Namibia!

Hello from Namibia! I cant even begin to describe how amazing this trip is so far and its only been 4 days. The group is a perfect size and everyone is here for the same reason: to learn, appreciate and just have an amazing experience. Our tour guide Hennie is the best part of the trip. He is so passionate about the land and nature and life in general. He knows everything about EVERYTHING in Africa... you ask him what this bird is or that tree is and he will give you all the details you need and more. Im so impressed... we all are. The first day Hennie, me and Carla (a woman from Holland, 54 years old and this is her 3rd trip with Hennie) drove 7 hours to the Orange River (border of S.Africa and Namibia). We met up with the rest of the group there (a couple from Holland and 2 of Hennies friends (a couple) who are assisting. We set up camp and had a beautiful first night under the stars (but in tents) and a 5 star meal (all the meals are amazing so far). The next day we crossed the border... and what a process! They had to check everything in our truck, backpacks, bags, tents, coolers, etc... It took about an hour and a half to unload, scan and load again. They even brought in a drug sniffing dog... crazy. We drove to Fish River Canyon, had lunch and continued on (we didnt even know where we were going... sometimes they like to surprise us). We end up at a great little lodge and i had my first shower. I want to tell all the details about everything but i dont want to bore you. I just want to tell you about last night and today so bare with me (i promise it gets good!). We camped out under the stars in the desert. It was absolutely magical. We watched the sun set, built a fire, made dinner, drank wine, listened to music (thanks to my ipod and speaker), star gazed (I learned where the Scorpio constellation is) and slept right outside, no tents. It was freezing during the night but when i woke up and saw the orange line around the earth that the sun was creating I almost cried. I forgot about my freezing nose and toes and just laid there in absolute awe. It was an unforgettable moment. Now, get ready for the big story. Today we drove about 4 hours to Windhoek (where I am now) and the scenery was amazing and we saw mountain zebras, kudu (antelope), springbok (antelope), huge eagles, groups of herding cows and baboons... all so amazing to see. Anyways, on the ride I started to get a serious urge to, well... go to the loo, if you know what i mean. I was sitting upfront with Hennie and told him about my little problem. He tells me I should take my first bush kak (bush=wilderness, kak=poo). After alot of hesitation the pain in my stomach got pretty bad so off I go into the dry bush land. He tells me the only thing I have to be careful of is burning the tissues when I am done (that how we get rid of our toilet paper) and not to light a bush on fire. So after i go, i go to burn the tissues. I light them on fire and as i do this a huge wind comes along and blows the fire into the bushes. In about 5 seconds a a HUGE fire started... just everything up in flames! I was screaming for Hennie and ran to the top and there was just nothing we could do about it. Now, the wind was blowing the fire towards the road so Hennie said it will stop eventually but if it was blowing the other way it would have lit acres and acres of land on fire. It was all so surreal and i couldnt believe it was all my fault. Luckily, someone was on my side today and not much harm was done. SO, lesson learned... no more bush kak for me.
Anyways, I am in Namibia and doing so great. I am so happy we still have 2 more weeks. Soon we will be in Swakopmund where we can do some extreme activities (quad biking, sky diving, rafting). Im sure you can guess at least one of the activities im signing up to do :oP
I will update at the next computer I get to. We are in a beautiful little hotel today and will be meeting the Italian couple who are joining us for the rest of our trip. The next few nights more camping in the desert, my favorite. To be continued...

Bush

Finally I can associate the word Bush with something positive... that is what they call the wilderness here and thats where i'll be for the next 20 days! I luckily got squeezed onto this incredible trip that leaves tomorrow at 6:30am. It will be Hennie the tour guide (im sure ill be turning around every time someone calls out his name), an assistant guide, 3 people from holland, 2 people from either italy or the usa (havent met them yet) and lil ol me. We are driving tomorrow to the Orange River which is the border of South Africa and Namibia. We will canoe and camp out there for 2 days, i believe, and then off to namibia, which i hear is incredible. We will be making our way over to the victoria falls which is on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe (who knew it wasnt in south africa?!) There is an incredible game reserve in Botswana that we will be going to but from what i hear, the whole trip is a safari. Lions and tigers and bears... OH MY!!! Supposedly Hennie is quite a character and really is the best tour guide out there. He really knows his way around and tends to not stick to the itinerary. We will be going to all places off the beaten path... camping out, rafting, hiking canyons, driving thru deserts, trekking thru swamps, fighting off hyenas and rhinos... ha, kidding. To be honest, I have no idea what to expect so how about I just write when I get back. I wont really be connected via cellphone... Hennie doesnt want us using phones on the trip... he just wants us to appreciate what we are doing and not texting and talking to people all the time. I like it already!
I left the farm on thursday, got pages added to my passport at the consulate in Cape Town, met Nelly (this woman who owns this backpackers lodge who found me this trip to go on), went to Hermanus for the weekend (a beach town on the southern coast of Cape Town... saw some whales, played lots of games and ate some good food), now back in the city at my friends place in my glory with high speed internet but i still cant get my stupid fotos loaded! Grrr... Ill try to update while on my trip but if not, wish me luck!

Tick tick tick...

Time is ticking here in South Africa and im in serious need for some travelling. I emailed the owner of the vineyard to tell him I gotta go but will be back in August. I am going to this place called Hermanus next weekend with a group of 8 people... its on the south coast and its whale watching season! Lets see how these mamas compare to the ones in Patagonia! I am going to try to plan a week trip up the western coast and into Namibia and then August 5th I will be travelling around South Africa for 10 days. Nothing set in stone yet so all of this might change but this is the plan in my head right now. First I have to go to the US Embassy to get pages added in my passport... or else they wont let me back in the country!
I have some time to write now so I thought id give some thoughts and observations:
-Bugs! Little worms, big spiders, creepy crawly black bugs... all in my room! Im learning how not to freak out anymore and just kill kill kill but i want to cry and scream every second of the way.
-Its so scary to get on that horse everyday but I still do it and am so thankful when the ride is over and all my bones are still intact. We actually trot, cantor and gallop with them. And let me tell you, horseback riding HURTS. I am so sore everywhere... arms, legs, culo, back, even my hands are sore! I still cant believe im riding on horses and not subways!
-Baboons hang out on the roads! On our drives to different towns you can see like 50 baboons just wandering the streets looking for food that people throw out their car windows. I even saw 2 babies yesterday... so cute. Supposedly they are pretty dangerous and extremely strong animals... but i really just want to take one home!
-I get very sad to see the way the workers are treated. I dont think ill ever get used to the black/white separation. I was organizing all the workers pay this week and saw their miniscule salaries. No wonder they live in the conditions they do. (Pictures to come when I get home.) You really start realizing how much we take for granted and how relative happiness is. To have a smile on your face everyday yet not have elecricity or heat in your house.
-Im learning some Afrikaans but only words and phrases. When hanging around all Afrikaaners, they have to switch to English JUST for me. I feel so bad!
-Everyday I learn more and more shocking news about the history of South Africa. For example: the first concentration camps were actually used during the Anglo-Boer war (war btwn the British and the Afrikaaners). Scary.
-I found myself dancing to the tune of a bird chirp this morning... i really am a country girl these days.
-I eat and love dried sausage... enough said.
-Im hungry.
Two more months in S.Africa to go!

One month anniversary...

Ive been at Montpellier exactly a month now... im actually quite enjoying the farm life if you can believe it. Ive been horseback riding everyday, learning how to drive stick shift and going for the most beatiful scenic jogs (but not as often as i should). This past monday Ulrike (pronounced kind of like Eureka) began working here running the guest house. She is from Germany and has been working as a cheese maker her whole life... I actually saw the process of cheese making from beginning to end yesterday. Pretty cool... we made feta :o)
I am starting to plan some pretty cool trips and weekend outings. The second week of August I will most likely be joining a friend to Victoria Falls, a Safari, maybe a bungi jump or a sky dive (hopefully the latter) and possibly another trip to Jo-burg. Upon my return the models will be arriving to begin filming. Going to be quite an exciting, hectic, interesting month. This month I plan to do some hiking and also a camping trip for some sort of cooking festival... supposed to be a big party :o) I am going to try to make it to Capetown tomorrow night for a dinner with some friends... just have to catch a ride from someone. I feel like im stranded on an island over here!
All in all things have gotten much better here and ive been working minimally, drinking moderatly (red wine is giving me heart burn!) and enjoying nature majorly. Time is flying and I want to get in as much as possible. So much to learn, so much to see, so much to do!