Audi Camp to Harnas
October 17, 2000
Driving
Once again, an early 5:00 am rise. We have a *long* drive today, and will be
crossing into Namibia. More stamps for the old passport. Since there wasn't
much else to do, I got out my cards and played blackjack with Jan. We also chatted
about various subjects: somehow the conversation turned to Cuba, Mexico and American
relationships thereof, and specifically about the Cuban community in southern Florida and
Elian.
Florida sure gets a lot of international press lately.
At first we were in mostly desert regions, but the terrain became more "hilly" (I wouldn't say
"mountainous") as time went by. There was also more green to the
vegetation. We made at least one detour in Botswana's Ghanzi district: the road was under construction and long stretches were not paved.
We stopped for a break at one point and saw a couple of
guys using alternative transport. Obviously they took the environment seriously.
:-)
At the Namibian border, there was the weirdest anti-AIDS billboard I had seen: a guy
with a condom on his head chasing a woman with a condom on her head. Perhaps they
should consult their advertisers. In truth, I saw a *lot* of public service
billboards about AIDS (though not so strange): it's become epidemic in Africa, and
population growth could actually go into reverse in some countries if it is not contained.
Just inside Namibia, we stopped for gas. I wanted to get some ice cream, so I
used some South African Rand, which is kept (artificially) at the same exchange rate with
Namibian dollars. However, in reality Rand are worth more, and there were several
people "unofficially" exchanging the Rand for Namibian dollars. In fact,
when the cashier didn't have the change, she swapped money with one of those guys!
Theoretically that's illegal, but that didn't seem to stop anyone.
Harnas
On the way into Gobabis, Susanna decided to ride the
outside of the truck! Actually, this was more than just for fun: there were
several gates that had to be opened and closed on the way to the reserve, and it was
easier to jump off and jump on than ride in the truck the whole time. Or so she
said.
Near Gobabis we stayed at the Harnas, a wildlife
reserve for local animals. Generally animals that have been shot by farmers, or
caught in traps, or otherwise have run afoul of people are brought here for
rehabilitation. We set up our tents in our campground and went to have a look.
There were several lions relaxing in the sun, and a
whole troop of baboons running around (including some young!). On the main grounds an ostrich wandered
around, stealing food from the chickens: it seemed pretty tame as it had no fence
whatsoever.
Nightwalkers
There was an evening game walk arranged for us that evening, to show us around the
reserve and see some of the more nocturnal animals. We were picked up at the main
gate (along with several other tour groups) and driven to some of the remote pens.
There they were feeding large porcupines (which ate
like pigs, all snuffling and snorting). Some leopards
were also given their evening meal. There was a large honey badger in on of the
cages, but unfortunately it was too hard to get a good shot.
Wandering the grounds with us were a couple of brown
hyenas. Our guide Corné told us that not only are their back legs shorter than
the front (as can be seen), but the right foot is always smaller than the left foot!
They think this has something to do with how it turns: it allows for quick
maneuvering.
There was a commotion at this point behind one of the large sheds, and our guides all
rushed off: apparently one of the animals had got where it shouldn't have: occasionally an
animal can get trapped and injure itself or others around it if they are not careful!
Our last stop was a small feeder where some cats competed with a bat-eared fox for food: they were some of the first
housecats I'd seen in Africa!
That evening at the bar I played pool with Chris (whom I beat) and Antonio (who beat me
like a drum). There's apparently a little confusion about tomorrow's schedule:
hopefully Corné will have it cleared up in the morning!
