44 hours logged in a white 13 passenger van
20 million rounds of “ On the road, again”
And 6 emergency bathroom pit stops on the side of the road…
We are back in Windhoek, and our Namibian home Casa Blanca.
DAY ONE and TWO
After a 10 hour jaunt north we arrived in Opuwo. Opuwo is home to the Himba tribe. As soon as we got to our hotel we went swimming. By “we” I mean just myself..as everyone watched. ( Girls saw a tad pool and were to scared to go in...wow) I decided to forgive them, and that night we began exploring the main drag of the town. Walking down the main street you see a mix of traditional dress and western wear. After a few proposals we decided to head back to our hotel and call it a night.
The next day we woke up early to visit the principal and leaders of the Ondau schools. The Ondau schools consist of 45 different schools mostly consisting of “mobile schools”. Planning schools is challenging and flexibility is ket to addressing the ever changing population. The schools move and are relocated in order to bring education to all children in the indigenous tribes. This system preserves customs and traditions while also providing modern and quality education.
We were able to visit two schools. Both schools were considered mobile the first one was a permanent structure and the second being a tent. At both locations we were able to meet with teachers and interact with the students. Everyone we met was kind and welcoming. We had a wonderful time interacting and visiting with the students. We ended our time in Opuwo with a sunset dinner and stayed up late telling jokes and stories. What a great day!
Heading North :)
Our new friend Ben!
Himba- Traditional wear
Students
Our professor Paula and one of her students from a seminar teaching at the mobile school.
School in the tent
Writing with their new supplies!
Namibia
Putting the Maize away that we brought for them
Sunset with dinner
Jessica, Jill, and MJ at dinner
DAY THREE FOUR and FIVE
On the third day we left Opuwo and drove eight hours to the central eastern entrance of Etosha park and arrived to our hotel around 5. This night we stayed at a Bush Camp, where the rooms were tents spread around the grounds. The tents were amazing with canopy beads and stone showers and bathrooms. It was like no tent I had ever seen…when we walked in I felt like I was in one of Harry Potter’s tents. Too cool. All of us girls went swimming in a huge stone pool. Our pool time quickly came to an end when we found a huge water scorpion swimming around us.
After our swim our group met for a dinner in the main lodge of the hotel. We had a great dinner with more stories and great conversation. This trip was a great bonding experience with our group and our tour guide slash most popular man in Namibia, and NEW BEST FRIEND Uanee!
After dinner Katie and I walked back to our tent. I was so excited because we were so tired from our long drives and we had the coolest hotel room ever! Katie and I decided to keep all of our screens open so we were sleeping “ outside”. Unfortunately Katie fell asleep right away, we had a big thunderstorm, and I was convinced a lion was sitting right outside our tent. I did not get much sleep that night.
We woke up early to drive around Etosha Park for the entire day. We looked for animals all day with only two bathroom breaks. It was a fun day almost getting our van stuck in mud puddles, and finding all kinds of animals.
Lions, lions, lions!
Half way through the day we were disappointed because we never saw a lion. Feeling discouraged we continued on after a lunch break, to add to our discouragement we got a flat tire. Our driver Uanee had to fix it at the ranger station. Because of this flat tire and Uanee being the most popular man in Namibia we had no idea what we were about to be in store for….
One valuable lesson we learned from Uanee is make friends with everyone and everywhere you go. After talking to a ranger he expressed how all of us girls really wanted to see lions. Unaware of the plans in store we continued driving to a location to look for a pack of lions that were called in on the radio. We searched the horizon, but could not see any.
Soon the ranger drove up right beside us in his own white pick up truck with a covering over the bed of the truck. Uanee told us that we were going to see lions closer than we ever thought. He instructed all nine girls and our two professors to get in the back of the truck. We stuffed in the bed of the truck and the ranger instructed us to keep our hands inside. We went to where a line of tour buses were parked looking at lions about 200 feet away. Our ranger told all of the drivers that we were investigating a situation and no one was to follow our vehicle.
To our surprise the ranger drove off the road and was heading right to the LIONS. Our driver stopped the car in between a resting pack of lions. We were literally five feet from very large and VERY REAL wild lions. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time. At one point a mother of a young lion got ready to pounce on our vehicle so we moved to get out of her way. Thinking this was time for us to get the heck out of there our driver just made another circle around the pack for more photo opportunities….
Obviously, I am writing this blog so we all survived our close encounter with the lions. It was a great trip and now our real adventure begins as we begin our student teaching on Monday!
Until then!
Kari
Our tent!
Inside our tent.
Dinner
And so it begins....
King of the Jungle
