NAMIBIA - Getting there & Etosha National Park

I was quite nervous about going on our first holiday in Africa.  It didn't matter how many people told me how much they enjoyed traveling in Namibia, I am from the Show Me State, and therefore generally have to see for myself before I truly believe it will all be ok.  But of course it was all ok, more than ok, it was a fabulous holiday!  

The adventure started even before we got to Namibia.  We flew on not one but two different airlines to get there, via Kenya and South Africa.  I will say that Kenya Airways and Air Namibia were great, top notch...so check that off the "see it to believe it" list.  Because we had to change airlines we only took carry on luggage, which these days seems to get smaller and smaller.  But we did it, 14 days with only carry on luggage!  (I did do some washing along the way.)  This is travel with my dear husband.  :)

I can't be too upset with him though because he planned everything and it turned out great!  I had to veto the tent on top of the car camping idea because I thought it would be a step too far for me.  However, we saw lots of travelers with the tents on top of the 4x4 they had rented.  Maybe next time I will be more adventurous in that regard.  But for now just getting there was enough adventure for me.

We rented a 4x4 truck and drove ourselves.  Or rather Joe and his friend Steve who joined us on the trip, drove me around Namibia.  Namibia drives according to the UK system...steering wheel on the right and drive on the left side of the road.  Once we were out of Windhoek, the capital city, it was mostly open road with little traffic.  Some roads were paved, most were gravel but all well maintained.  Our first day in Windhoek we stocked up on water and lunch supplies for the road.

Lunch on the roadside

We headed north to Etosha National Park.  The photos at the park tell the story.  The animals were fantastic!  And we could do our own driving safari around the park which was really nice.  We did go on a night safari which was interesting.  We were not allowed to drive around the park after dark so this was a way to see the wildlife at night.  Our guide was amazing!  He drove the vehicle and used a red spotlight to look for animals.  Another great thing about Etosha is the watering hole at the Okaukuejo Camp.  The watering hole has been there for many years and the animals are quite comfortable with it even though people are close by watching.  One night we saw 2 black rhinos around 10pm.  Joe went back at midnight and saw 4 more of them.  

Giraffe! - I took loads of photos of these guys...one of my favorites.

Joe & Steve at the Okaukueji Camp watering hole

Black rhino at night

Burchell's Zebra

Spotted hyena - on our night safari we saw one of these guys eating a baby springbok...:(

African Elephant & Warthogs

Jackals at dusk

Elephant near Dolomite Camp

Blue Cranes - Etosha is the only place outside of South Africa where the blue cranes are known to breed.

Springbok

Damara dik-dik...the littlest antelope

These zebras like most animals in the park weren't too fussed about vehicles driving around.

Steve & Joe at the Etosha Pan

The prettiest watering hole we saw.

I love the giraffe sitting under the tree.

Blue Wildebeest

Ostriches aka Camel Birds

Oryx!  Another one of my favorite animals!

After two nights at Okaukuejo Camp we drove west across the park to Dolomite Camp.  The number of animals were less as we drove west but it was in the western part that we saw our first elephant!  Dolomite Camp was fantastic!  Built into the hills  lovely with lovely tent-like accommodation with a view for miles.

Our room with a view!

The pool was great after a long day of driving...

 

 

 

Cocktails before dinner at sunset

At Dolomite Camp

Time

They say Lagos has a beat and rhythm of its own.  Time here in Nigeria is a funny thing.  It seems to go by faster than anywhere else we have lived, almost like it just disappears.  You see we have several clocks in our flat.  Some run only on batteries others are plugged in but have a battery backup, without the backup you would be resetting your clock 4 - 5 times a day.  The clocks plugged into the wall sockets gain time.  Sometimes it is just a few minutes a day, sometimes it is 15 minutes or more...so after a few days the clock is over an hour ahead.  So you find yourself never quite trusting a clock.  You have to get a 2^nd opinion just to be sure.  On the plus side there have been a few times that Joe has woken up in a rush thinking he was running late only to find that really he has plenty of time for a relaxing morning.

 

A soggy start to the day...

So this morning I got out of bed and Joe was just leaving for work...a bit late but I thought oh well, between the clocks not keeping time for some reason and Joe staying up late to fix a computer, early to work just hasn't been in the cards this week.  He said to me, "since you are up I have something to show you."  We walk into the room he uses as his office and I about wipe out and fall on the floor, because the floor was covered in water!  Great, my relaxing day at home was not to be.

The rainy season is upon us here in Lagos and up until last night we had not had any trouble with water getting into the apartment...people always seemed surprised that we hadn't had any trouble.  And now I understand their confusion!  Three rooms had water on the floor this morning.  One room was pretty much "flooded" with about a 1/4" covering the room.  Luckily we didn't lose anything other than cardboard boxes we had been saving from the move. 

I set about removing items from the waterlogged areas so I could start mopping up the water.  A Shopvac would have been really handy this morning!  Our driver called around 9am to say that he was stuck in a lot of traffic and wouldn't make it back to the apartment until 10:30, fine I said, not a problem.

I continue my clean up process and Godwin arrives back from taking Joe to the office.  He laughs at me because I am wearing my Wellies inside.  I smile and show him all of the water in the next room.  He then realizes what I am dealing with and springs into action!  He asks if I have contacted the Building Manager, I haven't.  So he goes off to take away some soggy cardboard and tell the Building Manager what is going on in our flat.

The next thing I know there are 5 people here to help.  One is evaluating the source of the water infiltration, 2 are mopping up the water...or pushing it into the floor drain in the bathroom, and 2 more are caulking around the windows suspected of leaking.  Godwin appears to be supervising all of them.  So what would have taken me another 2 hours to clean up is done in about 30 minutes.  It's almost like they have done this before. ;)  The floors are all dry now and the walls and curtains affected are drying out too.

I haven't put things back into the worst of the rooms just yet...I'll wait and see what happens the next time it rains.  I shouldn't have to wait very long...and I have a feeling this is not our last "flood".

So I wasn't so happy this morning to wake up to the mess we had with the water.  However, a little perspective is always in order.  Joe told me that Godwin's house was mostly flooded the last couple of days.  There has been a lot more rain to the north of here where his family lives.  And he doesn't have a proper roof on his house.  He has been saving money to pay to have it installed and the local fees associated with it.  But his house is another story for another day.

Banana Island: Nature Photos

Earlier this week Yogi and I had a nice morning to go to our favorite place for a walk, Banana Island. It is an area that is just being developed with big exclusive homes, condos, etc.  It is gated and we have a permit to go there as part of the "Exercise Club".  People who like to run, walk, bike can pay a yearly fee to use this area and the wide roads without much traffic to exercise and relax.  There are occasionally big chunks of sidewalk missing so you have to watch out for that but otherwise it is a nice, peaceful place near the water for a walk.  If you are out there after a rain storm you hear a chorus of frogs croaking at different pitches depending their size.  The large toads/frogs are the basses or baritones and the smaller frogs are a bit higher like a tenor.  It's amazing how much noise they make!

The rainy season has started and with it I have noticed more "wild" flowers blooming on the undeveloped land and loads of butterflies and dragon flies.  Here are some nature photos from our last walk.  It's a rainy morning here today, complete with lightning and booming thunder, not such a bad morning to wait for the air conditioning repair person!

 

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping here in Lagos is something of a challenge.  You make your list but it ends up being a revolving list.  You may not find things this week but in a week or two or three or four you may find the item on the shelf again.  I'm trying really hard to see grocery shopping more as a treasure hunt and not get too frustrated.  Although I will admit there are days when I really would like to just go to Kroger or Sainesbury's (where I shopped in the UK) and know that what I need is there, fill up my shopping cart and go home.

There are several decent sized grocery stores and a few smaller specialty stores.  Some people have the patience to go to 3 or 4 stores in a day in an attempt, but not a guarantee, to find what they are looking for...I don't have that sort of patience.  So I usually only go to 1 or 2 stores and take what I can get.  I do change up the stores I go to just because they don't all carry the same merchandise and you can find that "treasure" you have been in search of or didn't even know you wanted.

This week and last week the treasure came in the form of cereal.  Last week Joe and I both went shopping on separate occasions and came home with Cheerios, something that sells out quickly.  We both laughed that we had purchased the same thing without knowing it and were excited about it!  (Hopefully the experience here doesn't make us into huge hoarders!  But it has that potential.)  This week I found Fruit Loops, something I had not seen before.  I was looking at something on the bottom shelf and the girl stocking the shelves above me dropped the box of Fruit Loops so I picked it up for her.  I thought about it for 2 seconds and came home with the Fruit Loops.  :)

Milk & Cereal...the milk is in the blue boxes, UHT

So the lessons I have learned are...Thursday is usually when the stores get their shipments in so that is a good day to shop...if you see something unusual that you like, buy it!...and finally, be flexible.  I'm told grocery shopping is A LOT better now than it was just a few years ago so I am sure it will continue to improve.  And you just never know what you might find the next time!

Our Canine Ambassador

In Nigeria we have found that the majority of people do not have pets.  Any contact they have had with a dog has probably been with a barking guard dog behind a fence.  I have yet to see a random cat or dog just wandering around.  Our dog, Yogi, is a 40 kg (78lb) black Labrador Retriever.  He's a big guy.  But he is a really sweet dog.  He is older so he's relaxed and doesn't get too fussed about anything.  When we started walking him here people would cross the street to get out of his way.  Most people are extremely afraid of dogs.  But Yogi in his own goofy way is winning people over, especially the staff that work at our apartment complex.  Most of the gate guards are more relaxed around him and a few even pat him on the head.  They talk to him and are impressed by his "sit" and "shake" tricks.  It's really fun to see them realize that he isn't going to hurt them and is a friendly dog.  Most of the children that live here are also enjoying having him around.  As you can see from the photo, Yogi has a small fan club.  I think we are known as the people who live with Yogi.

However, every time someone comes to the apartment to fix something I have to put him in a back room and close the doors just so they will enter the apartment.  Yogi has been a very good sport about this, usually just continuing his nap in the bedroom.  For example, last Friday two men came to do the annual maintenance on the air conditioning units.  There is a unit in each room so at one point I had to move him between rooms so they could finish the last one.  They never actually heard or saw Yogi.  This morning when we were out for a walk they same maintenance guys were working at another apartment.  I saw them outside and said good morning...they just stared at Yogi.  We went around the corner and I caught one of the guys looking around the corner at him.  Maybe they assume he is a big guard dog but nothing could be further from the truth!


ps.  Coming from Scotland Yogi is adjusting to the heat/humidity just like the rest of us.  I am amazed that he still has hair with all of the shedding he is doing.  (Seriously the tile floors are a light beige color and show everything.  An hour after I sweep they are covered in black hair again.)  But he is doing good, even going out on the patio to lay in the sunshine, just like he used to in Houston, and comes back in only when he is completely shattered from the heat.

Building Construction

In a country where labor is inexpensive many things are done by hand that in Europe or America would be done mainly by machines.  Home construction here is a very human intensive event.  Just about everything is made from concrete.  Walls are made from made from concrete blocks.  The blocks are made onsite using sand, cement, gravel, and water.  The mixture is poured into forms and either manually pounded to prevent air gaps or made using a small machine.  The blocks are set out to dry on the construction site and when they have enough blocks they will start a wall.  The load bearing walls are made much like everywhere else, steel rebar is used to provide strength and wood forms are created to give the general shape of the building. As the walls go up, elaborate supports made from bamboo and some metal scaffolding are built to hold forms for the floors in place.  

In what can only be described as an amazing feat of humanity, the way concrete floors are poured is something to behold.  Almost everything is done by hand, the only piece of machinery is one mixing drum.  Everyone has a 5 gallon bucket.  The sand, concrete, water, and gravel are scooped by hand into the bucket and thrown into the mixing drum.  From there a line of people wait with their bucket to be filled with wet concrete.  They put the bucket on their head which I would guess weighs about 50 pounds (23 kg).  We saw people working on the 4th floor of a building this weekend, so that meant that they had to carry these buckets of concrete up wooden ramps to the top, drop their load and then walk back down again.  There were between 50 - 75 people, men and women both, carrying concrete to pour this 1,500 sq foot (140 sq meter) floor.  The floor must be finished in one "pour" for strength so they work from sun up until till the floor is finished, sometimes well into the night.  We passed by at 8:30 pm and they were still hard at work.  I really can't fathom how tired you must be after doing that for 14 hours straight! 

In general the daily wage here is 1,000 Nair (about $6).  A week's worth of groceries for a family of 4 is about 5,000 Naira.  The pay for a day's labor doing this is around 2,500 Naira.  This is well above the average daily wage but this is work that will age you quicker than most any other job.  I truly admire the hard work these people do in order to feed their families and send their children to school.  A few weeks ago we saw a truck with a concrete crew of about 15 women, 4 men, and a cement mixer at 10 o'clock at night.  They had just finished work and were headed home, with any luck they would make it there by midnight.