Wow. They are absolutely right. The animals do come out to play once the rainy season ends (they become forced to frequent the water holes where tourists can safely lurk in their vehicles). This time around at Etosha we saw a leopard, many rhinos, many lions and many elephants! And of course, we saw numerous giraffes, gemsbok, springbok, zebras, wildebeest, warthogs, impala, and hartbeest (etc.) on top of this. It was incredible. The lions also gave us a free mating show (their purring was audible 100m away)! We especially enjoyed spending the long weekend at Etosha with Pete's family who are out visiting. His mum, dad, sister, brother, and uncle have all come.


We spotted this leopard just walking along the road. Now I have finally seen all of the 'Big 5'. Unfortunately the sun was shining towards us, so the photos aren't great.




Have you even seen a giraffe bend down to drink? This giraffe is bending its knees, but most commonly a giraffe will splay its legs apart. These are the most awkwardly graceful animals I have ever seen - especially when they run/lope.




Spot the giraffe.


Springbok


An elephant skull


Does anyone know why zebras were never domesticated?

Anecdotes

Last week I began music lessons with seven students who are a mixture of boys and girls from grades 8-11. As far as I can tell, it's going really well. I especially enjoy holding these lessons in my flat, as it makes for a very relaxed and comfortable environment. I feel like I'm back at my boarding school in Wales, where we would beg our tutors to invite us over to their houses so that we could enjoy a home environment for a while. The first few lessons have been pure theory, which is a trip for these kids. The past two lessons they have been struggling with dotted quarter note rhythms. However, after our last lesson, two of the boys suddenly started tapping out complicated drum rhythms, and I couldn't help laughing, because they were tapping perfect dotted quarter notes and eighth notes without realising it!

I also took out my guitar during the last lesson. But we quickly realised that we didn't know any of the same songs (or at least songs that I can play). Yet, as soon as I started to sing Brown Eyed Girl, they joined in, i.e. they started singing with me even know they had never heard the song before and didn't know how it went! They just sang their own notes along with me! It was beautiful.

The water has gone again, both at my place and Pete's. At my place it has only been 2 days, but at Pete's it's been 10 days. So every second day or so we trudge over to the tap at his school and fill up as many empty containers as possible. Now I have to heat the water up in a kettle before I take a bucket shower. It's getting cold here! It's funny that I now sleep with a duvet under my mosquito net, it seems like a funny combination.

Another funny contrast: on Sundays we use the computers at Pete's school. A lot of the village children know this and so they come and find Pete because they too want to use the computers. They are a motley crew with an assortment of clothing and lack of footwear, although sometimes some of the older boys have wellies. I remember last Sunday when we were done, we all walked outside and saw dozens of the big village cows with their impressive horns on the school grounds. One of the boys had forgotten to close the gate! It was hilarious to then try to round out all the cows. It also struck me as funny that as soon as we stepped outside the computer room, we were immediately back to the realities of living in a rural Namibian village.

It's groundnut season at the moment. I love 'em. They're more like beans actually. Pete's principal is really generous and has given us two big bags so far, as well as two huuuge pumpkins. The pumpkins are green and massive. I have no idea how we are going to manage to eat them. They are table decorations/doorstops at the moment.

There is a boy in my class who had polio when he was younger and was left with quadraplegia. There are other children at the school who also had polio when they were younger and who live with similar disabilities. It makes me incredibly sad that this is because of a disease that is easily preventable with vaccination. There is also a really lovely girl here who lost both her hands because of an accident with fire when she was very young. Sometimes she will show you a photo of herself as a baby with two tiny hands.

Yesterday afternoon we saw 3 different snakes when we were out running in Pete's village. One snake was dead and lying on its back, one slithered away quickly, but Pete almost stood on the last one (white with a black stripe)! I didn't recognise any of them, but all that really means is that I don't think any of them were puff adders or black mambas! Winter is fast approaching in Owamboland so I guess that snakes are now out and about whenever there's a bit of warm sunshine, which is basically when we also like to be out and about!

The first week of second term is over and I am feeling very content. It's incredible how settled in I feel now. I know a lot more students in the school generally and I am very comfortable with the students that I teach. All of this is making me very happy. In addition, I also moved into a flat on the mission grounds where a Belgian VSO volunteer lives. It's great. It's just so nice to have my own kitchen (and not an industrial-sized one that feeds all the boys!) and my own space without having boys around 24/7. The woman I am living with now, Nele, is brilliant. She is a physiotherapist and she has been here for over 2 years working with the disabled children at the mission. Our house does get a lot of student visitors, especially now that I have started music classes in the house, but Nele is good about telling the kids when they need to leave and give us some alone time!

Yesterday I saw a snake crossing the path to the house. I rushed in to tell Nele but she was quite nonplussed. "Oh yes, there are a lot of snakes around here." She then proceeded to tell me about the time she found a cobra under the couch as she was vacuuming!! Hmmm, I'm still not quite sure what to do with that information. Perhaps I'll just never vacuum. Anyways, after she saw the snake and jumped on the couch, she managed to get her wits about her and cover it with a small box. Then, not quite knowing what to do with it, she stuffed the box into the freezer!

On a completely different note, a large shop called Fruit & Veg has opened in Oshakati. I am over the moon. Tomorrow Pete and I are going to go food shopping and I am going to stock up on as much fruit as possible. I hear they have 7 different kinds of apples.

Petroglyphs at Twyfelfontein, Namibia ("Doubtful Fountain")












Canoeing on the Orange River (natural border between Namibia and South Africa)




One night, as we sat around the campfire, we suddenly noticed a scorpion scurrying around trying to find a warm spot for the night. Apparently the small pincers and long tail mean that this little one is very poisonous. I'm grateful that I never found one in my sleeping bag. I also wore my flipflops more often after this.






Our brilliant guide Johannes who managed to catch this yellow fish using only sweetcorn and a piece of wire.


Scenic view of the Orange River

Fish River Canyon




Sossusvlei






Desert Life





Camping African style (not us of course - we still sleep on the ground!)