Namibia

Well... as I said in my last post -- I got to Namibia all by myself and aided by some very nice guys who were friendly enough and uncreepy enough to offer me lifts across 2 borders. I arrived in Katima Mulilo in Namibia as the sun was starting to go down and had to find a place to stay. Fortunately by now, I actually had some money to pay for the room :). I went to the only backpackers (hostel) that I had heard of, but they were completely booked. I found this surprising because this was a very small town and I hadn't seen anyone else who looked like they were traveling. Anyway, I tried another place which was called a guest house but seemed more like an extra room in someone's home -- normally a kind of cool experience, but a freaked me out a bit and was a bit expensive, and I normally try to heed my gut when traveling, so I tried a third place. It was a sort of camp site and bungalow sort of accommodation and they were willing to negotiate the price, fortunately. I was given my own private bungalow, complete with a small bathroom and mosquito net over the bed. It was winter at the time (July in the Southern hemisphere), so I didn't really need it. It was weird spending my first night alone while traveling. I felt a bit uncomfortable, afraid of being unsafe, and unsure of what I should be doing. I'm so used to traveling with other people and so used to being busy and having something to do when I'm in Cape Town that I finally had to just sit and figure out exactly what I wanted to do -- me, and nobody else. No pressure from friends I was traveling with, no schedule, no friends smsing me to do something that night. It was weird. It was good. I learned a lot about myself. I got myself dinner, came back to the camp and chatted with the women in the office. I got back before dark because I don't like being out after dark in a place I don't know.

Another interesting thing about all my travels is the fact that everywhere I went (Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia), people were surprised that I lived in South Africa. Not because I'm American or anything like that -- but because they thought it was so dangerous. I know that South Africa has quite a reputation at home for being dangerous and there is reason for that statistically, but I never imagined that other countries in the region would also have that perception. Especially not places like Zimbabwe, where I've been taught (through the media mostly) that life is dangerous.

The next day, I walked around town a bit, organized a bus to Windhoek, and visited a primary school. I went into the school and asked if I could help out with anything that day or just hang out a bit. They were kind of surprised that I would just come in and offer to help out. This was a small town, by the way, and I was the only foreigner that I encountered until about an hour before I left. They principal and some of the head teachers thought it would be a good idea to give a short presentation to the students about the United States. They had a big assembly, which was outside and consisted of a few hundred students in rows according to grade and class. The short (very impromptu) presentation was translated to the students line by line and then they asked me several questions. One interesting question was about uniforms and whether I wore them in school. Every primary and secondary school that I've seen in this part of the world must wear uniforms... I never did and they thought that was really interesting. Other questions consisted of the weather, what it's like to be from the United States, why I was in Namibia, etc, etc. After my talk, I helped out in a 3rd grade class for the rest of the afternoon... so fun! :)

I had such a great time in this small town. I really got to see how people live and had the opportunity to talk to some very interesting people. It was so lovely.

Later that day, I hopped in an overnight bus and went to Windhoek. It wasn't a big bus like, but an Iveco -- a small 15 passenger bus. It was the coldest, most miserable bus ride ever. Everyone else brought blankets, you know because it was winter time. The day was so hot that I didn't think the night would get that cold. Oh how wrong I was. The cold paired with the loud blaring music that the drivers insisted on playing made it a less than desirable night. We arrived just after sunrise the next morning in Windhoek.