so we only met the women and children.  When getting off the bus, we were immediately met with goat poop everywhere.  I was unable to move around the village without stepping in goat poop.  After getting over this fact, we walked into the village to be met by the head wife.  We learned that the head wife was the first to be married in the village.  She was sitting on the ground and breaking off the dried kernels off a piece of corn.  We learned that she would later gather all of the kernels and store them in a container for a later date.  Soon after we arrived, more women came to help the head women while the headmaster of the school told us information about the village.  We learned that the women wore okur, which is a red clay that they smear on their body and hair everyday to protect their skin from mosquitos and the sunlight.  We learned that the married women wore headdresses made off baby goat fur.  In addition, the women wore anklets and the number of vertical stripes on the anklet determined how many children they had.   The most unusual part of their look was that they did not wear tops.  For Americans, this was quite a sight and something that was very unusual to us.  But the himba do not see breasts as sexual body parts.  After learning about the himba clothing, we walked over to a hut in the process of being made.  The himba used large sticks and a mixture of cow dung and mud to make the huts.  We then left the hut and went across the village to the main hut.  We went in groups of five people inside of the hut.  When entering, men stood to the left and women stood on the right.  The himba also placed their belongings and slept on their gender respective sides.  In the middle of the hut, there was a burning fire.  When sleeping, men used six inch pieces of wood to sleep on while the women were only allowed to sleep on their husbands arm.  Inside women would perfume themselves everyday because they were not allowed to take showers.  They set perfume bowls between their legs while kneeling down to cleanse their body parts.  They also rub dry perfume on their body.  Girls are allowed to take showers every time they menstruate but after they have a child, which is normally at a very young age, they are no longer allowed to take a shower for the rest of their life.  Alternately, men are allowed to take showers whenever they want.  After exiting the hut, I learned that the main hut's door always has to face the livestock pen and the holy fire has to be in-between the two.  The holy fire stays lit for as long as the himba's occupy the village.  At the holy fire, boys moving to adulthood use a stick and a rock to knock their two bottom teeth out to be able to speak their native tongue easier.  Also ceremonies like funerals and weddings occur near the holy fire.  After visiting the main hut, we went back to the head wife to buy some bracelets.  I bought three different bracelets.  One was made of beads, bought in Opuwo, and seeds found in the area.  Another was made of metal and had engravings.  The last, was traditionally made of cow horn but the himba's use PVC now and it had engravings.  After buying the bracelets, we left the village to eat under a shady tree.  

After visiting the Oritjotjombo primary school, we travelled to a traditional himba village.  The headmaster of the Oritjotjombo primary school accompanied us to be our translator.  Unfortunately, all the himba men had left for business so we only met the women and children.  When getting off the bus, we were immediately met with goat poop everywhere.  I was unable to move around the village without stepping in goat poop.  After getting over this fact, we walked into the village to be met by the head wife.  We learned that the head wife was the first to be married in the village.  She was sitting on the ground and breaking off the dried kernels off a piece of corn.  We learned that she would later gather all of the kernels and store them in a container for a later date.  Soon after we arrived, more women came to help the head women while the headmaster of the school told us information about the village.  We learned that the women wore okur, which is a red clay that they smear on their body and hair everyday to protect their skin from mosquitos and the sunlight.  We learned that the married women wore headdresses made off baby goat fur.  In addition, the women wore anklets and the number of vertical stripes on the anklet determined how many children they had.   The most unusual part of their look was that they did not wear tops.  For Americans, this was quite a sight and something that was very unusual to us.  But the himba do not see breasts as sexual body parts.  After learning about the himba clothing, we walked over to a hut in the process of being made.  The himba used large sticks and a mixture of cow dung and mud to make the huts.  We then left the hut and went across the village to the main hut.  We went in groups of five people inside of the hut.  When entering, men stood to the left and women stood on the right.  The himba also placed their belongings and slept on their gender respective sides.  In the middle of the hut, there was a burning fire.  When sleeping, men used six inch pieces of wood to sleep on while the women were only allowed to sleep on their husbands arm.  Inside women would perfume themselves everyday because they were not allowed to take showers.  They set perfume bowls between their legs while kneeling down to cleanse their body parts.  They also rub dry perfume on their body.  Girls are allowed to take showers every time they menstruate but after they have a child, which is normally at a very young age, they are no longer allowed to take a shower for the rest of their life.  Alternately, men are allowed to take showers whenever they want.  After exiting the hut, I learned that the main hut's door always has to face the livestock pen and the holy fire has to be in-between the two.  The holy fire stays lit for as long as the himba's occupy the village.  At the holy fire, boys moving to adulthood use a stick and a rock to knock their two bottom teeth out to be able to speak their native tongue easier.  Also ceremonies like funerals and weddings occur near the holy fire.  After visiting the main hut, we went back to the head wife to buy some bracelets.  I bought three different bracelets.  One was made of beads, bought in Opuwo, and seeds found in the area.  Another was made of metal and had engravings.  The last, was traditionally made of cow horn but the himba's use PVC now and it had engravings.  After buying the bracelets, we left the village to eat under a shady tree.  

Since my realization that I was going on the trip, I have completed an extensive course; learning the history and culture of Namibia.  This course used both videos and articles to teach us the income gap that Namibia faces (one of the largest in the world), the horrible Namibian genocide during the early 1900s, and the information on the Cheetah Conservation Fund; a group that we will get to know very well as we spend several days with them during our trip.  In Namibia we will spend several days with the Himba tribe; learning their culture.  From their, we will travel to Etosha National Park to explore the big game.  Then, we will finish our journey at the Cheetah Conservation Fund in which we will study cheetah DNA, collect cheetah scant to study, and observe the cheetah's in their habitat.  I am very excited to be going on this trip and I can not wait to share my story.