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Julia's Travel log

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Thanks for checking in on my travels. Please check out my pictures and visit my guestbook when you are done.

Log entries 11 - 20 of 21 Page: 1 2 3



Oct 23, 2006 06:00 PM To hell and back...

but worth it! As part of my northern Namibia tour we went to an area called Sossusvlei is in the desert in an area with tall red sand dunes, one of which we climbed at sunrise. Many years ago a river flowed through this area but was eventually stopped by the formation of the dunes which resulted in an area called Deadvlei which is a dead lake. While in other parts of the desert water flows underground, no water reaches this spot anymore. We had to walk about ½ mile through the desert to get there. It is interesting to see because it has trees that have been dead for 500-700 years but are still standing because things decay so slowly in the desert without the presence of water. It was quite the sight to see but it came at a price. On our walk back to the parking lot we nearly became overcome with the heat. It was only 10:30 in the morning and I had already drunk 2 liters of water yet had no urge to go to the bathroom and my mouth felt completely parched and I was starting to feel nauseaus. Up ahead I saw a tree and all I could do was focus on making it to the tree. We all got to the tree and collapsed underneath it. It was amazing how revived we felt after just 30 seconds of shade. The experience made me marvel even more at the plant and animal life that has adapted to the desert. They each do amazing things to get what little water there is, store it and conserve their energy. It also showed the importance of what little shade there is in the desert for the wildlife that lives there. We later heard the temperature was between 45-48 degrees Celsius which is between 120-130 farenheit!



Oct 16, 2006 06:00 PM Where sand meets sea

Where sand meets sea On Tuesday I did a full day tour to an area called Sandwich Harbor which is a couple hours drive away from Swakopmund. It is a protected wetlands area that has an interior freshwater lagoon. In this area the sea comes right up to the dunes of the Namib desert which is quite striking to see. Our guide found several little lizards for us to look at and we also came upon a dung beetle which is a beetle that collects it food and pushes it to a place where it can be stored. The one we found looked like it was rolling a little boulder of sand in front of it which the guide said was probably a piece of fruit that it found. Every so often the beetle stopped and dug in the sand and then kept going. It was trying to find a spot where the sand was firm enough to build a little cave. Once there it will lay its larvae and when they hatch they will eat the fruit. Most amazing! Along the coast we saw flamingoes, African pelicans and other birds, jackals, hyena footprints and lots of seals - dead and alive. For some reason the coast is experiencing a shortage of fish (primarily as man and animal fight for the same resources) and lots of seals are starving to death. It was quite sad to see. I've come to really marvel at the 4X4 vehicle - it is amazing to drive up, over and down sand dunes. Though you must be experienced to do it so as the car can roll over if you go at too sharp of an angle.



Oct 14, 2006 06:00 PM Now that's old

Now that's old On 10/14/06 I arrived in Swakopmund, a small coastal and desert town in Namibia. The town never gets very hot and other Namibians flock here in the heat of the summer (Dec./Jan.) because it is cooler than the hot interior. It is on the Atlantic ocean so the water is always too cold for swimming. This was once a German colony so the city has German architecture and many people speak German. On Sunday I went on a tour of the desert that was really fascinating. One point the guide was making was how little things change in the desert relative to our life times. He had a photo taken of one spot in 1914 and he found the same spot and took a photo in 2004 and in 90 years it looked absolutely the same. All the same plants were there, and all the same size, rocks were in the same place - it looked completely untouched. The plant pictured above is the Welwitschia plant which is the national plant of Namibia. It only grows in the Namib desert and is considered a fossil of a plant - it is ancient and doesn't seem to belong in the desert as it hasn't adapted to desert life. The plant pictured above is estimated to be 4,000 years old! (So in my mind it must be doing something right!) It only grows two leaves in its lifetime which then split into numerous other leaves. It continues to grow throughout its life but the reason it is not very big is because the leaves burn up when they reach the sand. It is never very attractive and mostly always looks half-dead. A large part of the Namib desert, considered by some to be the oldest desert in the world, is actually on a granite base and there is only a thin layer of sand. The sand contains many different types of minerals which make it heavy so it doesn't blow around. That's why it is important that drivers follow the same track through the desert because the tracks will stay there for hundreds of years. I could have spent the whole day there wandering around looking at plants and just exploring. Made me wonder more about our own deserts...do we have 4,000 year old plants?



Oct 10, 2006 06:00 PM Kambi the Kudu

Kambi the Kudu Kambi, pictured above, wandered into the guestfarm where I stayed when she was just a baby. The owners of the farm looked for her mother but she was nowhere to be found - probably poached. So Christina, one of the owners of the farm, nursed her with a bottle for one year and now Kambi (based on Bambi) is part of the farm. She is very gentle, in fact she always seemed to be tip toeing around the perimeter of the guest areas. She really enjoyed being petted, particularly on her face. The farm had a very relaxing rhythm to it. In the morning, Teddy, the old farm dog, would be waiting by my door and then trot off with me while I had breakfast. The first day, before I got sick, he joined me on a hike up the little mountain behind the farm but unfortunately it started to rain very hard before we got to top so we had to turn back. I was faster than him going up and would stop and wait for him to catch up but he was faster than me going down and he stopped and waited for me to catch up! Very sweet. When I saw Teddy trotting away with his tail between his legs I knew the warthogs had arrived. In the afternoons, wild warthogs came and grazed on the lawn. One afternoon, after getting bored with lounging around so much I decided to take a walk around the camping area in the back which didn't have any campers at the time. As I approached I saw a babboon. Well he gave some sort of warning cry and all at once babboons started jumping down from all the trees and running into the hills. For a moment it felt like babboons were raining down around me. The warthogs were the same, one day one came grazing close to my lounge chair, looked up and went running and squeeling away as if he had just seen the most frightful sight of his life. Well excuuuse me....



Oct 10, 2006 06:00 PM Survived bus ride

Survived bus ride Well I survived the 20 hour bus ride, in fact, it was quite enjoyable. It was a very nice double decker sleepliner bus which means the seats reclined comfortably for sleeping. The scenery was really spectacular. The bus went up and over the cederburg mountain range and then through a long stretch of a semi arid region that had the most amazing plants. I never knew there were so many different shades of green. They were all low bush type plants – one looked like a shimmering pot of green diamonds in the sun. I wanted to get off the bus and have a closer look. There were also spots with beautiful wildflowers, patches of purple here, white there and then a whole field of gold (yes the Sting song was going through my head). My only complaint was that the bus stopped at what seemed like the dumpiest roadside stand they could find for dinner even though we had just passed a little town that had a KFC. Everybody was really mad as we were all hungry and the choices were not good. I took a few bites of one thing and then threw it out. When I got to the guestfarm I was staying at north of Windhoek, I promptly got sick…not sure if there is a connection there or not. But, if I was going to be sick the guestfarm was definitely the place to be as it was very comfortable and relaxing.



Oct 09, 2006 06:00 PM My bags are packed, I'm ready to go.

Today I leave South Africa for Namibia via a 20 hour bus ride! Somewhat dreading it but somewhat looking forward to the scenery and the "adventure." In some ways I'm sorry to leave South Africa as it has grown on me over the 5 weeks that I've been here but I'm also ready to move on and see what my next destination has to offer. First stop is a guest farm in the mountains north of Windhoek where I plan to chill out for a few days. Will sign in here again when next I find a computer.



Sep 30, 2006 06:00 PM Wild Coast Meander

Wild Coast Meander From 9/25 - 9/30 I hiked with 11 other people along the Wild Coast in South Africa in the Transkei. The Transkei translates into "across the Kei" which is a river. North of the Kei river used to be a separate country during the apartheid years and was not subject to apartheid. This was another way to suppress blacks as they could be sent “back to their own country” and also if they came into South Africa for work they could be arrested for "border violations." This section of coast is quite barren with few hotels and you have to hike to get to them, there is no access by road. The areas surrounding the coast are mostly inhabited by Xhosa people who live in villages. Each section of our hike had a Xhosa guide who told us about the area and also how the Xhosa people use the available plants for food or medicinal purposes. The Xhosa language uses clicks. There are several different clicking sounds that they use. One guide tried teaching us to say the name of one of the rivers we had to cross and none of us could do it. The way he did it, you couldn't believe the clicking sound was coming from his mouth.

The hike itself was wonderful. We covered about 32 miles in 4 days which isn't an extreme amount of hiking but the length of the day's hike was determined by how far away the next hotel was. So the first day we only hiked 4 miles but the second day we did 13. We had to cross numerous rivers. Luckily we reached each one at low tide so we didn't have any treacherous crossings. At some rivers we had to take ferries which were usually small row boats that had to make several trips to get us all across. We spent one day more inland going through meadows and forests and learning about the various trees and plant life and looking for birds.

Porters were available to carry the luggage. Hiring porters was encouraged because it employs some more of the Xhosa people. It is the tradition of the Xhosa's that the women do the heavy lifting so most of our porters were women. I noticed on the couple times there would be a young man that he took the lightest pack! Some of the women carried the packs on their heads. Their ability to balance items on their heads is quite amazing.

The other hikers were great - we all got along very well. Everyone from SA except for me, a German exchange student staying with one of the hikers and a German couple who have been living in SA for five years and have now applied for permanent residence. I met several people from Cape Town and hope to see them again when I arrive there. I learned a few Afrikaans words during the course of the hike but I gave up on learning any clicks.



Sep 21, 2006 06:00 PM New favorite words

One of the great things about this trip has been meeting people from all over the world and given other country's propensity for teaching its citizens other languages, English always ends up being the common language...lucky for me. It has been fun to hear the different accents and different ways English is spoken around the world and I've picked up a few new words to incorporate into my vocabulary.

Most favorite...."train smash" used by the English and South Africans of English descent, mostly the young, I assume it is current slang, it means a big problem. When I was fretting about not knowing the address of where I needed to be dropped off someplace I was told not to worry because "that's not a train smash." Losing my passport and all my ID's...that would be a train smash.

Other favorites, "torch" for flashlight. Speaking of torches, I use my headlamp all the time...it makes for a great night light. How did I ever live without one? "whilst" pronounced with a long "i" for while, "yebo" pronounced with a long "a" which is Zulu for "yes."

South Africans also use two common words slightly differently than we do. They use "must" in place of "have to." Which has a very different ring to it when you hear it and it took me a while to figure out how they were using it that was different from us. They also use the word "special" to describe a unique or rare event or place. Such as seeing a wildflower blooming in the mountains or someone from Cape Town described Cape Town to me as "special" because it has mountains and the ocean right next to the city where most cities just have one or the other. There are other examples but I can't think of any right now. It always sounds really sweet to me when I hear it because it seems to reflect a deep appreciation of particular moments in time or places.

Perhaps I shall add on to this category as I go along...



Sep 21, 2006 06:00 PM Everywhere you go there we are

After a few days in South Africa, while I was still with the tour group we pulled off the road in a very small town in a rural area...we had been driving for hours through the countryside. The town basically consisted of a little grocery store, a gas station and maybe one restaurant. I was kind of excited to see what a small town African grocery store would be like and went in to see and buy a couple things. It was a basic little store but what first struck me was that the Bee Gee's were being played on the sound system and when I went to the check out the magazines at the front were blazing with the latest news of "Jen and Vince." Did I really fly 18 hours away from home??

American pop culture is all over the place. I have been here three weeks now and aside from short taxi ride in Durban where the driver was playing South African rap, I have only heard American music. I overhead some South Africans talking about TV shows...all American. I have only seen one McDonald's but KFC's are everywhere.

Interestingly I have not run into many Americans, only 3 so far. Most travelers are from Europe (with most of them being from Germany), Australia and India. But that's fine with me, I certainly see enough Americans when I'm at home!



Sep 21, 2006 06:00 PM Doesn't taste like chicken

Doesn't taste like chicken I just came from spending two and a half days in a town called Oudtshoorn which is in what is called the "Klein Karoo" of South Africa which is in the interior, over the Outenequia mountain range, from the coast. It was a beautiful drive to get there. I stayed in a beautiful old home that has been converted into what is called a backpackers, basically a bed and breakfast.

The town itself came into being due a fashion trend back in the late 1880's...the wearing of ostrich feathers by the wealthy. The semi-arid region had numerous wild ostriches so Europeans flocked over and began ostrich farming and the town blossomed and made many people extremely wealthy. Thus the town has numerous large houses and mansions most of which have now been converted into B&B's or restaurants. Back then a few ostrich feathers could buy a car, that's how valuable there were. And to think now they are used for dusters. The power of high fashion.

Oudtshoorn is one of my favorites places that I've been to so far. It is simply beautiful...rolling hills, valleys surrounded by mountains, a lovely little town area and the weather was beautiful which helped. On my last morning I went horseback riding and it was very special (if you get that reference it means you've been reading my travel logs!).

While in Oudtshoorn, I thought I should try ostrich even though I don't normally eat red meat. Suprisingly, ostrich is red meat and not poultry. I ate at a wonderful restaurant and had a fabulous meal but found that I didn't like ostrich. I felt like I was eating a steak, which I don't generally like, but with less flavor. Ostrich is a red meat without cholesterol or the "bad fats"...perhaps that's where all the taste is? But it is considered a delicacy and nowadays the farmers here export most of their ostrich meat to Europe. The restaurant I ate at was owned by a woman who immigrated from Russia years ago. A shot of Russian vodka came complimentary with the meal!

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