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Hi again Carol,
Ok, let's see here if I can remember all I wrote. When I write, I will interject some of my sentences by showing you how to pronounce some of the strange names I will share with you, so that you know, more or less how the names sound.

When I used to take the tourists around Namibia, there were times that I had to leave some of the work to travel agents because I only had a little Ford Laser, (no big fancy car to chug down all the petrol) and to get to some of the places you need an SUV (we call them 4 X 4s in South Africa and Namibia and they were usually Jeeps fully equipped with "bullbars"). More about them later. Although I have a good knowledge of all my travels, I am sure some of the travellers will be able to tell me some things about that country for that very reason. I just couldn't take the sedan into the more rugged areas.

For instance, travelling north in Namibia, I could, basically, really only go as far as the Etosha (sometimes spelled Etoscha) Game Reserve. I could also get into the area known as Ovamboland, which is the extreme north of the country inhabited by almost 80% of the population, which is the Ovambo Tribe. These people are warlike, and since independence from South Africa in 1990, they have been known to harass tourists, (some have been killed) especially in the Caprivi Strip area. I had a pastor of a church there, in the "capital" of Ovamboland, Oshakati, his name is Peter Kalangula, who would sometimes take the rather risky chance of taking tourists into Angola. But they put a stop to that when two American tourists "bulldusted" the poor border officials (probably bribed them) on BOTH sides of the border, to let them cross into Angola. Of course, the war in that country has left millions of landmines all over the place and these two twits, probably thinking they were invincible, went further into the country than they were told to. Well, they rode over a landmine and were both killed. That same day, myself and a party of missionaries were visiting Pastor Peter Kalangula and he got us through the border in their mini-bus (you would call that a "caravan"), and we had heard about these two guys just minutes before at the border, and I can't tell you how badly I was scared out of my wits sitting in the back of that vehicle as we drove, half on and half off what was left of the tar road for about 10 kilometres into Angola. I think what had happened to the two Americans was, they had gotten miles mixed up with kilometres and they just went too deep into the country. With this in mind, I am going to put out some dire warnings to tourists who try to go it alone by hiring a car and getting a map and doing it all "au naturale", so to speak. While it may seem like fun, and in some cases is the only way some tourists can travel because of financial concerns, you have to remember that Africa today is NOT the Africa of the colonial era anymore and it is extremely dangerous to go it alone if you don't know what you are doing. Any part of Africa ABOVE Namibia, Botswana, to a greater degree these days Zimbabwe, and to a lesser degree Zambia, is taking a monumental risk travelling on your own. Today, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is busy making life extremely difficult and risky for white people doing ANYTHING in his country. He has incited his own people to riot, loot and kill anything with a white skin. I am really sorry to have to say this in a public forum, but I HAVE to let you know that these days, going to Zimbabwe, you have a 50/50 chance of coming out of it alive if you try to go it alone. You have a better chance of enjoying the exquisite sights of that country by going through a travel agent now and having, preferably a "certified" (meaning trusted) native man in your party, especially if the travel agency is run by whites. And even MORE so if they are white South Africans.

OK, now, having said all that, travelling Africa in the safe areas is a lot of fun. You will see things that you only see on either Discovery Channel or on the National Geographic channel. Seeing wildlife up close and personal is thrilling beyond compare and in many areas, the animals are so used to us peeping toms, that they will readily put on a show for you.

There are, of course other dangers that tourists come up against while on the road. In Namibia, specifically, you HAVE to watch out for the warthog when travelling by car. These things respect NO boundaries. Are readily able to dig their way, and do, under any fence that might be separating the roads from the wild lands, and have been responsible for many an accident, some fatal, on the roads of Namibia.. The warthog is EXACTLY the same colour as the winter vegetation (winter is the best time to visit if you want to see wildlife), and they lurk on the sides of the roads in this vegetation just waiting for unsuspecting drivers to come screaming by. Then they just step out into the road, and when you open your eyes, the undercarriage of your vehicle is two miles away from where the cab lands. (Slight exaggeration, but you catch my drift) These things are Sherman tanks in disguise, trust me, I have seen many of them on my travels. But, I knew what to look out for and how to spot them, so while I had some close calls, I was always able to avoid contact. Also, because the distances in Namibia are so vast between towns, many tourists, and even the locals, I'm sad to say, put "the pedal to the gravel" as we say it in that country, and they just travel too fast trying to get to their destination. The monotony of the vegetation on the roads and the long distances just cause a kind of "hypnotism" to occur in travellers and they forget to be on the lookout. Stop your car every hour. I can't stress this enough. Get out of the car and walk around, stretch your legs. Just stay out of the car for about 5 minutes after NO MORE than maximum 2 hours of driving. You will feel safer and be safer just following a few simple rules. One thing you might consider doing, if travelling alone....in fact, for me to say this, I would say that it is MANDATORY. Travel in a Jeep or other suitable SUV, 4 X 4, whatever, which is equipped with full bullbars on the front of the vehicle. I have only ever seen bullbars once on a vehicle here in America, but basically these are steel bars wrapped around the front of the vehicle. You can drive into an elephant at night with those things on and only suffer minor damage to the vehicle and yourself. But still, be careful out there, as bullbars won't protect you if you have to swerve for a warthog. Rather, you will find yourself and your vehicle on your heads.

Other places where I had to hand tourists over to travel agents, again because I didn't have the necessary 4 X 4 vehicle, is a place called Sossusvlei, which is in the heart of the desert in central Namibia. Sometimes, I had to make arrangement with my visitors as to when I could come and meet them at a place I could safely go to, once they had been to their desired place to visit. Strangely enough, I myself have never been to, or seen Sussusvlei. However, I could easily get to Dune 7, which is supposed to be the second highest sand dune in the world, Sossusvlei, purportedly being the highest. It's just outside of Walvis Bay, a small fishing town on the coast of Namibia. It's the strangest sight you have ever seen as you travel from Swakopmund to Walvis Bay along the coast, as you have the sea on your right, then the tar road, then suddenly just sand dunes for miles on your left. You can hire one of these 4 wheeled "dune buggies" and go for a ride up and down the sand dunes. However, the cherry on the cake is getting to Dune 7, admiring the sheer height and size of the thing, then climbing it right up to the top. Man, when you get to the top of that dune, you feel like you have conquered Mount Everest. I did it easily, usually loaded down with my escorts' cameras hanging from my neck and protected underneath my T-shirt, or whatever I was wearing. I never let my people carry their own cameras, as they would, usually, just collapse into the sand, first quarter of the way up, then half way up, then three quarters up, then, finally THE SUMMIT....YEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I developed a knack of climbing that dune by slowly pulling myself up like a monkey would and stopping every 20 or so steps up for about 10 seconds. Oh, I tried to teach my impatient, invincible tourists how to do it, but they always knew better....*giggle*, and some of them really came a cropper and failed to reach the top. I had many a laugh at the expense of my tourists climbing that dune...I tell you that. LOL <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Rofl.gif" alt="" />

Well, actually, this post went a totally different way to the one that went "poof" on me this morning. I had more to say about the actual country in that piece of information. But I thought it prudent to let you know that you CAN travel parts of Africa without spending all that money. Travel agents come in handy at times, but they charge a fortune and some of them are just down right unconscionable in their efforts to get their hands of the tourists. There is a right time of the year to travel Namibia and a wrong time, depending on what you want to see. In my next post, I will tell you more about that kind of thing.

I really hope I have been of some help to you all by my meanderings a ramblings. Life is there to be lived, so live it. Just make sure you know who your Anchor is in this life.
Thanks to you all.
Kitty. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/snore.gif" alt="" />