Hello all! Well sorry it has been a long time coming - you can blame the complete lack of internet access for most of the last week for that. But I am finally in a place called Swakupmond on the Skeleton Coast of Namibia. It's Day 8 of the tour. I landed in Johannesburg nearly two weeks ago after my 1st class flight on my airmiles - never had a flight like it. They drove me to the plane in a private Mercedes-Benz, lie flat bed, massive duvet and proper pillows, as much champagne as I could drink (which is a fair bit ;-). Then I landed in Jo-burg and the royal treatment stopped. I was feeling rough as a bag of spanners, so I checked into an airport hotel for the night rather than face going into the city. The next morning I had an early flight out to Cape Town, where I then met up with Chris - a guy I met in Chicago on CCS (thanks for the all the help Chris!) and we went to MyCokeFest - an all day Rock Festival at Kennelworth racecourse. Of course I got very sunburnt - something which is only now beginning to be cured. After a couple of days in Cape Town we headed out on tour up through into Africa.
It's basically a camping trip - and I hate camping. Why then did I sign up for 42 days of "participation camping" you may ask? With get ups every day at 5am, taking down a tent in the dark, setting a tent up in the torrential rain, having to put up string around your tent to deter the scorpions who make a nice warm home under your sleeping bag. Sharing a cold shower with about 50,000 African bugs - beetles, spiders, scorpions, moths, birds - you name it - they all come shower with you - not being able to walk around in bare feet because of the danger of scorpions and spiders - having to bring your boots inside the tent because of the thieving nature of the friendly local jackals. Having a guy with a rifle patrolling the camp site, driving up to 10 hours a day through temperatures of 40 degrees plus, over dirt beds, getting up at 4am to climb sand dunes - walking through towns where the helpful local advice is "if you get stabbed, be sure to take your intestines to the hospital in a plastic bag......"
But it's all immense fun! And I never thought I would enjoy it so much. We spent a day yesterday helping out at beach cleanup - we were each given 3 bin bags and asked to go down the beach and pick up the rubbish. Some guy in the group was pricked by a syringe and had to be rushed to hospital - and he needs an HIV test in 3 months after he gets back. I contained myself to picking up cigarette butts - the least dangerous activity - and I am very happy to say the lack of gloves did not mean I was damaged in any way.
But tonight we are in paradise - i.e. some place with proper beds. A backpacker's hostel for 2 nights - the bar has a pool in it, there are shops, restaurants, bars, internet cafes - WOW! it's like all my Christmasses have come at one :-) I started my anti-malaria treatment yesterday as in a couple of days we are heading up into Etosha national park, a malarial zone. After that we travel up into Windhoek - the capital of Namibia, then crossing the border into Botswana - the Okavango Delta - 2 nights bush camping under the stars with only the animals for company. As our helpful guide suggested - "once the sun goes down - we have no light so I suggest you just drink until you pass out....." After that it's into onwards and upwards into Kenya.....
Ok - well my internet time is quickly running out and I need to arrange some onwards travel. Next update should be in Windhoek. I have the rest of the day free - and I'm going to reeeelax.
Till Windhoek! Ciao for now!
Rich
