micetrail

From Windhoek, Namibia to Frankfurt: OMG, what a pain in the ass. How many security checks must we go through. Poor Marty couldn’t carry her bag on as it weighed too much. I tried to put it on my ticket but they said I was allowed two carry-ons but they couldn’t be more than 8 pounds each. Her one bag weighed 15 pounds. But they just couldn’t add I guess.

Then they took her fingernail scissors. She also had to get her ticket rewritten for some god-awful reason. She wasn’t the only one.

We went through a passport check, a covid check, another check, a security check, an immigration check, and then at the gate another hand carry check.

At least the flight was on time…so far. However this was after they canceled the flight we were supposed to be on yesterday. And then the connecting flight was just left as is, so that I would arrive 3 hours after the connecting flight took off. We had to take it on ourselves to rebook our connections and that was not too easy. I tried United and they said I had to call Lufthansa. They weren’t able to transfer me to an agent. After a frustrating afternoon I finally was able to chat with an agent who rebooked on the next available flight which was…yes, you guessed it…a day later. So Transit Hotel here I come.

Lufthansa is a mess! And what’s the deal with code share and partners?…yes, I’m talking about you United. In name only…just a marketing tool. One carrier is not talking to the other. Bad marks all around. Just breathe…

I will be home in about 30 hours. You’ve really got to want to travel these days. The travel arrangements can leave a nasty finale to a lovely and enlightening adventure.

And then there was the debacle with the Covid test coming home. The Lab folks came to our guest house which was fine. Results in 6 hours. So far, so good. Six hours later the test came through and guess what? Positive!!!!

Panic! Our calm host Colin at the guest house got on the phone and called for them to return and do a quick test as it just seemed impossible that we would be positive. They returned and said they would not charge us again if we tested negative. I was not holding out much hope as both of us had tested positive. We tried to enjoy dinner and we’re trying to figure out where we could have picked it up…and who to blame. Where would we stay for quarantine, etc.

At 9:30pm, 10 hours before our flight the results came through. Negative! Relief 😮‍💨. So up this morning at 3:30 for a 4:30 pick up and this @&$#%! flight. So, traveler be warned. Retest if it seems wrong…don’t give up!

Anyway sitting here listening to the warnings to keep distance from fellow passengers and to wear a mask at all times. The guy opposite me is coughing but at least there’s no one sitting next to me. He’s got some kind of letter from his doctor saying he needn’t wear a mask. Well, the German pilot was having none of it and asked him in a very loud voice so all the passengers could hear if he was going to comply. Meekly, the guy said yes and I only saw him slip it off a few times. Bad boy.

OK now we are delayed because a container was damaged and they had to offload it and I guess load another one. Not sure…maybe my luggage is in it. 😑

And now we are waiting for another plane to arrive before we can leave. They only allow one plane on the tarmac at a time here in Windhoek. Get it together folks!!

OMG. Now the boarding stairs won’t move and they are working on it. Whaaaat? The pilot said at least we had a view of the other plane arriving. He must be going nuts.

Is Namibia a 3rd world country? Or as Mr. Orange put it…a shithole country?

Now it seems the hydraulics in the stairs won’t move. The power evidently isn’t working. And now they’ve called (or just woken up) the Lufthansa engineer who may or may not be on his way. Can’t move the plane!! It’s now going on 1 hour.

OK. Now the stairs are moved. Let’s see what else happens. Finally only an hour late, we’re on our way. The plane is quite empty. No wonder they canceled the previous flight as Marty and I were probably the only ones on it. Shame, Lufthansa.

It’s an adventure!

We’ve been on safari for two weeks in Namibia and having a grand old time. We’re back in Windhoek and had our Covid tests in the morning and went downtown for some shopping and museum visits. Back to the guest house to sit around and wait for our early morning flight to home.

Bam! Test results were returned and guess what…positive for Covid. Hoping this was a false positive we’re opting for the quick test which, of course, will cost about $200. My hopes are fading a bit as both me and my traveling partner tested positive. If it was a false positive it seems one of us would be OK.

So planning for Plan B which would be getting to Germany without a test and just the vaccine card (vaccinated back in February) to at least get to Germany and then if they make us quarantine we would have to stay in Germany for 10+days before heading for home.

But now I’m thinking about it, maybe it’s better to isolate here in Windhoek. Decisions, decisions. I guess I need to wait for the quick test.

At soussavlei

Amazing dunes. I mean these are really dunes! The largest and oldest in the world. Really hard to contemplate or describe. The largest national park in the world. Couldn’t quite make it climbing Big Daddy but Marty and Jason went ahead. I walked around thinking I might meet them at Dead Vlei but even that seemed a bit much. Just couldn’t make it over that last ridge.

So, walked around and took in the visual feast. It’s so quiet and peaceful. Not a sound.

Had a sleepless night which probably didn’t help my stamina. But sleeping out under the stars was beautiful. I’m reading The Book of Disquiet by Pessoa and marveling at the manner in which he captures the duality of personality. I find myself shaking my head yes at his apt descriptions and revelations.

Crazy Day at Giraffe Conservation Foundation – July 12

Well we left at 9am and had a hilarious demonstration and trial of catching and tagging a giraffe. Julian was quite funny as the giraffe and eluded most of the catchers several times.

Then we headed off up river in search of several giraffes who needed their tags replaced. We managed the first tagging before lunch.

There were a number of veterinary students along to assist from the University of Namibia. Mainly men but two women as well. After lunch we found way upriver the second giraffe that needed her tag replaced. They shoot the dart in the fore quarters. The pretty good looking doc from South Africa was a keen shot. No misses. As soon as the dart gets placed, a team heads off with a rope to try to get in front of her (they are just tagging females now) and slow her down. At times they need to do a cross over with the rope but sometimes she just stumbles and the rope restrains her and sort of controls her fall…maybe. An antidote is immediately administered so that she is not drugged for long. Then a blindfold is pulled over her face and a couple of people sit on her neck so that she can’t get the momentum to stand up. They take her temperature, check her eyes and then drill through her ossicone to place the tag. (Supposedly doesn’t hurt.). They are also trying a tail tag on some of them to experiment as to the effectiveness of each location. She generally kicks her legs out when the drilling starts…I think from the noise as opposed to any pain…I hope. Once all the various measurements are taken, the folks sitting on her neck get up one at time and she whips her head around and stands up…or so it should go.

Tinkerbell was the second tagging of the day and a little woozy after her darting. Evidently her leg fell asleep and it took her a while to get her balance.

However on the 3rd giraffe of the day, Haraka, things did not work out so well. She was darted OK and then ran towards a gully and when the morphine started working she ran down into the gully and because she was sedated, fell head first down the shallow gully that was filled with rocks. I saw the fall and it did not look good. The vet, administered the antidote in just a few minutes and her vital signs were taken. However, when the peeps got up from her neck she tried to stand and just couldn’t. She rested and tried again and rested and tried again but there was something obviously wrong with her legs. Everyone gathered around and removed the rocks around her in the hopes that this would work but she kept trying and trying to stand. It was horrible to see her so distraught.

Not looking great for Haraka

Finally Julian asked everyone to leave and just the vet and a few people stayed to monitor her.

Later, Julian came and had dinner with us at our camp and delivered the bad news. She had broken her leg. They had to put her down. A horrible end to a terrific and fruitful day. Such a beautiful and gentle creature that we’ve had to interfere with because of the encroachment and hubris of man. Goodby Haraka.

It does make one question conservation and its purpose. In one sense I feel some responsibility. Was our presence a catalyst for them to try to tag a third giraffe for the day? I mean it would be a record and the first two were exciting. Was everyone a bit full of themselves with two successful taggings? Is it absolutely necessary to track giraffe for our own research and benefit?

The giraffe is both gangly and graceful and strange. It’s not like a typical four legged animal that is lower to the ground and balanced equally on four legs. Just not sure about the need of tagging in this interfering way. I decided I didn’t want to go out the next day when they would try to tag two more giraffe. However, when they came back at noon being unsuccessful at finding Vera, I joined them for the afternoon. They were after re-tagging Elizabeth. We were perched on a small hill and could look down and see Elizabeth eluding the prowling truck back and forth as they tried to find a good place to tag her. I was cheering her on…and she did manage to escape into the bush. Relief!

Our first day on the road and our first “camp” site. I’m gazing out on this beautiful landscape of golden grass fading to rock outcrops and further in the distance, shadowed purple hills. There is not a sound in the world.

On our way here, we stopped at a roadside picnic area for a fabulous lunch put together by Colin from Dalton House where we stayed last night. By “we” I mean Marty and me. Marty is from Kentucky and is delightful. It’s her first time in Africa and her enthusiasm is contagious.

Today on the road from Windhoek, we saw aurochs, springbok, spring something, jackals, zebra, ground squirrels, slender mongoose and knock-knock beetles…not to mention a large number of birds: weaver, goshawk, babbler, doves, guinea hens, and the ubiquitous pigeon.

We ended up here with our guide Jason from Wilderness Travel. I did try to stump him on all he knows about birds, rocks, and plants. I found some type of weed on the side of the road that he couldn’t name. However, he did have an excellent excuse…it’s been ten years of drought for Namibia and this last year they finally got a substantial amount of rain…thus new plants had sprouted up.

We are settled in here for two nights then on the road again. The cabins are creative and lovely and have all amenities you would need. Great food and people. It turns out that Jason’s father designed and had built Camp Sousa.

It was a bit of a pain getting here but now that we’re settled in, the pain was definitely worth it. What beautiful sunsets and no lights to dim the stars. Venus and Mars are hanging around now.

Our first evening at Camp Soussa at Soussavlei:

Sitting here in my little cabana looking out at the glorious landscape.

What a delightful “camp”. Built by our guide Jason’s father Camp Soussa is a wonder. Very innovative design and the camp disappears into the landscape. Excellent food, very comfortable cabins and sleeping under the stars on the “balcony” was amazing. We’re here for two nights, heading out daily for wildlife spotting.

The guys at Camp Soussa saw a large leopard on the plain in front of us and we went out to see if we could find him…to no avail. Lots of footprints but no leopard. We can view Springbok, Oryx (Namibia’s national animal) and Zebra who come to the pond to drink at night. No internet here…another blessing.

It seems I’m gaining a reputation for gin and tonics after a “hard” day on the road. They do taste pretty nice after a warm shower to get all the dust off. My traveling partner Marty is a vegetarian (or pescatarian) so the chefs have been coming up with some delightful dishes for her. In fact, I’m thinking of switching to veggies as well.

This second night I’m planning on sleeping indoors. The stars were just too distracting.

I tell you, one really has to want to travel to Namibia because it is a bitch getting here. I’m sitting here in Frankfurt waiting for my connecting flight to Windhoek which will take place at 10PM tonight. I’ve been here since 10AM after a 10 hour flight. The next flight takes 10 hours. And, finally I will be in Windhoek, Namibia. So, 30+ hours, not including getting to the airport 2 hours early. Yikes!

I’m still excited, believe it or not. Namibia has been on my bucket list for a long time. There’s something fascinating about the landscape and the desert animals and the remoteness. I’m meeting up with a group from Wilderness Travel for their Giraffe Conservation Foundation program and safari which they run every two years. The “group” consists of two: me and Marty (from Kentucky). It seems a bit crazy to run a “tour” with only two individuals but I guess the giraffes really need our money! With the Covid variants still making the rounds, peeps are just not taking the chance that plans will be cancelled. Unfortunately or fortunately, I seem to be a risk-taker of sorts.

We’ll spend two days with the giraffe, helping with tracking and tagging and who knows what else. I think I’ll be doing more looking than acting. We’ll see. We’ll be flying over the Skeleton Coast, sledding down the dunes (?), catching glimpses of desert elephants, rhinos, etc.; sleeping under the stars. Also, I’m looking forward to Twyfelfontein with pre-historic sandstone rock art…the largest and finest petroglyphs in Africa supposedly.

Well, my travel buddy just texted me and she’s here in Frankfurt as well. But she doesn’t have an ongoing boarding pass to Windhoek for some god-awful reason. Anyway, I guess she’s dealing with that. She only has 5 more hours to figure it out…almost enough time to travel back to the East Coast to get one. I haven’t met her yet and I’m sure she’s just as concerned as I with getting along since we’re the only ones on this safari…for 2 weeks!! I hope our guide is able to put up with us.

More later…

It seems we’re on an upswing…so I hope everyone is hanging in there and looking forward to July 4th! Restaurants are opening, museums are opening and Spring is here. I’ve been walking alot and lovin’ being outside by the Bay. I have a few pics to share with you.

I hope everyone is surviving out there and breathing a little easier. Four years of insomnia are ready to be put to bed. In light of being lighter here are some cheery photos I’ve taken over the last few months.

Oh, wait…not so cheery…and not so recent. I’ll try to be better.

There, is that better?

Apologies for those 70+ million who did not get their way. But please, just suck it up.

If you remember, there was even a greater percentage who were disappointed in 2016 and we made it through these last four years. So, anything is possible. Try to mend the bridges, welcome your libtards back into your family and let’s all support our new/old President, Joe Biden and our new/young Vice President, Kamala Harris.

We are all part of this wonderful history.

Bye for now…it won’t be long before we can meet in person