Tips for Namibian Travellers. Abridged.

All I did today was clean Laurie's office. Which was quite an adventure in mouse droppings, dust, dead moths, live and dead spiders, cobwebs, etc; but not very interesting. So! For today's blog, you get tips I have for Namibian travelers that I have learned ALREADY! :D


Useful Tips for Namibia:

1.Bugspray is your BEST friend
I know people will tell you this, but there really ARE mozzies everywhere, even in the dry season. Cover ANYWHERE that is exposed or covered only by light fabric. Even at night. I had NO bug bites at all until one night I wore shorts to bed without thinking that bugs would really be a problem while I slept (there didn’t seem to be any in my room…)… I didn’t put bug stuff on my upper legs… and woke up with bug bites everywhere. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW! Just, anytime any skin is exposed to the air, it is mozzie food, so cover it with bug spray.

2.Sunblock is your other best friend. It throws picnics with the bugspray.
It is sunny. Very sunny. Like, hole in the ozone layer above Namibia sunny. Wear sunblock even if you never burn. The intern from AUSTRALIA got a sun burn. Do not skimp on it. Any showing skin should get a slathering. And some not showing skin too if you think you might take off a layer.

3.Long hair with pony-tail capabilities is a plus
Long hair in a pony-tail keeps the sun off the back of your neck. It is also good for swishing at flies or mozzies who are flying around your ears when your hands are full. (Like a real horse!)

4.Long pants and sleeves are like force fields.
Okay, so not quite that cool. But seriously: every plant in Namibia has thorns except for the grass. (And sometimes that’s touch and go.) Some of the thorns are bright white and two inches long. Some of them look deceptively soft (they’re not!). So if you plan to do ANYTHING outside, wear long pants and at least BRING something long-sleeved along. You will thank me later.

5.Don’t go cheap on sunglasses. The sun can spot penny pinchers.
Cheap sunglasses, as I am finding out, don’t block the sun as well as you’d like. The sun still hurts and you still squint. So spend the money to get good ones so that you’re not squinting 99% of the day. That being said, don’t go out buying Prada sunglasses just cuz they’re expensive. They just make you look like a rich target in the cities. Go to REI. Get a pair that WORKS but is not flashy.

6.NEVER approach animals. Even cute ones.
Keep at a distance. In the case of leopards, snakes, baboons, etc stay at a VERY safe distance. Do not approach an animal even if you think it may be struggling to live or dead. It may be okay or it may still savage you. They are WILD. If you are concerned, call a local wildlife authority. They have people trained not to get mauled.

7.Termite mounds look good in photos but could be full of snakes.
Well, usually just the one snake, actually. Snakes like the Spitting Zebra Cobra and the Black Mamba like to make homes in termite mounds. They are deadly. So no photo ops next to termite mounds unless you feel like washing out your eyes with water for twenty minutes to wash out zebra cobra poison.

8.The Audubon Society African Mammals book is not good enough
Sure, it IS good, to an extent. But it really doesn’t include all the various BIRDS you see in Namibia. And they are many and varied, indeed. However, finding a wildlife guidebook to NAMIBIA in your local bookstore is like trying to get water out of a rock: it only works if you’re Jesus. Get a guide book for Southern Africa. You should do better.

9.Make sure you like your traveling buddy
Namibia goes city, lots of bush, city, lots of bush, city, etc. The time to get from one place to the next is very long. There are animals and pretty views, yes, but not all the time. It can get pretty monotonous. So if you hate your travel buddy, know that you will be stuck with them in the car for a very long time. That being said, try to stay awake. I apparently missed a herd of giraffe on the way from Windhoek to CCF.



Today is Brittany’s 21st birthday. We’re celebrating with champagne and s’mores. Well… we might… we kinda got into the s’mores last night when there was a fire. Basically, there was a fire in the fire pit and Rachel and Kristi told us that they had NEVER had a s’more before! I know right!? I couldn’t believe it either. And then Rosie (she works in the clinic) came over and I taught her how to make one too, because she hadn’t had one either! Apparently s’mores are an American thing… I was actually surprised that they would have all the ingredients here… well… we had to use digestive biscuit type things for graham crackers, but they tasted BASICALLY the same. Ah, gotta love Africa.

ps- Australians call mosquitoes "mozzies"