on safari

yet another self portrait
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I just spent the last week in Etosha National Park in northern Namibia, on safari. I mean I guess that's what you call driving around in a national park in Africa, looking at animals. Yes, we were supposed to go to Epupa Falls, but luckily plans changed. Our first day out of Swakopmund was fine, we camped on the beach up north. The second day, however, was pretty awful. Casper decided that he wanted to try a hard 4x4 road for practice and it pretty much put him over the edge. He is not used to driving the 4x4 roads, especially on sand, and we were really in the middle of nowhere. He is so reliant on his GPS that when the road, which is actually a riverbed when it rains, had shifted over about 100 feet from where his GPS said it should be, he totally panicked. Then the GPS stopped working, I think it just got too hot. And we almost got stuck in the sand. Casper has a very short temper and the scene that day just about did me in. I don't have anyone in my life who loses their temper like that, throwing stuff around and yelling at their sweet wife, and there is a reason for that. I just can't deal with it. So very luckily, after that horrendous day plans changed. Sylvia & Casper decided that they wanted to go to the falls on their own, since the conditions would be even worse than what we drove on that day. They offered to take us through Etosha, then drop us in Tsumeb and then they will go on to Epupa on their own. And thank GOD I am not going with them!! After 2 1/2 weeks with the same people I am ready to be on my own. I desperately need alone time and besides my 1/2 hour runs or trips to the bathroom I haven't had any of that in weeks.

landscape
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I mentioned that I took Larium and I was waiting to see what would happen and after such a rough week I am not sure if it was the Larium, or the company I am keeping, or the long hours in a very hot car with no air (when you're in the park you can't even open a door, much less get out!!), but I have had a hard week, just feeling down. Every night I have had anxiety dreams of some sort (missing meetings at work, people dying, etc.), so I wake up feeling shabby. I took another pill last night, we'll see if the side effects wear off over time, I sure hope so. Today I already feel so much better, sleeping in a bed, not right next to Daniel, was GREAT. And so was eating a meal with fresh vegetables on my OWN!! So that's the truth about how I have been feeling. Now I will tell you about all of the cool things in Etosha, on safari.

this is where i slept one night
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Like I said we just drove around all day and we saw a lot. I think my favorite are the elephants. But I love the zebras and giraffes, too, they are so adorable! We also saw lions, from afar, and they were looking pretty majestic. Each campground in the park has its own water hole, where the animals have to go to drink. They have them subtly lit at night and my second night I saw an amazing elephant show. 20 elephants, bulls, cows, and babies came to drink. The babies are so cute, they are so little they stand under their moms! They nurse with their little trunks (strange, but elephant udders (is that what they are called...dad?)are under their front legs, not back legs like most animals, I didn't know that ). They just stand there and drink and listening to the slurping, first the water goes in the trunk, they they throw it in their mouth, it is just so cool.

giraffe
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So the wildlife viewing was great. We also saw an amazing thunderstorm the first night we got there. Our tent got so wet that we had to take it down and sleep in one of the camp dish washing rooms. That was actually, believe it or not, the best night's sleep I had all week.

Now we are in Tsumeb, where we are staying at a great backpacker (that is what hostels are called here). It felt so good to sleep in a real bed, I think my camping days are over for a while and that is good. It is tiring, sleeping on the ground and being dirty all of the time. My skin looks terrible.

elephants are big.
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All last week I just kept reminding myself how lucky I am to be on safari in Africa, and that I should really cheer up but sometimes it is just hard. The car was really hot and we definitely had the back seat view, where we could only see things behind us, or directly in front of us so we spent a  lot of time looking at  nothing. I am lucky to have gotten to go there at all, though, because to go on a paid safari costs at least $100/day. And I got to see all of the animals I wanted to see, I just had to be patient.

this one's for my dad
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On Wednesday night I am taking the bus to Livingstone, Zambia, where I will see Victoria Falls. A change of scenery will be good, although already here in Tsumeb, with the beauganvilla (sp?) and wisteria lined streets things are looking and feeling much better.

Love to all.