Uanee:
Today we had a different driver name Uanee. He was so full of wisdom and knowledge about every place we went, and Namibia in general. It was great to have him be so enthusiastic and open about sharing what we were passing and Namibian history. One of the first things we talked about was the Men on the Side of the Road, which I mentioned earlier. Uanee told us that a lot of the men are from rural Namibia and are coming to the city to look for work; however, the problem is that the labor market has no room for them. Therefore, they sit at all the major intersection. When someone needs work and labor done, they just drive up with a truck and call out how many men, who then just hop right in. Uanee said they usually do 1-3 hours of work, with pay being about 100-200 Namibian dollars an hour (equivalent to $15-$30 American dollars an hour). Once the work is complete, they return the workers back to the intersection, who once again wait.
Uanee showed us the 2 main hospitals in Windhoek. Before Nambian Independence, in 1990, one hospital was for the whites and one for the blacks. Since then, however, anyone can go to either hospital. When asked how much it cost to go to the hospital, Uanee responded with, "By law, medical is free". Of course, we were all surprised by this. However, he went on to explain that it is free to those who cannot afford it, but most people do not know they have this right and so do not receive free health care. He also told us for a consultation and medication it usually cost 10-15 Namibian dollars (equivalent to $1.50-$2 American dollars).
One of the last discussion topics with Uanee that really stuck with me was about the police guards on the road. Along each major road leaving Windhoek there is a Namibian police stop point. Here, you must stop at a line and then the police wave you on. This is done to lower the amount of stealing from the city. This way, all stolen cars can be caught. Also, if any items were purchased within the city, they can ask you to provide proof of purchase to them proving that you actually bought it.
Game Drive:
What an experience! We had the amazing opportunity to be feet away from so many different native Namibian animals (many of which can be seen in pictures/videos below). One of the most fascinating parts of this experience was listening to all of the facts about each animal and hearing how the park was very much like the wild (meaning that they did not feed the animals, they found food, hunted, etc, just as if they were not fenced in). The park was HUGE, and we never saw how far it went and how big it was. There were several watering holes and acres upon acres upon acres of land.
As it is like the wild, we were on the constant look out for the animals. The first animal we saw the Springbok, a type of antelope. After this one occurence, we saw many of them, in herds and solo, throughout the trip. We then came upon an AMAZING group of giraffes. We were surrounded by about 10 of them. After spotting them from afar, our driver, Isa, maneuvered us to be mere feet from them. I do not have words to describe how it felt to be that close to such majestic, tall, graceful, animals that I had only seen in books or behind bars at zoos. To see them as a herd, grazing on trees and bushes was one of the coolest things ever. We also learned that their age is determined by size and by their spots (the darker the spots, the older the giraffe). Also, that their tongues are about 43 cm long! CRAZY! Throughout the rest of our safari, we go to see several others sitting in the shade or grazing in pairs.
We then saw some impalas and wildebeests. The impalas (another form of antelopes) we saw were in a pretty large herd, full of females and young. The leader was actually a springbok, and the only male in the group was at the end. They traveled swiftly and the mothers stayed close to the young, guiding them to a new shady area after we had gotten too close to their current one. The Wildebeests were huge, and as pointed out by my peers, this was the animal that killed Mufasa in the Lion King. We saw several of wildebeests solo throughout the ride, however, we also ran across a large herd (as seen in the picture). The wildebeests have long tails that they whip as they run to confuse predators. They also kick up a lot of dirt, to do the same. We also heard several of them make an odd sound back and forth to scare of predators and warn others in the herd that predators are near by.
We saw two groups of wart hogs on our trip, as long as many small groups and solo hogs, as well. Once again, Pumba was brought to mind as we saw how cute wart hogs actually were. One laid in mud in front of our vehicle for several minutes and rolled in the mud. They were all pretty fearless, coming very close to our vehicle. They are known for 'praying' as they eat, as they bend their front knee. Males and females are told apart by how many horns they have (2 or 4).
Two animals that we saw that I did not get pictures of were a mongoose and jackals. Both were very quick, and far away. However, although I didn't get to document these animals, it was very cool to see them in person.
We saw several solo and herds of oryx as well. The oryx is the largest of the various antelopes in Namibia. They have large horns that can kill their predators, such as lions and cheetahs. Although they are the deadliest of all antelope, they are also among the most likely to be hunted, and were, therefore, very shy and difficult to capture by picture. But since we were looking around the game drive around 2 hours, we had the opportunity to see several groups and eventually get some pictures.
We also saw a huge flock of vultures. They were feasting on parts of a springbock that had been killed the night before by a leopard or a cheetah. Although seeing the carcas was not the most pleasant site, it concreted to us that this really was the 'circle of life'. The vultures had huge wingspans and soared up to a tree and then around the sky once we got too close.
By far, the closest animal to us was the white rhinos. At first, they were simply lounging under the trees, unenthused by our presence. White rhinos are very peaceful, calm rhinos, whereas black rhinos are very fierce, dangerous ones. After moving closer, 2 of the rhinos wandered around our vehicle and began to graze. I didn't have to use zoom on my flip cameara at all, and could have stepped onto the back of one at one point. The rhinos weigh around 2300 kg and can run up to 40 km/hr. To have such huge animals be so calm and up close to us was one of the coolest experiences.
The last animal we saw was a crocodile. Thanks to Paula's super vision, we spotted the male crocodile up a small stream. We then got very close and got some great pictures and videos of him. Isa threw some rocks in next to him to see if he would respond, however, he just moved a little upstream. Crocodiles can eat a small antelope and then go 3 months without food. They can go for up to 6 months, overall, without food. They store their fat in their tail, allowing them to do so. The age of crocodiles are told by their size. The male we saw was around 60 years old, and crocodiles can live up to 100 years.
What a FABULOUS day. The weather was wonderful, the sky was clear, and there was a lovely breeze as we drove around the game drive. Overall, it is one of the once in a lifetime experiences all of us will never forget...and we get to do it for a whole day again up north at Etosha next week.
Wow, looks like you are having an awesome time.
ReplyDeleteI like all of the lion king references. :)