Midway Point in Africa

Since I've been updating this blog on the run, I thought I'd take a few moments to reflect on what I've seen so far, plus this helps since I may or may not remember what's in here.

So far I've spent time on several safaris (Seregeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Kruger and Etosha Parks), climbed Kilimanjaro, scuba dived in Pembe and sky dived in Namibia. Supposedly I've kayaked the Orange River, but it was more of a canoe than a kayak. One person, our tour guide trainee, did a 180 in her boat, but luckily the camera she was putting away was safe and dry. I also have "sailed" on a enjanou (not sure of the spelling) while in Pembe. That was cool. Noting the construction might have been the best part.

Part of me says I could have seen all this on National Geographic specials, but there's something about seeing the animals and birds here that's mesmorizing. Watching them in their natural habitat, whether out on the plains, in thick grass, but water holes during the day or at night, really makes you appreciate our world. There are so many similarities between animals and human beings. Observing the behaviors makes one appreciate what has to happen all in one day just to survive. Maslow's hierarchy of needs might very well have started by observing animal life.

Africa is a big continent, but we already knew that. What I didn't know is that most of the roads I'd be traveling on during this 20-day overland tour would be dirt roads. Our van is not air conditioned so we get all the dust. And, because of the recent rains, we also get shots of water every so often. In Etosha, we were traveling down a dirt road, that apparently was closed--but only on one end. We finally turned around, but right now, the fan is being checked out because it's been a little noisy since then and we've also had to roll start it. That's fun on a dewy morning.

In some ways, I don't feel like I'm traveling in a foreign country because English is one of the main languages here, though there is the accent, which is so beautiful. Africaans is the second language, then there are German and 13 others. We've visited tribal cheifs, medicine men, small tribal villages and the big cities, which wash all this away to a point. I'll hear more about Soweto and Apartheid when I get back to Johannesburg. I might even buy a book I saw called Capitalist Nigger, but haven't determined if I want to. Just the name gets to me, but it seems to be a different way of looking at things.

I'm learning a lot about the ecology here. Some about the people. Some about me. I miss my friends and my Karly, yet there's still more to see and do. Maybe this will quiet some of the nomad in me, at least for a while, yet when I get back, I'll be heading out 'to the lake' for sailing on Minnetonka and Superior!