Study Tour to Northern Namibia!

For the last week of January, our group went on a study tour around northern Namibia. We visited Otjiwarango, Oujo, Opuwo, Epupa Falls, Etosha (Dolomite, Okaukeujo, and Halali), and Kourixas. It was a ton of driving, but well worth it because we saw so much of Namibia and had unimaginable experiences. Otjiwarango was our first stop of the trip where we were able to visit the Cheetah Conservation Fund. CCF is an organization that helps educate Namibian farmers on safe farming practices in relation to cheetahs and other big cats, nurses injured cheetahs back to health, breeds farming dogs that protect herds from predators, and is home to about 12 cheetahs. While there we got a tour of the grounds and saw some of the cheetahs during their feeding time. They were so fast! They can go eight meters in ONE second. After seeing the cheetahs, we got to see some of the farming dogs. These dogs are HUGE. CCF breeds and sells them to farmers to protect their herds from cheetahs and other animals. The dog is very protective and typically can simply scare off the predator with noise. We got to meet a little puppy who had a leg abnormality which means he has to stay at CCF. He was teething so of course I had to let him nibble my hand and get all slobbery. Sorry parents haha We also met Dr. Laurie Walker who is the founder of CCF. In fact, she's giving a talk at the Santa Barbara Zoo on April 16 about cheetah conservation and sustainability if anyone is interested! One of our girls, Carly, is interning at CCF from June to August so it was nice seeing where she would be staying for those months. I'm very jealous! After our tour, Laurie and a couple other workers brought two cheetahs out for us to take a picture with. Unfortunately, we could not pet them because it is illegal to touch big cats in Namibia, but I did get a pretty awesome selfie with one of them. J

Our next stop was at Opuwo where we stayed for three nights and saw so many incredible things: Epupa Falls, a mobile school filled with children grades 1 through 4, a traditional homestead, and many sweet Himba/Thimba women. Epupa Falls lines the border of Namibia and Angola so we got to see Angola. I really wanted to swim across the Falls to reach the other side so I could say I've been to Angola, but it was crocodile season… Not a good idea. We did, however, go in some little pools by the Falls. It was super hot so the water was absolutely perfect. The next day we visited a mobile school and our driver, Uanee's, homestead. The mobile school was nothing I ever expected. We had to drive off-road in mopani tree fields for about half an hour over bumpy, rocky terrain (we thought we were going to murder our van…) until we finally reached the school site. There were three large tents for grades 1-3 and one large one-room school building for grade 4. A little ways away were small hut houses for the teachers to live in. These schools were set up to cater to village children who do not have access to city schools, be it because of distance or tradition (for example, Himba women/girls are traditionally topless so it goes against tradition to dress in a school uniform). We first visited the grade 1 classroom which had children ranging from 6 years to 12 years. Students have to pass a test each year to enter the next grade so if they don't pass, they have to repeat the grade which explains the difference in age. In the grade 3 and 4 classrooms, they sang a song for us and we sang one back. It was breathtaking to hear such wonderful music filled with harmony and joy coming from these kids. Definitely made me (and some other girls) cry. After they sang for us, we taught each classroom the hokie pokie! They laughed so hard and had lots of fun watching us look like weirdos. We were able to visit with the children for a while after visiting the classrooms. Even though they can't speak English, we were able to communicate through pictures and gestures. They LOVED taking selfies with us and then seeing the pictures afterward. Leaving them was so hard. I really hope I can come back one day.

The Grade 1 classroom

After leaving Opuwo we entered Etosha National Park, one of the largest game reserves in Namibia. Let's see, we saw loads of giraffes, kudu, zebra, springbok, wildebeest, ostrich, three or four elephants, four or five rhinos, two lions, and many more! We went on an twilight game drive where we got a flat tire. One of Etosha's rules is that all cars need to be back to resorts by sunset or else guests may get fined and no guests may get out of cars for safety reasons. Because of our flat tire, we got to stand around the road waiting (thank God there were no lions around! Lol) and were behind schedule and had to race back to Dolomite. We thankfully got back in time which made for a great adventure and night. Dolomite was absolutely gorgeous! Each room was a large tent-like structure and we had balconies looking out onto Etosha. We could see zebras from our hotel room! The next day, we went on another game drive and then spent the rest of the day at the pool. It's an infinity pool overlooking the plains so we had a view of everything, including some giraffes. I could have stayed in that pool all day long looking at Etosha's vast beauty. At Halali, our next stop in Etosha, we went on a night game drive where we saw a good amount of animals. It was gorgeous to be out at night in the wild looking at the bright stars and hidden animals. As we left Halali and Etosha the next day, we finally saw what we had been looking for during the entire trip…LIONS! We saw two lions hanging out by some trees and bushes and they were mating. Lions mate for about 24 hours so we could watch them for quite some time. It was pretty awesome to watch them in the wild.

Our view from our hotel room

Our last stop of the study tour was our two-night rural homestay outside of Kourixas. I had been looking forward to this for the entire study tour and was so excited to visit our families and live with them for a few days. When we drove up to the village, I was a bit taken aback because these houses were 2-3 rooms made out of dung, mud, and water. After seeing where we would be staying, I started looking at the people hosting us. They seemed to be so excited to have us staying with them and their excitement instantly made us feel more comfortable and ready to have fun. I roomed with Kerry for the homestay and our family was second to last on the drop-off so we were able to see many of the other houses where our girls would be staying. As we drove up to our house, we saw two little children curiously look out at us and then run back to the house. These two kids were so much fun. Hope was 3 years old and Ricardino was 4 years old. After we met our family, said to goodbye to Jan and the others, and unpacked our things, all the families met up to play games, get to know each other, and watch a hilariously cheesy telenovela (which our host families took very serious). Our hosts sang us the Namibian national anthem and we sang them ours, we both taught each other different games, and many of the girls played and spoiled the little kids with us. When we went back to our house, our Oumas (grandmas) finished our dinner (bread and peanut butter) and our family ate around the fire as we talked about our lives and looked at the incredibly bright stars. After dinner was finished, Kerry and I went to get our gifts for the family. We got gifts for both the kids and the adults: a puzzle and playing cards for the adults; and cute sunglasses, markers, and glow sticks for the kids. My church also donated ten Unite to Light solar lights for me to give while in Namibia, so each pair of students was able to give a light to their host family. When we gave our Ouma her solar light, her reaction was priceless. It was a mix of disbelief, pure joy, thankfulness, and something I can't even describe. The next day we got to herd the goats, milk cows/goats, have freshly killed chicken for lunch (which I helped gut!), play more hilarious games, make fresh bread, re-plaster a wall with dung, and bond even more with these incredible new family members. Oh! I also got to take my first bucket bath and become an expert at going to the bathroom behind a tree since there was no running water. haha That night we talked more with Mutago (the Oumas' niece) and the Oumas about their lives and where Mutago lives, but we were so tired from the long day that we cut it short to sleep. The next morning was so hard to say goodbye to our hosts because even in such a short time, we bonded with them so much and had so much fun. Leaving the kids was the hardest part for me (of course lol), but I'll always remember them! We drove about four hours home to Windhoek and then unpacked to get ready for our first day of school at UNAM.

Our fantastic host family minus Mutago (who took the picture)