Yossarian in Africa

Dec. 18
Saturday we visited Etosha Game Reserve. We toured the eastern part of the giant park in this really cool safari type vehicle. We started off slow, seeing different types of antelope and oryx. The Etosha Pans are extremely large salt deposits, and the park is the area surrounding them. The salt pans are extremely wide, and it looks like water as you look onto the horizon. We quickly spotted a few zebras, which here are shaped more like donkeys than horses. Out on the pan we could barely make out a giraffe in the distance, it looked like it was walking on water. I was pretty excited because I had really hoped to see a giraffe. I didn’t know if we would be lucky to see one giraffe or we would see hundreds. It was so far away that we couldn’t get a picture though. About 10 minutes later, in the bush away from the pans I spotted the head of a giraffe above the trees. We quickly pulled the combi over and waited. The giraffe spotted us, but continued to cautiously eat leaves. I snapped several very good pics of it. It was probably 50 feet from us.
We spotted (ok, we were shown) some elephant and rhino tracks on our way to a water hole. Along with a lion, I was hoping to see an elephant, and I just knew there would be one getting a drink. There wasn’t, but we found another giraffe spreading its legs to bend over and drink. It would only drink for a few seconds, then stand up straight and look for lions. It would take several more seconds for it to work up enough courage to bend over and then even longer to actually get its legs spread and neck bent. As the giraffe cycled through drinking, standing, looking and bending, and oryx bull came up, got a quick drink, and departed. Our guide pointed out that the giraffe was very thirsty.
We traveled along the edge of the pan between stops at water holes. There we saw a family of ostriches. The first had 14 chicks, that were running amuck. When they saw us they immediately crowded at the feet of the father while the mother stood on a high part of ground and ruffled her feathers toward us.
After a long dry spell Alex alerted the crew that something was up ahead under a tree. Right after he said “…maybe not” we spotted two ginormous elephants getting their backs scratched by the trunk of a very sturdy tree. They posed for several pictures before walking off away from the road.
We drove north in search of lions, to the open grasslands (Stephen’s worst nightmare). On the way we came across several giraffes, zebras, and springbok (small antelopes a.k.a. cheetah food). Right as we left the “woods” for the grasslands we were greeted by 5 giraffe, probably 30 zebra, and 20 or so oryx. The giraffes were a little closer, making them more photogenic. The zebras (pajama donkeys) appeared to be oblivious to us. They were “horsing around” – rolling in the dirt, biting and jumping on one another. We sped through the tall grass for ten or fifteen minutes to the water hole we thought might have thirsty lions. We did see some distant figures moving in the tall grass, but it turned out they were just oryx. No lions.
On our way home through the woods we came across a baby springbok, several more ostriches, and some kudus. Kudus are very large, like elk. They are tan, with vertical white stripes and the males have long beards and twisted horns. We found them eating as we drove right upon them. They would get scared, run and jump quickly out of the way. One time however, they just stood there, the proverbial deer in the headlights. We stopped our combi and eventually they worked up enough courage to cross the road not ten feet from us. We got some cool pictures, but just being that close to the animals in the wild was unforgettable.
As we were almost home we spotted another elephant, though he moved like a turtle. He had also covered himself in dirt, making him look like a stone. We sat in the road for what seemed like days as he slowly walked right toward us. When he was about 20 feet behind us in the middle of the road, he stopped and shook his head and beat his feet. Lindsey and I were sitting in the back, so we had front row seats to this spectacle. I don’t know if he was trying to scare us off or say hello, but after that he crossed the road and continued to walk. The guide said he was going to a nearby water hole, so we of course made him take us there. We sped ahead to find several zebra, oryx, springbok, wildebeest and one wart hog drinking, swimming, and hanging out. As the elephant slowly came into view, all the other animals cleared out. We watched him drink and spray water on himself. They drink 400 liters (Nalgenes) of water a day, so it took some time, then he slowly walked around the pool, right up to us, and away. Again he walked right behind the combi, stopped, and shook his head. It was a great way to end our first visit to Etosha. I’m not leaving Africa without seeing a lion.
cont. Dec 19
Michael, I am very sorry about the pictures. It takes so long though on the internet. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to have free access at my school, so in a few weeks it shouldn’t be a problem, although it will still take me forever. Today I bought a CD and I’m going to put all 226 pictures from Etosha and others and send it to my dad. If he can figure out my blog, then the pictures will be available soon (Or I should say now). In Namibia, “now” means within the day. “Now now” means within the hour. My host mother has actually used the term “now now now,” but I couldn’t really tell a difference from “now now.” Everyone uses the phrase “I’m coming now” when they are leaving. It’s like saying “I’ll see you soon.” Rarely, you will here “I’m coming now now.” More frequently, you will here “I’m coming,” which means you should not expect their return anytime soon.
More on time: I am learning Rukwangali. It is a tribal language that is quickly going out of style. It is the language in the Kavango Region, though. Today in language class we learned that time on the clock is a relatively new concept. In the past, they only had words for day, evening, and night. We have a language test looming on New Years day starting at 8 AM. We are trying to lobby to get the date changed. I’m not sure it will matter though; I’m set to flunk either way.
We have had a language lesson almost daily for the past 4 weeks, and only about 2 hours of it has been useful. I love our teacher, but she is not a good teacher. Her most common method of teaching is holding up a card with a Rukwangali word on it, then having us guess what it is in English. This is also a time for creative answers, and we have had some fun with it: beard, hurry up (culturally irrelevant), guerrilla suit, separation funnel, old fashioned bicycle with a big wheel in the front and a small wheel in the back. Our teacher’s English is only okay, so she isn’t able to explain things to us very well either. It is a learning experience I guess.
Tonight Mizzou is playing in the Braggin’ Rights game, I’ve been thinking about it all day. I am excited to hear that they have been playing tough. Full court defense and sharing the ball on offense? Who’d have thought. Never would have happened with Quin. Also glad to hear the Cards signed Carpenter. Now I’m just waiting for Barak Obama to announce.
Almost positive now that I won’t write again before Christmas. It’s so strange that it’s that time of year, not because of the weather (although I do have the darkest tan I’ve had in years) but because of the lack of commercialism. It is very nice. We will be celebrating Xmas back at our training center in Okahandja while reuniting with the other 62 volunteers (3 have gone back to the U.S. already). We have all been text messaging each other in excited anticipation of our return.

p.s. Zach (Scott, I presume), I'll write more about the library on my next post...