Last month I attempted a trip up north for the second time (the first ended in a hospital half way up & an overnight stay), to see my vso friend Lian, & visit Ngepie on the Kunene River. I planned to drive the 800km, after a night in Windhoek, and picking up a couple more vso’s along the way. I got as far as Windhoek this time L
I arrived in Windhoek around 3pm, at the office of my VSO colleague Mark, and parked the bakkie outside whilst Mark & I ploughed on with our proposal/business plan. Less than an hour later I heard ‘is that your car outside that’s been broken into?’. On a busy street some opportunist had managed to smash both windows on one side & make off with my backpack & tent. Five days worth of clothes & all my toiletries gone. I was gutted – 5 days worth of clothes was pretty much my entire wardrobe in Namibia, and my entire wardrobe in Windhoek. I was staying at Robs that night, so he caught a lift back with me as planned, trying his best to cheer me up by likening the experience of travelling through a frosty Windhoek in a windowless car to a trip in an open top car. I brightened momentarily after another couple of hours of Rob humour & cooking, but by bed time at the thought of sleeping in my clothes of that day, I felt thoroughly miserable. My one pair of jeans & my one nice top gone. Still the tent was broken so good luck to them trying to put that up…….
Next day despite everyone’s attempts to persuade me to carry on with the trip up north as planned, I spent 6 hours trying to repair the damage. Car went to garage for new windows, & I went to the shops to try & replace my belongings. My heart wasn’t really in a shopping spree at Mr.Price though. So back to Gobabis for a weekend of darts & football down the pub instead.
That was nearly two months back now. Last weekend I finally made it up north (despite suspected stroke/trapped nerve (!)) third time lucky! Again I headed to Windhoek for a stopover at Robs & some meetings, had a nice meal out with a collection of folks who’ve passed through Gobabis at one time or other & all happened to be in Windhoek – our chairman, two anthropologists, a rape withdrawal researcher, Lily Peace corp, Josie VSO & Rob. Indian food never tasted so good….only takeaways in Gobabis are of the burger & fries variety (bloody good burgers though it has to be said).
So this time I left the car in Windhoek & hit the minivans. Fortunately I was by the window which meant some relief from eau de B.O. which most of the other passengers seemed to be sporting. 9 Hours later I arrived finally in Rundu just after dark, and travelled onto Lians residence with her to enjoy a few over due drinks.
Next day I slept in whilst Lian completed her school duties before we headed off to Ngepie for two nights camping. We picked up two US World Teach volunteers, Amanda & Craig, enroute, and had our tents up by the river enjoying our first beers by 5, sound of hippos behind us across the river. Magic.
I sensibly put on full thermals before bed, plus pjs & my sleeping bag. I woke at about 2am absolutely buckin freezing! I put my padded coat on over the pjs & just about felt not cold, but barely managed a couple of hours kip (not helped by 4am phone a friend call from my inebriated sibling, which I’m sure the rest of the campsite appreciated as much as I did) and ‘woke’ feeling and looking rougher than Pat Butcher. I spent most of the day in a daze after my pitiful sleep, including half an hour sat in a towel waiting for non-existent water in the novelty shower (all the camps toilets & showers are themed). Fortunately I perked up by the evening & enjoyed the bush hen do for Jo, an ex vso, which involved her sporting a loo paper dress complete with mosquito net veil. Guessing it was the first Hen do at Ngepie, and probably the last too. No stripper but Lian more than made up for this with her replay of her teenage disco dance north west championship winning routine. We salute you and your spandex Lian!!
I travelled back Sunday night with Jo on the intercape, and again froze my ass off courtesy of gale force inappropriately cold air con. Was mighty relieved to get back to my warm bed in Gobabis on Monday. On Tuesday I drove to corridor to pick up our cultural group for a gig in Windhoek. All 13 of them packed into the bakkie. They spent Wednesday practising & Thursday we headed to Windhoek, arriving just after lunch. Dropped them off at their hostel before grabbing lunch & then taking them on to the club for their sound check. Seeing their faces when they spotted the posters plastered everywhere outside the club advertising them was priceless.
I picked them up again at 8pm to take them to the club for the gig, and waited backstage whilst they adorned themselves with the contents of our craft shop (price tags still on), including our bok skin rug! The boys practised their quirky synchronised dance moves whilst the girls (and myself) giggled at them, before they finally got called out.
I watched like a proud mum as they performed mesmerizingly – their chemistry is amazing & their smiles whilst performing tell you how much they’re enjoying themselves and each other. The gig was a sellout & the audience thoroughly enjoyed the performance begging them back for a further half hours encore. It was a success all round culminating with the club asking them back & the group being mobbed by fans outside the club & enjoying their new superstar status! I’m expecting demands for white lilies and candles backstage next time….
The journey back was a little bumpy & I was very conscious of the car being put under strain with 14 occupants plus baggage. Fortunately it chose to hold out until 10ks outside Gobabis when the tyre blew out unsurprisingly. Surprisingly Toyota had ‘forgotten’ to replace the spare tyre, cue a mercy mission from DRFN to bring out their spare & get us all back in one piece, if a little sunburnt. The wider role of the volunteer…..stocktaker, school chaperone, and now road manager……next week, hearse driver L
What I learnt…
1. Need a new laptop? Help yourself down at Windhoek police stations lost property – they’re seemingly giving them away to anyone looking for lost property….
2. Give a cat a bad name…and find two dead birds & a half dead lizard in your house
3. Greyhound Ford has a rival. Step forward ‘we just found your spare tyre in our back room haha’ Toyota Gobabis L
4. It’s possible to pull off a deerskin rug as an item of clothing….if you’re a San
5. I will not be wearing the San traditional skins ‘without bra’ as requested by the cheeky girls in the group J
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