Woohoo, overland camping trip! It seems that I can’t get away from civilization for too
long, I’m sitting in a strange little Namibian town in the middle of the Namib desert
called Swakupmund, at a fancy internet café with wireless internet in a fancy mall with
awful soft rock coming out of the fancy overhead speakers. I feel slightly uncomfortable being
surrounded by familiar mall sights and sounds (I’m not particularly fond of
malls…). But, at least I get to update my blog…
So I know before I was babbling on about not wanting a
European vacation, wanting to see the real Africa, etc., etc. Then I hopped on a truck with 6 Brits,
1 Scotsman, 1 German, 1 Yugoslavian via Canada, 8 Australians, Michelle my
fellow American, and a Tasmanian tour leader and Kenyan driver. So rather than having a European
vacation, I’m having a European’s/Australian’s vacation (possessive apostrophe
‘s’ …). And you know what, it’s a
good time! Overlanding in Africa
is a huge industry, every campsite we’ve stayed at has had at least one other
big truck filled with Europeans, Australians, and New Zealanders. So far we’re the only Americans we’ve
met…and last night I got my first real taste of anti-American sentiments. Actually, it was harmless, but it made
me feel sad about my nationality. After a big group dinner a few of us went to
some swanky bars, and I met a white Namibian and a white South African. The Namibian guy immediately heard my
accent and said, “You’re American!” with a touch of disgust (granted, he was
drinking and talking out of his arse).
Then the three of us got into a conversation about why Americans are so
hated, he told me he was surprised I hadn’t come across more animosity, and the
South African girl told me a story about when she was living in Paris in the
‘80s and a black man started throwing bottles at her, solely because she was
South African and despite the fact that she was staunchly anti-Apartheid. I told them I didn’t vote for Bush,
half the country didn’t vote for Bush, she said the U.S. is the world power and
everyone is just going to hate whoever is the world power. Then Toby, my German friend on the
trip, said to me, “What are they talking about, don’t listen to them, we’re all
just people!” And I said, “Oh,
Toby, that’s so sweet. I have
American guilt, I bet you can relate, do you have German guilt?” And he said, “No. Why?” And I said, “World War II?” And he said, “No.”
And I said, “Good for you.”
But I might seriously start telling strangers I’m Canadian.
Okay, on to nicer subjects. The camping has been great, I absolutely love camping and
this trip was my idea, but Michelle had never really camped and was a little
wary. But she’s been doing
great! And for the next 2 nights
we’re all in a nice hostel here in weird segregated Swakupmund, so everyone
gets a break from being dirty and sleeping on the ground. Although to be fair, all our campsites
have been really nice and safe with warm showers and lovely toilets. It’s roughing it, but not too much...
Activities we’ve done on the trip so far: Township Tour in Capetown, Watched the
Sunset over the Fish River Canyon (second biggest canyon in the world next to
the Grand Canyon), Sunrise over the Namib Desert, Climbed a Sand Dune in
Namibia, Guided Bushwalk Tour (our tourguide was Japanese and has been living
here for 10 years!), and here in Swakupmund it’s all about Adrenaline
Sports! Michelle and 3 other crazy
people from our group went Skydiving today (I just took photos), and tomorrow
we’re going Sand Boarding. Then
back on the truck. If anyone’s
interested in our itinerary, you can click here:
http://acaciaagent.travelobjects.co.uk/dossiers/CTK41%202008.pdf
Just if. Ooo, and I was finally able to upload the second part of our Vusweni movie on Youtube, go watch it!
