Solitaire

This is a continuation of December 29th...

Internet around the remote emptiness of the deserts of Namibia can be found few and far between. Often we will find it at a place we have stopped for lunch- spend 30 minutes there and then move on to no wi-fi for 3 days.

Apologies...

 We stopped in a small town called Solitaire, right off the highway. As soon as I saw the sign, I knew that there was a special photo in my future... and I was right.

Solitaire is known for it’s amazing pies... and apparently they were delicious... but I didn’t indulge. It was one of those places with fabulous (and temporary) wi-fi, so it was a good  opportunity to get on line, albeit a short time.

If the wi-fi hadn’t been working, there was the temptation of visiting the Solitaire Activity Centre. I envision a big room filled with locals... all doing their own thing. No team sports or activities in Solitaire.

After our lunch stop there, we continued along another bumpy, dusty road, to yet, another remote place in the uninhabited desert. Just when you think that you can’t get more in to the desert, there you are... in a more isolated place of the world, with the scorching & unbearable heat beating down on us.

Boesman’s Camp.

Lucky us... there was a tiny little pool to cool off... abut half the size of my living room. Smaller, actually. The slide leading in to the pool is a pending lawsuit. Metal, broken, boiling hot, dangerous... 

I met Takaka walking down to the pool and made sure that I warned her how big it was. “Enormous,” I said. 

“Whaaaaaaaaat?”

 We have all now adopted this saying for whenever anything happens... anything at all. I fear it may be a time before we are able to drop this bad habit.

**Important announcement**
We have all come to know the two Korean boys, Park and Yu,  as...

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Park You!

And it never gets old.

Next to the pond/pool is a cage built in to the corner of the courtyard and in it, about 30 turtles. When I inquired as to why they were in captivity, I was told that they have been set free in to the wild on more than one occasion, but they have always come back.

I am not sure that I believe that story... but perhaps it makes me feel better to try to trust and understand.

After set up, we had an activity of our own - excluding Claudia - shame...

Pablo and the rest of us in the shadow

 We were accompanying Franz in to the desert for a Desert Sunset Safari drive. 

Franz was taught  by his grandfather how to trek in the desert, and he was nothing short of amazing at his job. I made the comment about how incredible it would be to be so good at your job, that when you spoke about it, people stopped in their tracks to listen to you speak.

That is exactly what happened.

 We were mesmerized at every word. Franz was a charismatic busman who spoke in a melodious tone with the occasional Khoekhoe language clicking thrownin. Khoekhoe was once the national language of Namibia and it is very complex because the clicking sounds are made at the same time as the consonant sounds. 

As he spoke, his entire body mimicked everything he said. He would act out drunk, dancing, dead, falling over, hitting, stopping, shooting, being shot, climbing... etc etc... and when he was out of actions, his arm would rise up rapidly and then whip right down again with a few snaps of his finger. 

Franz

 Considering none of us were particularly looking forward to this activity, we came out of it raving about Franz and everything he had said and shown us in the desert.

He could identify different insect specials, all animals tracks, spider traps & webs, all types of feces, nests, hiding spots, snake movements...

Franz explained the history of Namibia, the history of his language and how the Namib desert came to be. There wasn’t anything he didn’t know about the strong winds, the the heat, the safest place to remain cool, how to find water and how to avoid being bitten by a snake.

Takako in the Sand Truck, as the sun is going down.

 He knew exactly what every animal and plant needed to survive and how long a human could be in the heat for without water.

Back at camp, some of the crew were trying to imitate his movements while the kids were desperate to perfect the art of locating spider traps in the desert.

When the sun was down completely, we wandered up to the top of the camp to watch the stars. Namibia is one of the top destinations in the world for stargazing. The moon, the stars, Venus, the Milky Way, Orion’s Belt.. absolutely pristine. I had downloaded Star Walk 2 on to my phone and became obsessed with making my way around the sky.

 Franz had told us that the zebras visit the camp each and every night to drink water and often drain the pool. We all made our way down to the stone wall to watch this miracle happen.. and we were not disappointed.

I was unable to take photos, as it was very dark, we were in hiding and had we been seen, it would have scared them off. My photos definitely would not have done the phenomenon justice anyway.

A herd of 5 mountain zebras slowly made their way to their evening drinking hole and took advantage of the available water. The evening ritual consisted of 4 of the zebras fighting, braying & running in to each other, while one drank. They were aware that they were being watched, as they kept lifting their heads in our direction and watching. As if something would spook them, they would then all run off in to the darkness... and then slowly make their way back again for another one to quench their desert thirst.

Eventually, one by one, we all got up and made our way back to our tents for the evening.

Life in the desert is tiring...