ok, my vacation report. so far.
i left school on the 3rd and went to bethanie. oh, i was sick. i was at the bar, exchanging culture with namibians, at about 3 in the morning and a farmer offered to sell us a rack of goat ribs and neighboring meat for about 3 u.s. bucks -- a great deal. we quickly coughed up the cash (how do you beat farm fresh goat at cut rate prices?) and threw the meat in the fridge. we built a fire and cooked it the next night. it didn't taste so fresh, but they assured me that it was probably killed by a jackal rather than slaughtered normally and tasted a little funny for that reason. not one to be squeamish, i ate up. i think i might have had giardia. holy cow. not to be too descriptive, but my bodily excretions looked carbonated and smelled baaaaad.
so, anyway, i hitch-hiked to bethanie and spent a few days with kristin. then, we went to otjiwarongo and i saw emgard and jane and a lot of volunteers. it was a really nice time. then, we cruised back on down to keetmanshoop to meet up with kristin's visiting friends (who had come in a rental car from cape town). it was a day or so after the earliest time we thought they might show up, but they showed up. here's the day by day short version.
day 1 -- they show up, nobody knows how to drive stick well (although they made it 12 hours from cape town, so obviously they can get the car rolling). i'm quickly appointed driver, and stop drinking in deference to my position. once they see how lonely the road is, they decide i can have just 1 quart of beer. we feel happy--cruising through the desert, drinking castle lager, and listening to some music. we get to berseba, and some local political luminary is throwing a birthday party for his 60 year old mother and we're invited. we go to it, listen to hours of meandering speeches, and and get some food. nice. then we dance. little kids i know show up from everywhere and the americans love dancing with them. everybody has fun.
day 2 -- we go to my mountain for a camping trip. we plan on rising early and hiking while it's cool, but it doesn't work out exactly like that. we show up at noon on a day where the high temperature is 105 F. we start hiking, but after 15 minutes we have some volunteers to return to the shade. i end up accompanying, and hang out for a while, then hike up the riverbed and climb the first of two places where waterfalls are if it rains a lot. the rocks are too hot to touch, and i get a little wobbly, but enjoy the new perspective on a place i know and love. that night, we get a few dozen drops of rain, and i cook some sheep ribs and boerwors sausage, roasted bread, and such. the stars are phenomenal, and between the beers and the good times, i feel pretty happy.
day 3 -- we get up, and sit and gape at the beautiful sunrise. holy crap. rain in the west and a lot of dust make one of those sunrises that change through every sunrise color and individual rays (ok, maybe not technically correct) are clearly visible. after that, we pack up and drive to bethanie. kristin drives the rough gravel road and loves it. that night, we invite ourselves over to her friends' house and they make a poitjekos (i don't know the literal translation because it's afrikaans, but it's a dish cooked slowly in a black cast iron pot) chicken curry and rice that is fantastic. i eat my plate and finish everybody else's and it's great. we have some beers and (mostly the girls) drink springboks -- a shot made from amarula (a cream liquer) and peppermint schnapps. when i go for the 2nd bottle of amarula i talk for a while to the guys at the bottle store in kkg. the guests are suitably impressed. everybody has a good time.
day 4 -- we drive to kolmaanskop, a ghost town near the coast that is slowly being eaten by sand dunes. our tour guide talks like she has an internal cd player, but unfortunately she skips a little. she gives us a nice blend of fact and fiction. then, we go to luderitz and mess around in the ocean, i get the car stuck in the sand (the girls later push it out), and run the fastest 100 meters i've ever run while chasing someone's hat. it blew off, and the estimated tailwind i'm running with is 60 miles an hour. we go and eat somewhere, and drive a couple of hundred miles to duwisib castle--this crazy castle in the middle of freaking nowhere that some rich guy built. it takes a while, and we get there after dark and planning to camp. luckily, the farmer next to it rents an old farmhouse for hardly any more than we'd pay to the government to camp. the place is lit by kerosene lamps, and the hot water heater is a place to build a fire under a big metal tank. there's not a light for miles, and the stars are, once again, phenomenal. we build a campfire and drink beers and talk into the night. nice.
day 5 -- we get up at 5 and start driving the 150 miles to sousslessvlei (it means "vlei without any souss"). the road takes us through the south of namib-naukluft national park and we see tons of animals. ostriches, gemsbok, kudu, and springbok. all of them think that it kicks ass that it isn't really really hot and are running around and jumping and feeling good. we feel good seeing it and the beautiful scenery. we get to the national park and start hiking the 3 mile trail to the vlei (vlei's are places with clay soil in the desert that water drains into, so you end up with oasis-like patches of vegetation in the middle of places with very, very little vegetation). the sand dunes are huge and long and red or white sanded, and we see why people like that place so much. nice, we think. it gets pretty hot, but we keep the frisbee moving and run around and the trail dissapears behind us. we get to the vlei, take a couple of pictures, and start to head back, only this kevin guy loses his shoes in the dune. holy crap, we think. i remember the time i played basketball barefoot on the asphalt for a dollar. we're diggin through a sand dune, along kevin's tracks and nothing. so, we form a line and just start shoveling sand down the dune. we push sand and move slowly up for 10 or so minutes and we find the shoes. better. we go back to the car, and start driving. we get a flat tire. we work together and get the tire changed, we drive some more. we start thinking -- instead of camping out and then driving 15 hours tomorrow, why not get a little road behind us tonight? later we think, we've got jon isom, why not drive all night and just get there. i get excited. i explain that i've done this before, that it could work out, that if i sleep from 8 to 12 or so that it's safe, and that if someone stays up and talks to me it's really safe. we've all but decided to do it when a little stomach trouble hits one of the group, and we hole up in a town called springbok. it's a nice place, mountanous and flowered, with cable and showers and big comfortable couches. we have it to ourselves and rock out.
day 6 -- we drive the rest of the 500 km to cape town. the last 300 km i hardly take the gas pedal off the floor. we're passing everybody. it's good to be alive. south africa is beautiful, the road is ours, etc. etc. we get to town and start playing frisbee on the beach while kristin looks for her parents. her parents are found and we go to dinner. a little bit of a bender ensues -- it's nice to be stopping for a few days and to be parked, and starting with long island ice tea will take you places. it's fun.
day 7 -- ugh. hung over. we know the best medicine is a hike, so we climb table mountain (near downtown cape town). it takes 3-4 hours and we all feel better.
day 8 -- we go to simonstown and see the beach penguins. then, to see the cape of good hope. the waves are really big, and the coastline is really rocky, so there's lots of spray. the sun's in the perfect place to light it all up, and we can't believe how beautiful it is. we play frisbee on the south-west-most point on the african continent, but mostly just lean way over so the wind doesn't blow us off our feet.
that's been most of it so far. you can gather that i give kristin's friends a thumbs up. it's nice to be around people who can list the first 25 digits of pi and e, and who don't think twice about discussing the definitions of various scientific units. it's also been nice for me to do all this driving -- it's fun to drive a car and to go 70 mi/hr down a gravel road saying "this really reminds me of driving in deep snow." my only beef with the cape town experience is that the beach town where kristin's parents have rented a place is really exclusive and safe, but could be martha's vineyard or anywhere else nice by the ocean. still, i expect i'll make it in to the city and maybe get mugged or something before i leave.
kristin's parents like me. i'm sucking up, big time.
as you can tell, i'm having a good time and really resting up. it's nice to be feeling good. i hope kristin and i are through the worst of our troubles, but am not sure of that. she is a good one.
i left school on the 3rd and went to bethanie. oh, i was sick. i was at the bar, exchanging culture with namibians, at about 3 in the morning and a farmer offered to sell us a rack of goat ribs and neighboring meat for about 3 u.s. bucks -- a great deal. we quickly coughed up the cash (how do you beat farm fresh goat at cut rate prices?) and threw the meat in the fridge. we built a fire and cooked it the next night. it didn't taste so fresh, but they assured me that it was probably killed by a jackal rather than slaughtered normally and tasted a little funny for that reason. not one to be squeamish, i ate up. i think i might have had giardia. holy cow. not to be too descriptive, but my bodily excretions looked carbonated and smelled baaaaad.
so, anyway, i hitch-hiked to bethanie and spent a few days with kristin. then, we went to otjiwarongo and i saw emgard and jane and a lot of volunteers. it was a really nice time. then, we cruised back on down to keetmanshoop to meet up with kristin's visiting friends (who had come in a rental car from cape town). it was a day or so after the earliest time we thought they might show up, but they showed up. here's the day by day short version.
day 1 -- they show up, nobody knows how to drive stick well (although they made it 12 hours from cape town, so obviously they can get the car rolling). i'm quickly appointed driver, and stop drinking in deference to my position. once they see how lonely the road is, they decide i can have just 1 quart of beer. we feel happy--cruising through the desert, drinking castle lager, and listening to some music. we get to berseba, and some local political luminary is throwing a birthday party for his 60 year old mother and we're invited. we go to it, listen to hours of meandering speeches, and and get some food. nice. then we dance. little kids i know show up from everywhere and the americans love dancing with them. everybody has fun.
day 2 -- we go to my mountain for a camping trip. we plan on rising early and hiking while it's cool, but it doesn't work out exactly like that. we show up at noon on a day where the high temperature is 105 F. we start hiking, but after 15 minutes we have some volunteers to return to the shade. i end up accompanying, and hang out for a while, then hike up the riverbed and climb the first of two places where waterfalls are if it rains a lot. the rocks are too hot to touch, and i get a little wobbly, but enjoy the new perspective on a place i know and love. that night, we get a few dozen drops of rain, and i cook some sheep ribs and boerwors sausage, roasted bread, and such. the stars are phenomenal, and between the beers and the good times, i feel pretty happy.
day 3 -- we get up, and sit and gape at the beautiful sunrise. holy crap. rain in the west and a lot of dust make one of those sunrises that change through every sunrise color and individual rays (ok, maybe not technically correct) are clearly visible. after that, we pack up and drive to bethanie. kristin drives the rough gravel road and loves it. that night, we invite ourselves over to her friends' house and they make a poitjekos (i don't know the literal translation because it's afrikaans, but it's a dish cooked slowly in a black cast iron pot) chicken curry and rice that is fantastic. i eat my plate and finish everybody else's and it's great. we have some beers and (mostly the girls) drink springboks -- a shot made from amarula (a cream liquer) and peppermint schnapps. when i go for the 2nd bottle of amarula i talk for a while to the guys at the bottle store in kkg. the guests are suitably impressed. everybody has a good time.
day 4 -- we drive to kolmaanskop, a ghost town near the coast that is slowly being eaten by sand dunes. our tour guide talks like she has an internal cd player, but unfortunately she skips a little. she gives us a nice blend of fact and fiction. then, we go to luderitz and mess around in the ocean, i get the car stuck in the sand (the girls later push it out), and run the fastest 100 meters i've ever run while chasing someone's hat. it blew off, and the estimated tailwind i'm running with is 60 miles an hour. we go and eat somewhere, and drive a couple of hundred miles to duwisib castle--this crazy castle in the middle of freaking nowhere that some rich guy built. it takes a while, and we get there after dark and planning to camp. luckily, the farmer next to it rents an old farmhouse for hardly any more than we'd pay to the government to camp. the place is lit by kerosene lamps, and the hot water heater is a place to build a fire under a big metal tank. there's not a light for miles, and the stars are, once again, phenomenal. we build a campfire and drink beers and talk into the night. nice.
day 5 -- we get up at 5 and start driving the 150 miles to sousslessvlei (it means "vlei without any souss"). the road takes us through the south of namib-naukluft national park and we see tons of animals. ostriches, gemsbok, kudu, and springbok. all of them think that it kicks ass that it isn't really really hot and are running around and jumping and feeling good. we feel good seeing it and the beautiful scenery. we get to the national park and start hiking the 3 mile trail to the vlei (vlei's are places with clay soil in the desert that water drains into, so you end up with oasis-like patches of vegetation in the middle of places with very, very little vegetation). the sand dunes are huge and long and red or white sanded, and we see why people like that place so much. nice, we think. it gets pretty hot, but we keep the frisbee moving and run around and the trail dissapears behind us. we get to the vlei, take a couple of pictures, and start to head back, only this kevin guy loses his shoes in the dune. holy crap, we think. i remember the time i played basketball barefoot on the asphalt for a dollar. we're diggin through a sand dune, along kevin's tracks and nothing. so, we form a line and just start shoveling sand down the dune. we push sand and move slowly up for 10 or so minutes and we find the shoes. better. we go back to the car, and start driving. we get a flat tire. we work together and get the tire changed, we drive some more. we start thinking -- instead of camping out and then driving 15 hours tomorrow, why not get a little road behind us tonight? later we think, we've got jon isom, why not drive all night and just get there. i get excited. i explain that i've done this before, that it could work out, that if i sleep from 8 to 12 or so that it's safe, and that if someone stays up and talks to me it's really safe. we've all but decided to do it when a little stomach trouble hits one of the group, and we hole up in a town called springbok. it's a nice place, mountanous and flowered, with cable and showers and big comfortable couches. we have it to ourselves and rock out.
day 6 -- we drive the rest of the 500 km to cape town. the last 300 km i hardly take the gas pedal off the floor. we're passing everybody. it's good to be alive. south africa is beautiful, the road is ours, etc. etc. we get to town and start playing frisbee on the beach while kristin looks for her parents. her parents are found and we go to dinner. a little bit of a bender ensues -- it's nice to be stopping for a few days and to be parked, and starting with long island ice tea will take you places. it's fun.
day 7 -- ugh. hung over. we know the best medicine is a hike, so we climb table mountain (near downtown cape town). it takes 3-4 hours and we all feel better.
day 8 -- we go to simonstown and see the beach penguins. then, to see the cape of good hope. the waves are really big, and the coastline is really rocky, so there's lots of spray. the sun's in the perfect place to light it all up, and we can't believe how beautiful it is. we play frisbee on the south-west-most point on the african continent, but mostly just lean way over so the wind doesn't blow us off our feet.
that's been most of it so far. you can gather that i give kristin's friends a thumbs up. it's nice to be around people who can list the first 25 digits of pi and e, and who don't think twice about discussing the definitions of various scientific units. it's also been nice for me to do all this driving -- it's fun to drive a car and to go 70 mi/hr down a gravel road saying "this really reminds me of driving in deep snow." my only beef with the cape town experience is that the beach town where kristin's parents have rented a place is really exclusive and safe, but could be martha's vineyard or anywhere else nice by the ocean. still, i expect i'll make it in to the city and maybe get mugged or something before i leave.
kristin's parents like me. i'm sucking up, big time.
as you can tell, i'm having a good time and really resting up. it's nice to be feeling good. i hope kristin and i are through the worst of our troubles, but am not sure of that. she is a good one.
