Change In Plans

Greetings from Cape Town!  This post tries to summarize our nearly three weeks in the desert.  As I wrote a few days ago, it may be my favorite part of the trip so far.  I have been trying to figure out why I liked it so much, and what lessons we can apply to the rest of our travels.

Here are some of the fun facts from the trip:

• We were on the road for 20 days, from the date we flew from Cape Town to Upington to the date we flew from Windhoek to Cape Town.
   
• We stayed in 13 different places, which seems like a lot.  These ranged from the very basic (camp sites in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park) to the extremely comfortable (Wolwedans, Little Kulala, Little Ongava, Mowani).  None of these fancy lodges existed in Namibia ten years ago.
   
• We drove 3,400 kilometers on the roads, which means about 40 hours in our rented bakkie.  We also took 21 game drives, averaging about 3 hours each.  All in this means we were driving around on average 4-5 hours a day.  Wow! That seems like a lot as well.
   
• We went on 8 guided game walks, mostly seeing insects, birds, plants and sand.  We also had the long walks to climb sand dunes, to go for sunset drinks, and to go sandboarding.  We shook sand out of our shoes at least 2,000 times (an estimate).
    

CHEETAH IN MID-GROWL

• We saw a lot of game: about 25 lions, 9 cheetah (four essentially in captivity), 26 desert-adapted elephants, 4 venomous snakes, 8 rhino, 500 or so zebras, and about 8 million gemsboks.  No shortage of gemsboks in the desert.
     
  

  THE UBIQUITOUS GEMSBOK

   

• We bought 300 liters of diesel fuel for the bakkie, and no liters of normal gasoline.  I worried about this all of the time.  Also, we only really got stuck once, which was a relief.  We also did not crash, although I nearly ran over a suicidal ostrich, and we had an uncomfortably  close call on the dune track near !Xaus Lodge.
   
• Mostly while we were driving, Zola read about 2,500 pages: three Hardy Boys, the last three books of the Artemis Fowl series, the last two of Percy Jackson, five Michael Morpurgo novels, and a few desert-specific novels (eg, Meerkat Manor).  We are glad he can read in the car and not get carsick.  We are also glad that Swakopmund had some good bookstores.
   
• We met some great guides and people working at lodges: Jason (the Argonaut), Samuel (the musician), Moses (who led us through the desert), Gabriel (the Archangel), Lister (the elephant finder), the three Americans, Joe at Doro !Nawas, Jennifer at Little Kulala, Ellen and Vincent at Mowani, Arne, Ingrid and Rob (the wonderful Dutch), Frederick the Studious, Hayward the Chef, and our favorite all time name - Mighty Power.
  

  MIGHTY POWER AND HAYWARD AT WOLWEDANS

   

• The desert attracts characters.  Many people seem to flee to Namibia to avoid extradition or publicity.   Wesley Snipes hid from his tax problems there.  Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie famously waited for a baby in Swakopmund.  We met and were charmed by Eva, la femme mysterieuse. We met a very rich American father and son, and their too young and beautiful wives (?), whose story didn’t quite make sense.  We wondered, idly, what some of the very elderly German men in Swakopmund did during the war.  India wondered how why the proportion of ruggedly handsome men is so high in Namibia.

RELAXING ON DUNE 45 - SOSSUSVLEI

Greetings from Tswalu!  Unfortunately, we are leaving this desert paradise around noon today.  We will be driving for about four hours to a tent camp in the Trans-Frontier National Park, and staying there for the next few days.  This short post is about what we have been doing in our last 24 hours at Tswalu.

Yesterday afternoon, once we figured out that Zola had gotten the poisonous sap from the tree euphorbia in his nose and mouth, Jason, Samuel and I shifted our afternoon game drive into a quest for bushman medicine. 

Jason dug a succulent root from the side of the road, cut off the outer skin, and gave Zola a piece to chew.  Jason’s insistence that the root “tastes just like warm water” was a bit generous (I tasted a piece myself), but Zola’s mouth felt a little better.  Later, on the theory that the poison was a mild acid, we pulverized some limestone, and made an alkaline mouth rinse.  This didn’t work very well (Zola swallowed a big mouthful, which caused him more anxiety).  A limestone poultice seemed to really help the mild acid burn on his face, though.  Finally, Jason cut us some hoodia, which is a succulent known for giving energy and suppressing appetite (now available in U.S. drugstores).  Again, Jason’s characterization of the taste -”very pleasant, like licorice”- was too charitable, but I definitely felt the stimulus effect.

We did not see a lot of interesting game (except a small buffalo herd), but it was fun finding the bush remedies.  The best part of the drive, though, was watching the spectacular sunset from the top of a small sand dune.  Jason, Samuel and Zola dug up scorpion holes, hoping to find one of the occupants to inspect.  Eventually they went off to look at a dead Oryx by the side of the road.  Tallulah played in the sand.  India and I sat with our drinks and admired the beauty of the desert, and the electric drama of gathering thunderstorms.  We could see 10-20 kilometers in every direction, but could not see evidence of any other human life.  Once again, we got soaked on the drive back to the lodge.

This morning, we slept until 6, and then drove down to the stables.  Like everything else at Tswalu, the stables were absolutely top class.  They had riding boots and chaps waiting for us, and a string of beautiful horses were saddled.  Most exciting, Tallulah got to ride her own horse (with a lead line), and we walked off into the desert.  We saw a sable, a few Nyala, and two grumpy old male buffalo down by a water hole.  The scenery was spectacular.  We saw a burned patch of about 20 acres, where a lightning strike had ignited a brush fire a few months ago.  Apparently, this brings out the entire Tswalu staff of 150 people to light backfires and beat out flames.  If the reserve burnt down, it would be bad for conservation and for business.

On the ride, Jason told a story about when the (now-deposed) King and Queen of Nepal visited Sabi Sands, and he took them on their game drives.  The two Nepali generals who were acting as bodyguards got very nervous every time Jason reached for his rifle.  This is reasonable, given that the king’s predecessor (and brother) died in a hail of gunfire.  Jason said that the king was not very pleasant company, shouting “Drive, just drive!” when Jason stopped to look at any animal not to his regal liking.  As the group sat and watched a mother leopard feeding its cub, the king flicked a lit cigarette next to them.  A team of rangers had to drive off the mother leopard, and beat out the small fire that he had started.  A few months after the king’s visit, the Nepali Maoists finally deposed him, and sent him into internal exile.  Jason said, “I don’t wish bad on anyone, but when I saw that news on CNN, I figured it served the king right.”

On the way back from riding, we saw two male warthogs fighting ferociously on the road.  They butted heads, slashed at each other with their tusks, and generally mixed it up.  Eventually, one warthog backed away warily, while his victorious opponent sprayed sand in the air and grunted triumphantly.  After breakfast, and some on-line math (Zola and I are cranking), Jason and Samuel took the kids to do archery.  Zola shot the arrows, and Tallulah ran to retrieve them.

Tswalu is just great.  We are sorry to be leaving, but are excited about heading back to Namibia.  The long drive begins today.

Greetings from Tswalu!  This short post relates a few of the stories/facts that Jason, our guide, has told us during our game drives in the last two days.

Last January, after our holiday in Cape Town, India came to Tswalu with her parents and our kids.  I had gone back to work in San Diego.  They had a guide named Jason, who each member of the family seemed to fall in love with a little bit.  Aside from the game drives, he accompanied India on walks and runs in the desert.  He took Zola to ride horses and do archery, and he talked with him endlessly about snakes.  He carried Tallulah, told her funny stories, and let her be a big girl.  The prospect of having Jason as our guide again was a big draw for our return to Tswalu this year.

Having gotten over my slight prejudicial jealousy (I really wish I were a better person), I have been wildly impressed with Jason.  The depth and breadth of his knowledge is truly phenomenal, and his boyish enthusiasm for being out in nature is infectious.  Mostly, though, the stories that he tells, and the facts that he imparts, have been remarkable.  Most are delivered in an off-hand way, in reference to something we are walking by or driving by.  Here are a few examples:

Pink-billed Ostrich - this morning we saw a male ostrich with a bright pink bill.  Jason remarked that this was a sign of very high testosterone, and that his shins would be colored pink as well (they were).  When male ostriches are looking to mate, they get these pink markings, and, apparently they get very aggressive.  ”I had to shoot one once in the Kruger Park, you know.” Jason said.  He was leading a group of guests on a walk, and a lust-crazed ostrich attacked them.  He fended off the ostrich, using his rifle as a club, but the ostrich started to kick at him.  An ostrich’s kick as as dangerous as a horse’s.  Jason radioed for a vehicle to come rescue the group, but was told it would be 20 minutes.  ”So, unfortunately, I had to shoot him before he kicked my ribs in.  It was too bad, really.  He just wouldn’t leave us alone”

Tampan Ticks and the Shepherd Bush - A Shepherd Bush is a low, scrubby plant that has high protein and Vitamin A content in its leaves.  As we drove past the zillionth one, Jason remarked “the ground around them is filled with Tampan ticks.  Very dangerous.”  These ticks sense the carbon dioxide that an animal or human emits, and they crawl up out of the ground and bite whatever is resting in the shade of the Shepherd Bush.  The real risk, though, is that “from the anti-coagulant in a few of those bites, you get temporary paralysis.”  If no one hauls your temporarily paralyzed self away from the ticks, they would essentially bite you to death.  Not a pleasant way to go, but very uncommon.  Most people pull off the ticks and walk away before the paralysis sets in.

Radiating gnu - the wildebeest, or brindled gnu, has alternating stripes of thick/black and thin/brown fur along its sides.  This pattern is the “brindling.”  Jason says that the sun heats the thin and thick fur to slightly different temperatures, and that the heat exchange between them creates a very slight cooling convective effect.  I would want to see the paper describing this, but it makes sense.

Elephant and Ecologist -A British woman with sixteen years of experience as an ecologist was killed by an elephant in Sabi Sands a few years ago.  She and Jason worked together for eight years, as she studied the habits of an elephant breeding herd.  In one of her thousands of encounters with the elephants, the matriarch started charging toward her.  Her colleague ran for shelter, but she clapped her hands loudly, which had stopped that same she-elephant on many previous occasions.  This time, the elephant knocked her down and trampled her to death.  Jason said, “I arrived a few minutes later, and there was really nothing left of her, just a red spot in the dust.”  After shooting the elephant (standard operating procedure), the rangers boxed the woman’s remains, and held a sad and well attended burial service on a hill in the Sabi Sands.  A few days later, the elephant herd, with a new matriarch, spent the entire day at the grave site, “scratching at the dirt, and paying their respects.”  I asked whether they knew that the ecologist was buried there, and Jason said, “Of course.  Elephants are extremely clever, and they would have done this for one of their own.”

It has been fun riding and walking round in the Kalahari, tracking animals and listening to stories.  I had not gone on safari in Africa for about three years, and I had forgotten how much pure fun it can be.  With a guide like Jason, and a tracker like Samuel (more on him later), this is as good as it gets.

PostScript- to avoid embarrassment (my own), I asked Jason whether these stories were, in fact, true. He said “gospel truth,” after I read each one. He specified that the late ecologist was named Kay Hickox.

In the meantime, Zola managed to poison himself (very slightly) by jabbing holes in a cactus with a porcupine quill. Turns out that the milky sap from the cactus, a tree euphorbia, is highly toxic. The indigenous KhoiSan use the sap to poison their darts. By touching the quill point and his nose and mouth he has had an unpleasant few hours of burning sensation. It is absolutely not dangerous, but he probably won’t do it again. We are off to make a mild alkaloid bush remedy from pulverized lime. Once again, India and I ask ourselves, “is this responsible parenting?”

KALAHARI DESERT SUNSET

Greetings from Tswalu Nature Reserve, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. We have been at Tswalu Motse, an amazing safari lodge, for just over a day. This post is about five things I have seen here that I had never seen before. Photos to follow.

I am writing this on my BlackBerry from our windswept, open-air campsite on the top of a little hill, in the middle of the Kalahari Desert. All four of us are lined up on army cots under the stars. We are about 10 kilometers from the main lodge, having driven out after dinner.  We will never forget this night of sleeping out.

Here are the five new things, in no particular order:

1- Zola playing Risk and solving pre-algebra math problems. Suddenly his brain has switched on in a new way. We are halfway through his first-ever game of Risk, and the kid is crushing me. I would like to say it is all luck, but he is playing well. More important, his on-line math curriculum vaulted him into a new level of problem-solving complexity today. He grumbled, but stepped up. I am suddenly encouraged.  It is great that Tswalu Motse has Risk (and about 50 other board games) in its game room.  It also has great satellite broad-band access.

CHEETAH OBSERVED ON FOOT FROM 3 METERS

2- A cheetah with a freshly killed steenbok, observed on foot from three meters away. Our guide and tracker jumped off the vehicle on this morning’s game drive, tracking wild dogs on foot into the off-road bush. They did not take a rifle. Ten minutes later, they emerged from the undergrowth, slightly shaken. Our guide, Jason the Great, was clutching his Leatherman tool, with its 8 centimeter knife blade out.  He had improvised the tiny knife as a potential weapon against a cheetah they had surprised in the bush. This struck us all as very funny.  We all walked back in (Lu on my shoulders) and tracked the cheetah to a little temporary lair. Cheetahs are the weakest of the big-cat predators, and their kills are taken away by other animals (eg, hyenas, lions, even large birds of prey).  As we watched, the cheetah got comfortable with our presence a few feet away, then started to eat the tiny deer in its jaws. Amazing.

3- a pride of lions feasting on a baby mountain zebra. We watched from about three meters away in our Land Rover, as a male lion and four cubs ripped their kill to shreds. The rest of the pride, two lionesses and four other cubs lolled and licked blood from each others’ faces nearby. Very primeval, and very dramatic.  We all sat quite still and silent, but Tallulah (wearing a giraffe-print dress) shifted around some in my lap.  The big male lion started staring at her with considerable interest, which was very unnerving.  Jason started the engine and got us out of there quickly.

4- a spectacular 360-degree lightning show. At sunset, we started seeing huge and dramatic lightning strikes in the distance. We have not heard thunder, or felt rain (good thing, given our al fresco sleeping arrangements), but the sky is alight all around us.  Apparently, the high iron content of the Kalahari soil draws lightning like warm meat draws flies, or free beer draws frat boys, or a pre-Christmas sale draws Wal-Mart shoppers.  Choose your metaphor, it is pretty amazing to look at.

ZOLA IN THE TRACKER

5- a game lodge as cool as Tswalu Motse. We are basically the only people here. This is a 100,000 hectare nature preserve, handed over to the Baird Family for a few days. Want to go for a walk in the desert at mid-day? Sure.  Want to let Zola ride in the tracker’s seat on the Land Rover’s hood for a while? No problem. Want to camp in the desert instead of sleeping in your big rondavel? Absolutely. Want to ride horses instead of driving around in a Land Rover?  Let me call the stables.

This is a phenomenally great place. Our guide and tracker, Jason and Samuel, and the rest of the staff, are all unbelievably good.  The landscape is dramatically beautiful, and the reserve is loaded with healthy game.  It is even worth the 5 am wakeup call.

Who knows what we will see tomorrow. Today has been pretty spectacular.

Late-night PostScript: about an hour after I posted this, the heavens opened up, and we got thoroughly rained upon.  Maybe the tentless camping wasn’t such a great idea after all.  We packed up our camp quickly, and drove back to the lodge in the open Land Rover, getting wetter with each kilometer.  Tallulah slept through it all.  We will be up again in about 4 hours for the morning game drive.