TIA Tuesday

A little bit of Africa...a little bit of America.

Taxi drivers still try to take your bags and yell at your friends, even in Senegal. TIA(frica).

You almost vom from a panini de trois fromages because your body hasn't had rich food like that in months. TIA(frica).

A tiny beach is FULL of men running backwards in groups, doing the crabwalk in groups, doing sit-ups in groups, and exercising in 80s sweatsuits. TIA(frica).

Your flight is delayed. TIA(merica - fooled you there!).

You cry when you see real ice cream for the first time. TIA(frica)(merica).

Your thumbs feel big and clumsy because your NamPhone was just so tiny. TIA(merica).

You're eating pizza and LOVING it!!! TIA(merica).

Holiday Snapshots

Mid-service braai in Windhoek

The infamous train to southern Namibia

Quiver tree in Gondwana - my favorites

Hiking in Gonwana Canon

Gondwana Canon Roadhouse - Route 66-themed

Backpacking

Fish River Canyon - the second largest in the world

Driving through desolate southern Namibia

Time well spent moving mud and boulders to make tracks for our 4x4 over the washed-out C13

Contrasting, beautiful Namibia

Luderitz Waterfront, flanked by dunes across the bay

Old German architecture in the middle of the desert

The desert ghost town of Kolmanskop

The dunes are shifting and overtaking every building in Kolmanskop

Diaz Cross - a replica of the one erected by Bartholomew Diaz in 1488

Dipping our toes into the freezing (hey, penguins live here) Atlantic Ocean

First dune sighting! Especially green from the recent rains

Climbing our first tiny dune at sunset

Contemplating life at dawn on the top of Dune 45

The descent from Dune 45, one of the largest in the world

One of the vleis near Sossusvlei

Dead Vlei

The Dunes

Best Hot Chocolate: Namibia

As a hot chocolate connoisseur, I have ranked all of my favorite (and not so favorite) hot chocolates in Namibia. Maybe if I feel like sharing big secrets, I'll post my Best of Nashville list one of these days.

1. Craft Cafe - Old Breweries, Windhoek
2. Diaz Cafe - downtown, Luderitz
3. Mugg & Bean - Post Street Mall, Windhoek
4. Ritzi's - Luderitz Waterfront, Luderitz
5. Sea Breeze Cafe - Luderitz Waterfront, Luderitz
6. Paul's Brasserie - Old Breweries, Windhoek
7. Diaz Point Coffeeshop - Luderitz Peninsula, Luderitz
8. Backerei - Main Street, Tsumeb
9. Rucola Cafe - Old Breweries, Windhoek

Let's face it. Nashville does hot chocolate better, but these sweet sips have sufficed.

TIA Tuesday

Arriving in Windhoek and wanting nothing more than a whole pizza to myself, since it’s such a rare treat. TIA.

Getting honked at every five seconds as I walk down the street. This unkempt look must be getting pretty desirable! Too bad they just want my taxi fare. TIA.

Going to NamPost only to be told that there’s absolutely no way for them to find my three missing packages. TIA.

Best day ever = finding a coffeeshop that has free wifi!!! TIA.

Being invited to a braai at every meal by various braai-enthusiastic tourists. Hey, I’ve been there, I understand. TIA.

Next TIA Tuesday will be from...America! Good thing the abbrev still works.

A Tale of Terrible Travel

Just so you don’t start to think that traveling around Namibia is all rosy, I am about to tell you a tale of terrible travel.

It’s necessary to preface this by telling you that taxi and combi drivers are a breed of their own. It would be a horrid idea to generalize their personalities to all Namibians. Please keep that in mind.

On our last day of holiday, the three of us needed to get back to the North. The most common way to do that, especially for local Namibians, is to take a combi (a Namibian mini-bus, as I explained in an earlier post). When the receptionist at our hostel told us where the departure point is in Windhoek, she skeptically added, “but you really shouldn’t take one.” I think she worried that we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into, as white Americans. I’ve taken several combis before, but what I didn’t know was how crazy this experience would become.

We arrived by taxi and our driver found us a combi that only needed three more passengers – perfect! Combis do not depart until they are full, which can sometimes take several hours, so it’s best to be the last passengers to arrive. However, as soon as we loaded our bags into the trailer, we were told, “oops! Just kidding, we don’t have room for you.” Ugh.

But no worries! Another combi whipped around the corner in no time to snatch us up. The driver insisted he was leaving “now now now!” and upon inspecting the passengers, it seemed as if he was nearly full.

What we didn’t know was that four of the passengers were squatters. This is an annoying practice among taxi and combi drivers: paying regular people a small amount of cash to sit in their vehicle and make it look fuller so as to attract more paying passengers. Unfortunately, the paying customers think they’re loading in a vehicle that will leave “now now now!” and instead they don’t leave until “now.”

Our combi had been sitting kitty corner from the actual departure point, perhaps to attract customers before they reached the service station. However, after over an hour of sitting and waiting, the driver decided to take off and drive across the street. We whipped up door-to-door with another combi and found three German volunteers sitting in its threshold. Apparently their combi fooled them and didn’t actually have room for all three of them, so we encouraged them to join us since we didn’t need many more passengers. They started to load their bags into our combi and the fiasco began.

Combi drivers typically have 5-10 assistants with them to help load bags, attract customers, and collect money. These assistants are ruthless. As soon as the Germans started to switch to our combi, the assistants came out of the woodwork and started grabbing at their bags, pushing and pulling them, and yelling. We had stolen their customers and they weren’t happy one bit. What we learned is that they’ll go to any length to secure customers for their vehicles.

What was only typical yelling and minor physicality quickly escalated into scores of expletives, physical harassment, and bags flying all over the place. At one point, we turned around to see OUR bags quickly disappearing from the trailer of the combi. Bret leapt out to get our bags back as more and more assistants were congregating to join the fight, in hope of making us paying customers their own. Soon, our driver decided the best course of action was to drive away quickly, which seemed insane at the time but was probably the best option.

As we drove off to make erratic circles and figure eights around the parking lot, Bret jumped on the trailer to hold down our belongings. He was soon joined by three or four other large men who he had to fight off as the combi was moving. Eventually, we returned to our “turf” across the street and the other assistants eventually ceased and desisted.

However, shortly after we left we received an SMS from another WT volunteer who had apparently been in the other combi. The simple fist- and word- fights had escalated into a ROCK fight! Of all things!

Eventually, we obtained enough customers and departed for the North, but not until after seeing several other women physically harassed as they arrived at the departure point, and pulled off onto the median of the highway no less than one minute after leaving and were told to all debark and go to the combi behind us because ours needed to be serviced. Couldn’t have told us earlier, nee?

And thus ends our Saturday Saga. Combis are not something I will miss about Namibia. No siree.

Fish River Fiasco

As many of you saw in my holiday itinerary post, Hannah, Bret, and I were planning on hiking the challenging Fish River Canyon over holiday. This hike is a grueling, 85-kilometer "trail" through the second largest canyon in the world that usually takes 5 days to complete. For many reasons, I decided at the last minute not to do the trail, but Hannah and Bret went ahead to conquer it.

By Day 6 in the canyon, I started to worry when I hadn't heard from them.

By Day 7, the front page headline of the main newspaper, The Namibian, read "Hikers Trapped in Canyon." The "two American citizens" mentioned in the article were Hannah and Bret - anonymously famous! Unfortunately, as news reporting sometimes goes, the article is not wholly accurate and they were not in fact rescued by any Namibian ministry. They, along with 12 other hikers, became stranded in the canyon when Namibia decided to release the Hardap Dam without caring to alert the hikers already in the canyon. The sudden onslaught of water trapped the hikers, causing them to be unable to cross any of the river crossings and stranding them without food to last past day 5 or 6. TIA like whoa.

Hannah just posted a fantastic account of her story on her blog. They are okay now, but what an adventure it was!

Goodbye, Ohangwena

Hope you sang the title of this post to “Sweet Home, Alabama.” It makes it a lot more joyful. I surprised myself by feeling emotion as the taxi drove away from school. Apparently so much so that the driver had to tell me twice that we’d arrived at the tarred road.

Though I’m gearing up for a post on horrid travel experiences, today’s travel went surprisingly well despite the number of times things fell through leading up to the day. A 9-hour combi* ride sure does give you a lot of time to think and reflect, which I suppose is especially fitting when it comes right after taking the first step towards huge life change. As I sat in the middle of the front row (to me, an ideal seat – great airflow and a full view out the front window), my stream of consciousness went everywhere it could. Here are some thoughts from today.

“I have not showered for six days. But I get a hot one in Windhoek! Shoot...once I return to America, I’ll have to start showering a lot more regularly. And shave my legs.”

“I never took a picture of the front gate at school...or a traditional homestead...or...” (the “I didn’t take a picture of...” regrets went on for many kilometers)


"Wow! It looks like fall!" The hills around Tsumeb were covered with trees in soft brown, yellow, and auburn colors. Guess fall does happen here!

“I’m going to order pizza for dinner!!!”

“I wonder what it will be like to see this friend from home...so great! Or this one...even better! Or...” (dreaming of friendreunions is the bestest)

“I love watching Namibia.”

Many minutes wondering what initially arriving in America will feel like.

“I wonder how many times this man next to me [who was wearing a winter peacoat and scarf...since it’s winter here, dontcha know?] will tell me about what he sees or when we’ll get to Windhoek. It was sweet at first but is becoming patronizing. Just because I’m white doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“What the heck am I going to do in Windhoek alone for five days??” and subsequent planning of my time.

“Does Namibia even know about the supposed impending rapture?” conclusion: no.

“Can I live in Africa again? What would make that possible, given how things went this time around? Different professional focus? I would definitely want to go with a husband or good friend. Less isolated location? Or would that be okay if I were here with someone?” I could write a whole post about this...hmm.

It’s funny how you forget your thoughts almost as soon as they happen. I had so many on the combi that I thought, “hah! I should blog these.” Too bad that turned out to be a kind of lame post. Sorry, guys.

Now, I’m lying on my bed at the backpacker’s hostel. Sharing a dorm bed room with two older men. It smells like boys. Getting the earplugs ready and dreaming of a delicious complimentary cinnamon sugar pancakes breakfast.

* A combi is a Namibian mini-bus with a variety of spellings. It typically holds 14-20 passengers (although can hold many, many more than the number of seatbelts if the driver does not have to pass through any security checkpoints). They are about as diverse as the people of Namibia. Some have funny names like “The Good Life” or “The Obama Bus.” Some have nice, new seats with high backs and others have super uncomfortable, old, cheetah-print seats. Some play the music at an appropriate level while others blast bass-thumping, brain-boiling Namibian beats. Some stop only once for petrol and others stop at every medium-sized town along the way. Always an adventure.

A Hitchhiker's Guide to Namibia

As a volunteer, life is characterized by tiny budgets and limited funds. While on holiday, this resulted in many interesting and frugal forms of transportation...namely, hitchhiking. Namibia has a culture of hitchhiking and I’ve found it to be a safe and immensely interesting way to travel. It’s never reliable, never guaranteed, and never boring, but always strangely works out.

Steps to Hitchhiking:

1)   Start walking down the road...at least you look like you’re making an effort to get somewhere.

2)   When a car approaches, wave your hand down towards the ground if you’re in the North. If you’re anywhere else, it’s best to wave down with one hand and throw up the hitchhiker’s thumb with the other, just in case.

3)   Ask the driver where they’re heading and if you can join while assessing whether or not they’re a serial killer.

4)   Even if they seem hesitant, use your charm and persuade them to take you partway. Half a ride is always better than no ride.

5)   Offer compensation in the form of beer or money (and rejoice when you can get a free hike!).

Enjoy a few profiles of the people we traveled with during our holiday in the south!

The Afrikan Farmers

At the end of our 18-hour train ride, we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere near Grunau hiking down the road with our heavy packs in the bright midday sun. Finally, a white bakkie (pick-up truck) drove by and we tried to flag it down, but it passed us by. Disappointment to the extreme. But farther down the road, it slowed and reversed...hallelujah! This mom, dad, and son trio assumed us to be Afrikaners, but no siree. The dad was weather-worn and sported some great, older white farmer facial hair. Despite our destination being farther than their farm, they let us load into the back of the bakkie and drove us all the way.

The German Family Man

After a long mountain hike and walking for miles down the road in the beating sun with no water, a man with three small children in the backseat drove up to inquire about our destination. With only one seat available in the car, we were ready for to be turned away. But after agreeing that “if the police come, you must get out,” all three of us full-sized adults loaded into the front passenger seat. The family (mom was napping at the lodge) is German but lives in Windhoek and decided to take an impromptu vacation to the south for the week. To have the flexibility of a job, kids that travel well, and a 4WD...amazing! But he only took us halfway...which leads us to the next hike...

The Lekker and Oh-So-Crazy South Africans

While waiting in the shade of a road sign and watching so many cars pass us by (tourists just don’t understand the culture of hitchhiking!), a sketchy blue van slowed to pick us up. The back door slid open to reveal four very inebriated and joyful men from South Africa. They were thrilled to see two girls (and Bret) and eagerly let us into the backseat and gave us ice-cold beers for the 10 minute ride, during which they drank “hot stuff” out of metal mugs, clinked them together only to get liquor all over the vehicle, smoked pipes, and sang loudly to the craziest music ever. They also taught us some unforgettable and inappropriate Afrikaans phrases. Most memorable hike EVER.

The Cute Couple

A sweet young Namibian couple (with the most perfectly pregnant wife) in the tiniest car drove the three of us with our heavily loaded backpacks to Hobas, the campsite before Fish River Canyon. They’ve taken their tiny 2WD car on many back-road trips...sounds like as faithful a vehicle as my trusty Matrix!

The Middle-Aged Adventurers

After sitting alone at the top of Fish River Canyon for 45 minutes, three kind South Africans – two women and a man – stopped to ask if I’d hiked the trail because of my loaded backpack (clearly, no. I could not have hiked it and ended up back at the start). When they heard I was trying to get to Ai-Ais, they gladly took me with them. They were hilarious and love traveling, so we had many off-road adventures on the way and a mountain Zebra sighting.

The Belgians

After being stuck in Ai-Ais for 48 hours (it’s hard to hitchhike away from a resort in the middle of nowhere), a generous pair of young Belgians offered to take me to Luderitz. Hallelujah! What should have been a 6-hour drive turned into an 11-hour drive as we decided to take the road that’s technically been closed for over a month. We stopped often for photos and never drove more than 40 kph on the muddy, slippery, mountainous, narrow road along the Orange River. When we came across six very washed out portions of the road, we spent 20 minutes at each site on our hands and knees moving mud and boulders to create a path for the truck to cross the crevasse. As the road turned north and became paved, we encountered such thick fog that you couldn’t see the other side of the road. Thanks to their humor, sarcasm, and fun English, I felt rejuvenated by the human contact despite being stuck in a car for an entire day!

The Short of It

To tell you all the stories from holiday in one post would be utterly overwhelming. So, here's the short list. More to come...what a crazy, Namtastic holiday it was!

April 22: arrive in Ondangwa to ride to Windhoek with other volunteers; initially shocked to see so many white people gathered on one street corner; travel to Windhoek for WT mid-service conference; ate PIZZA for dinner

April 23: WT sessions all day, catching up with friends, big braai...mmm

April 24: Easter in Windhoek with a do-it-yourself Easter service at the hostel that consisted of listening to Michael W. Smith and reading the Easter story together; personal Easter omelets by Camble; wrapping up sessions; dinner at Joe’s Beerhouse (first zebra fillet!)

April 25: gallivanting around Windhoek with friends; hot chocolate, ice cream, and relaxation

April 26: microbrewery tour & tasting at Camelthorn Breweries; departed on the train to the south at 8pm

April 27: a 10-hour train ride nearly doubled to an 18-hour train ride, ending one stop early in Keetmanshoop; impromptu bus ride to Grunau; hitchhiking to Gondwana Canyon; getting settled at the Route 66-inspired Roadhouse and eating a delicious dinner with the most phenomenal garlic butter rolls

April 28-30: hiking and relaxing at Gondwana Canyon

May 1: hitchhiked to Hobas, 10k from the start of Fish River Canyon

May 2: planned on beginning the trail today but woke up to heavy rains and “freezing” temperatures (ie...65 degrees); spent the entire day sitting under the awning by the tuck shop, drinking tea, eating cookies, playing Uno, and reading; met an 11-person group of South Africans hiking the trail the same days as us

May 3: hitchhiked to Fish River Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world; I decided not to hike it because of a bad leg; said farewell to Hannah and Bret as they began the treacherous descent into the canyon; began my solo trek around southern Namibia by finding a hike to Ai-Ais Hot Springs (at the other end of the canyon)

May 4: stuck in Ai-Ais for a second day as I realize it’s nearly impossible to hitchhike away from a tourist resort in the middle of nowhere; spent the day reading and relaxing at the hot springs

May 5: 11-hour hitchhiking adventure to Luderitz with my two new Belgian friends

May 6-8: stayed alone at a backpackers hostel in Luderitz; spent my days eating, trying all the hot chocolates in town, exploring the winding roads, and meeting new people everyday at the hostel

May 9: fellow WT teachers Mary and Brett unexpectedly arrive at the hostel!; I finally have friends to explore the city with!

May 10: Hannah and Bret finally arrive in Luderitz after getting trapped in Fish River Canyon, being rescued, and finally finding a ride out of Ai-Ais

May 11: pick up our rental car (what a treat!); visit the desert ghost town of Kolmanskop; explore Luderitz peninsula; enjoy a last delicious dinner out

May 12: Namibian roadtrip!; drive to Sossusvlei on backroads with no music or radio stations; see the sunset from the top of the dunes

May 13: wake up at 4:30am to go climb Dune 45 and watch the sunrise; explore Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei; unexpectedly see Amy and her family at the dunes; drive back to Windhoek

May 14: all-day combi adventure from Windhoek to the north...combis are always too much of a crazy adventure

May 15: watch an entire season of “How I Met Your Mother” before my first and last day of term 2

TIA Tuesday - Holiday Theme!

Hitchhiking. TIA.

Namibia decided to let the Hardap Dam go without caring about the 14 hikers still completing the grueling 5-day trek through Fish River Canyon, causing them to all be stranded for days (including Hannah and Bret, the now anonymously famous two rescued Americans). Although the newspaper reported that hte ministry rescued them, they had to wait for some kind South Africans to make their way up the river. In speedos. Rescue indeed! TIA.

Eating zebra, springbok, gemsbox, oryx, kudu, ostrich, and other game. American meats will never compare. TIA.

Finding ginormous wall spiders hiding behind every poster and photo I've taken off my wall. TIA.

Colleagues showing up to school in big winter coats because the daily highs are only in the low 80s these days. TIA.

Being told at 1am that our overnight train had broken down in rural Namibia and we would have to wait until late afternoon the next day for a bus to pick us up, only to be jarred awake at 5am when our train mysteriously decided to start moving again. Hmm...TIA.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

“Life is full of change, honey. That’s how we learn and grow. When we’re born, the Good Lord gives each of us a Life Book. Chapter by chapter, we live and learn...When a chapter of your Life Book is complete, your spirit knows it’s time to turn the page so a new chapter can begin. Even when you’re scared or think you’re not ready, your spirit knows you are.” - Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

For those of you who have not heard about the inner cogs of my time in Namibia, this post may come as a surprise. I have loved blogging about the joys, discoveries, and adventures in Namibia and have grown to deeply appreciate the highs and lows of my time here. But as I alluded to in my early months, life in Namibia certainly hasn’t been easy. I haven’t wanted to use this blog as an outlet to air my grievances, sorrows, and troubles; however, it’s important to me for all of you to hear this from the source.

Much like Mrs. Odell talked about in the quote above from the wonderful new novel “Saving CeeCee Honeycutt,” life sure is full of change. This past year has been a huge testament to that: graduating from university, learning to be far apart from friends and soulmates, moving back to Nashville, diving into my church community, learning to live as an adult, becoming a teacher, moving to Namibia.

I’m not sure when the change stops, but I’m starting to assume it never will. Which is a great thing! Imagine how boring a stagnant life would be. As it turns out, a whole lot more life change is about to begin for me.

The Good Lord has taught me immensely more than I could have imagined in my almost six months in Namibia. Unexpectedly, He has also taught me that Namibia is not about to become my permanent home. In fact, it’s become clear that my role here wasn’t ever meant to last more than these few months. It’s hard to follow the Lord when plans change sooner than expected, but when He’s about to start a new chapter in your Life Book, you’d better muster the courage to follow Him into the next one.

I have made the decision to end my service in Namibia early. It hasn’t been an easy decision but has been months in the making and has been made through extensive prayer, advice, and soul-searching. While a lot of details are still falling into place, my “spirit knows it’s time to turn the page” and venture into the unknown.

I continue to have the utmost support and respect for my organization, WorldTeach. They are a phenomenal international teaching organization and continue to make an indelible difference in Namibia and developing countries around the world. This decision is personal and not a reflection of them as an organization.

As always, feel free to email me if you have questions about my decision or the road ahead. I will continue to share my thoughts about my time in Namibia and am eager to share all of our adventures and photos from our holiday in southern Namibia, so keep checking the blog!