Roadtrip!

I love roadtrips. Like, LOVE roadtrips. I would choose to drive between Nashville and Chicago over flying. One time, I drove a friend from Nashvill to Virginia and back all in one day just to drop off her puppy. I joyfully went on two Alternative Spring Break sites that had 20+ hour drives. I.love.roadtrips.

Let me tell you: roadtrips in Namibia are an adventure!

Please enjoy the following account of my weekend's roadtrip adventures. I think this gives a pretty accurate view of a typical roadtrip in Namibia.

Saturday morning, I set out to travel to Okalongo to visit Bridget's school, where seven of us were meeting up this weekend. My route went from Ohangwena south to Ondangwa (estimated travel time: 45 mins), west to Oshakati (est: 35 mins), and then northwest to Okalongo (est: 30 mins). Clearly, I do not own a car, so my travel was completely reliant on the rides I could receive.

I left my house at 9am and caught a taxi all the way to Oshakati. We drove only 5 minutes down the road and stopped at the B10 to Eenhana. Why? To try to pick up more passengers. There were none, yet there were maybe five taxis waiting. Ours kept circling and circling and circling, aggressively trying to get passersby to join our taxi. Eventually, he leapt out of the car to run to a shop and pick up credit for his phone. The woman in the front seat turned around and told me she had already said we would get out of the car if he didn't get going. Sometimes drivers will wait for hours to get more passengers, so as a passenger, your best choice is sometimes to get out of the car and just look for a new ride. What's maddening is that these drivers waste their time circling at one location when they could probably find a passenger five minutes down the road, or at least get to their destination and pick up a new car load sooner. After 45 minutes, we left with two women and a newborn baby.

Upon arriving in Ondangwa, we stopped at one of the hike points where one woman got out. The woman with her baby also got out, but left the baby in the back seat with me! What?? The baby and me just hung out for a while. I tried making faces or cooing at him, but all he would do is stare. Chances are, I'm the first person with white skin he's ever seen. Probably pretty terrifying.

Eventually the woman returned and we spent 45 more minutes driving around Ondangwa trying to find more passengers. The windows in the car didn't work, it was a hot hot day, and Namibians typically don't bother about body odor. Awesome. When we're on our way, I rejoice in the fact that we will be in Oshakati shortly, where I can get out and stretch my legs. No way, Jose. Our first stop on the road was so one of the passengers could talk to an older meme walking by (10 minutes), our second was for one of the men to relieve himself behind a giant termite hill (2 minutes), and our third stop was to buy raw meat at a roadside stand. The woman with the baby handed the driver N$10, he bought a bag of raw meat (aka a torn old plastic bag that kindly dripped raw meat juices in the car), brought it back to the car, and the woman and driver proceeded to nibble on the raw meat the rest of the way! They offered it to me and I politely declined.

We finally reached Oshakati but not without one more adventure. I received a marriage proposal from the driver, which is not unusual at all, but his tactics were intriguing. He handed me a ring (that is unusual. He probably had it because he's already married. But one American wife won't hurt, right?) and started trying to convince me to be his wife. Selling point #1: "I'm really struggling." Not what I want to hear. Not a good selling point to an American woman. Selling point #2: "I don't want to marry an Ovambo woman. They have sisters and brothers and parents and I want someone with no attachments." As if I don't have a family back home. So if you know of any American women who have no families and are looking for struggling men, send 'em this way.

I sure am frustrated with whatever woman came to Namibia and married a Namibian man simply to take him back to America. She has ruined it for the rest of us.

After the driver could not find the Spar in Oshakati (aka...biggest hike point and one of the largest grocery stores), I got out by the KFC. After two hours of driving, I felt I was justified rewarding myself with some popcorn chicken. Then I walked to the store to pick up some groceries for our weekend.

Thankfully, I immediately found a taxi leaving for Okalongo right outside the Spar. I asked him if he was leaving "now now now now" (even threw in an extra "now" for good luck). "Oh yes, yes," he assured me. I got in the car with a kind woman who also teaches in Okalongo. I ate my entire large popcorn chicken and still had to wait 30 more minutes for us to leave. As if, "now now now now."

The drive to Okalongo was smoothe. We drove through a torrential thunderstorm and my sassy friend up front demanded that the driver get off his cell phone, drive more slowly, and play a CD she just bought. Way to go, sass! An hour or so later, I arrived in Okalongo and got dropped off right at Bridget's school.

Four hours of travel. Phew.

The weekend was awesome. More on community, food, and thankfulness later.

While we were looking at a map and planning travels, we discovered that there's a road that practically goes directly from Okalongo to Ohangwena - my town! Not only that, but it passes right by the road that Bernie and Bret live on. So, on Sunday morning I left Okalongo with the two of them to try a new route home. After waiting 20 minutes under a tree on a dirt road, a bakkie (pick-up truck) stopped to pick us up. It turned out he was going all the way to Ohangwena. We loaded into the back of the pick up truck and sped down the dirt road. It was a gloriously beautiful day - sunny with only a few clouds, a nice breeze, and flooded oshanas that reflected the sky perfectly. Needless to say, with the wind in the hair and the sun on my back, the ride was incredible.

We dropped Bernie and Bret off at their point and I continued in the bakkie. The driver insisted that I sit up front in the truck with a woman and her baby. I almost said no because I really love riding in the back of pick-up trucks (makes me feel at home in TN!), but I acquiesed. Thank goodness I did. The rest of the ride was horrifically bumpy because of the damage the rains have done to the roads. Riding in the back would not only have been uncomfortable, it would have been scary.

We made it to Ohangwena in only a little over an hour and it only cost me N$30! Such a big difference from my initial ride of 4 hours that cost N$73.

Welcome to Namibia! Can't wait for more adventurous roadtrips in this country and am already dreaming about arriving back in the States and driving Route 66. Who's with me?