Grand Canyon

In my continuing pursuit of canyons the world over I
have made it a point to stop at anything with the word
canyon in it. Including the Spur Steak
Ranch chain and their Windhoek outlet, the Grand
Canyon Spur. I went the first time because I really
wanted a good hamburger (it ended up OK) and the
second time because I noticed they had nachos on the
menu. I have a lifetime love affair with chips,
salsa, and cheese so I had to give them a try. I
ordered the spicy nachos, but they turned out more
like a lasagna with Frito-like chips instead of
noodles. But, I like lasagna too, so it was no big
deal.

In related news, I stopped by the office of the
director of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism
and had a nice meeting this morning. He expressed to
me many of the frustrations and realities that I have
seen on the ground, which was surprising. I was
expecting a load of bureaucratic BS, but he was pretty
darn fair (although sometimes I felt like he was a bit
powerless).

A summary:

There is no management plan for Fish River Canyon, nor
are they in the process of developing one.

In the director's mind there is too much emphasis on
tourism and not enough on environment and
conservation. How can you have tourism if you don't
have the wildlife and natural spots?

There is no formalized search and rescue
protocol/procedure. Furthermore, there is no training
for most of the MET employees, making any search that
they do potentially hazardous to the "rescuers."

They are thinking of developing a few more hiking
options to take some of the stress off of the one Fish
River hiking route. This is being done with the NGO
Raleigh International.

The director made his first trip ever to Fish River
Canyon just a few weeks ago (I think when the German
tourist went missing after an illegal day hike to the
bottom - he was never found).

All in all, they have a long way to go, but would do
well to engage in some serious planning and writing of
procedures, goals, and visions for the future of their
parks. As it looks right now it is a bit chaotic, and
seems like no one is really in control, or has an idea
how they want to park to operate now or in five years.

Cycling

I have recently found myself passing bicycle stores at night...that aren't on the way home.

Namibian Road Trip

I caved in and rented a car with a Swiss guy and an American for ten days. After three days we switched the American for another Swiss guy. The motto of the trip became "you win twice" after we discovered beer that was larger and cheaper than we had paid previously. Had we been thinking we would have realized that we won three times, but at that point, who is counting anyway?

I have divided the trip into three sections to make it easy to find what is interesting. There are photos, numbers, and some short stories...if I can manage to post them...

Soussusvlei

Namibia Road Trip Photos

The port at Walvis Bay.



The Mazda Midge and the Namib desert.

Road Trip Numbers

10 day road trip
3758 kilometers
273 liters petrol
$1357 Namibian Dollars in petrol
6 rhinos spotted
4 lions eating 1 zebra
5 sunrises watched
$750 Namibian in park entrance fees
$480 Namibian in park camping fees
9 beers (6 Hansa, 3 Taffel)
4.5 kilograms of various types of pasta
8 nights of pasta

Road Trip Stories

I will skip the bits about canyons, and stick to some of the more memorable moments of the road trip.

First, I struggled at perfecting the stick shift driving. Six years of the Mercury Sable (which may be donated to a family who lost their car in the hurricane - I'll miss it, but I'm sure not using it here) didn't help me in this area at all. The only major stalls were when we were exiting the gate at the Skeleton Coast. I stalled twice and then went bucking away down the road. At least at the military check point when they handed me back my driver's license it was a clean start.

Walvis Bay: In the early part of the trip, Walvis Bay was a real highlight. I asked at the security gate if I could tour the port (I believe that it is Namibia's major port) and the asked to see my passport, had me write the number of it down and then Thomas (the Swiss guy I traveled with for the whole 10 days) and I could wander anywhere in the port. It was great. We started with the tanker unloading acid to be transported by train to the mines. Tsumeb, a city in the north, has something like four minerals that are found nowhere else in the world - or maybe nowhere else together in the world. Anyway, I think the trains were taking the acid to Tsumeb.

Then we toured Cold Storage where mackerel were being sent out in trucks with Zambian registries. I think that the fish is caught and then transferred to a transit ship that packages them. The port holds them for a while and then sends them out. I would imagine they do a fair bit of business like this as the cold upwelling current off the coast is very productive.

After Cold Storage we wandered to the conveyor belts that carry copper and salt (thankfully not at the same time) to ships. We met a guy Isaac, who was rust proofing the supports for the conveyor belts while six other guys hammered or supervised. We had a good talk about shipping. As we were leaving, Isaac called to us from the belt some 25 feet above us, "This is Namibia, friends."

Skeleton Coast: The Skeleton Coast, with its menacing skull and cross bones gate was also quite interesting. It was very cold and very windy, and we encountered a sand storm that was a lot like a snow storm. It all blows in one direction, and piles up here and there and if you aren't careful you can fishtail and spin out or get stuck with your tires spinning. As you exit the coast it suddenly returns to being very very hot. There are no trees, not really any bushes or plants. You can see how if a ship wrecked there it would pretty much be curtains for everyone.

Etosha National Park: Actually before Etosha I woke at sunrise and walked a few kilometer by myself and got to see a very large desert elephant as the sun came up. I just sat and observed as he took care of his morning needs. The most interesting thing was the sound when he rubbed his legs together to scratch the back of his right one. It was so dry sounding and loud. Speaking of sounds, the other amazing sounds of the trip to Etosha were those of lions tearing meat off of a zebra they had killed. We were the only ones around and they were a mere 40-50 feet from the road. The zebra was about a day old, but still the three lions gnawed on it and buried their head in is to get some food. Then they would traipse off to the shade of a tree and nap. It was amazing.

Yes there were canyons, Kuiseb and Seserim, and they were quite interesting, but sometimes you have to mix it up. Cheers.

Travelers

I have spent a few days here in Windhoek going to museums, learning about the local plants, animals, geography, geology, and people. I've also been busy collecting maps and made a trip to the national archives to look for information on the guys who hid in Kuiseb canyon (one went on to direct the Geologic Survey of Namibia - which was then South West Africa).

While here I have stayed at a hostel and have seen and talked to many other people traveling. Many talk about Namibia by saying things like, "This isn't really Africa." This bothers me. It is as though unless people are living in mud huts, wearing loin cloths it isn't Africa. It often feels like people think that Africa must be poor black people and not a mix of people in a fairly well functioning city where English is the official language. Windhoek and Namibia are just as much Africa as those areas that meet peoples expectations for poverty or traditional lifestyles. In short, this is Africa - even with supermarkets and shopping malls.

If I were to apply the same standards some travelers apply in their judgment of Africa to the United States I would assume that only strip malls and McDonald's would be the U.S. But that's not right - Aspen, Colorado is just as much the United States as a Spanish speaking neighborhood in Tacoma, Washington.

While here I am trying to see a breadth of Africa and a depth - I am not trying to just check things off a list of places to see, nor am I only going to drive a car to a village of mud huts and loin cloths. Yes, I would like to explore some of these things, and yes, I too may be limited by my time in how I do so. But, I will have, in each case, seen Africa. Real Africa.

Kuiseb Canyon?

I have picked up the book The Sheltering Desert, which is about two German geologists, Henno Martin and Hermann Korn, who lived in Kuiseb Canyon with their dog Otto for two years during WWII in order to avoid internment. It is written by Martin and has made me want to head to the area to see where they lived and how they lived. I have bought a few topo maps of the area where they lived and have been busy jumping between the book and the maps looking for the places Martin mentions. It is quite fun, although I know that it is not totally necessary as their first home is accessible with a short walk from a view point. Their planning and skills are impressive and their musings on man's nature interesting. The contrast between their life hunting and making shelter while spending nights listening to war reports and symphonies is striking.

In any event, I am now working out plans to get over to the canyon and a nearby campsite. Namibia, because of the very few people living in the south, is a hard place to get around. Areas like Kuiseb are so remote that the most direct way of getting there is to rent a car, which I'd prefer not to do because a car can be quite isolating. So, I'll try my hand at meeting people and working my way slowly down. If all else fails I may be driving a stick shift on the left hand side of the road (it's times like these that I miss the Mighty Merc).

Hiking Fish River

The past ten days have been amazing.

I took the bus from Windhoek to Grunau after the brewery tour (unfortunately I had to leave before the tasting session), arriving at 1:30 am. I stayed in a hotel and got up early the next morning to try to hitch a ride to Hobas, where the Fish River Canyon hiking trail starts. I spent all day sitting on the side of the road with some Nama guys (they speak a language with clicks in it). One was trying to hitch a ride, one was his friend, and the third was herding his goats. He would come and chat for a while and then run off to try to round up his goats. In the seven hours we sat there, seven cars passed, and none gave me a ride. Nevertheless, I enjoyed sitting with the guys, asking them about the land, and drawing maps with them of the area.

Finally, at 4 that afternoon I walked back to the petrol station in Grunau (also the hotel) and waited for a truck that comes only on Thursdays to pick up vegetables for a couple of the resorts near Hobas. As it turned out, the back half of the truck was full of people who work for the National Park at Hobas. As we drove to the park, one of them, Amos, suggested that I stay with him.

In Hobas there is an entrance station and a small kiosk, a bathroom, a generator that runs ten hours a day, four employee houses and a house for the park boss. I stayed with Amos (21) and his family (mostly cousins - a total of six kids and the babysitter) who were on holiday from school until September 6. Amos's mother, who is the one who works at the park, was on Holiday in Windhoek.

For the next three days I waited for people to come to the canyon to start the hike so that I could join them. It was great that no one came because I got to stay with the family and learn about the park and generally hang out and learn. Finally a group of four large South African Men in their 60s came to hike the canyon and said I could join them. As we got into the car to get to the trailhead they handed me a cold beer and welcomed me to the group. It was 8:30 in the morning.

The hike itself was quite beautiful, hot, and challenging. A lot of boulder hopping and deep sand. The canyon is smaller than the Grand Canyon and has a lot less water, but was spectacular.

One guy in the group struggled to hike and on the last evening we left him behind thinking he would catch up as previously he had. He didn't. The next morning we made it to Ai-Ais, the end of the hike, and waited for him. In retrospect I should have stayed with him, hiking slowly until he got in. What he didn't tell us was that he was taking a rest day. So, we waited 24 hours then paid some guys from the park to hike up to try to find/rescue him. Meanwhile we worked with the park management to get them to let us drive into the area where we last saw him - the only place in the canyon where you can drive to the bottom also was where he was swimming when we left him. We drove in, I hiked around and we didn't find him.

It was a nerve racking day, and I was quite filled with guilt. Simply put, I should have known better, and should have hiked with him. No excuses, I knew better. Finally, mid day, he made it to Ai-Ais with the help of the guys we hired.

It was quite a relief. The upside is that I learned a good lesson: even if I am not the trip leader and I am just joining the group, I have the skills and knowledge to stay with someone and see them to the end safely. That is far better than leaving them to their own devices and having to use search and rescue. The other upside is that I got to know how the search and rescue system works in the canyon.

After that, I got a ride back to Grunau, ate two hamburgers there that have since made me sick, and got on the overnight bus back to Windhoek.

A few concluding thoughts:

• There is a huge need for a better hiking map for the canyon.
• Search and rescue needs to be revised from the policy of "wait 24 hours" to go when needed. There also need to be more skilled and prepared people at the canyon for this purpose.
• The people who work at Hobas have almost no relationship to the canyon or the land. Most of them are there because it is a pretty easy, good paying government job.
• The Namibia Wildlife Resorts and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism run the canyon (NWR the campsite at Hobas and resort at Ai-Ais and MET the canyon itself and entrance fees). These should be run under the same government agency. It would streamline things, and allow fees to go the improvement/maintenance of facilities.
• A more expansive Leave No Trace program would be great in the canyon. There are a lot of cigarette ends and toilet paper on the hike.
  
  

Fish River Canyon

Fish River Canyon from the canyon overlook.



Fish River Canyon from the bottom after a short swim (and the hike down).