Big Sale! Everything must go!

I have been on the move nonstop since my last post.

I returned from Windhoek for a few furious days in Katima in preparation for our big torch sale in Wuparo Conservancy…the moment we have been waiting for my entire few months in Africa!!

One problem: two days before the sale was scheduled to begin, we still didn’t have torches.

Elephant Energy has been promising these guys torches for over a year now, and we have been reassuring them for the past few months that we will, in fact, arrive with the torches for a conservancy sale…soon. (We swear.) But our biggest problem thus far is actually getting the torches to Namibia.

The 800 torches sent on a ship in the Mikes Bikes shipping crate (I’ll explain more about Mike’s Bikes below) were supposed to arrive in September, about the time I stepped off the plane onto African soil. Ship broke down (twice, apparently), and months passed without sight of the torches, so we started to lose faith that they would ever arrive.

So, Doug sent 300 additional torches airfreight on FedEx, set to arrive a week before the sale. We were sure FedEx would deliver, so we set dates for the big torch sale in the village.

We didn't just set the date - we made sure (5x over) to advertise the crap our of our sale. We met with the Conservancy officers in the village and set a date for the 4 day torch sale. We met with each village and did demonstrations with the torches, giving away a torch at each area to a lucky villager who remembered a fact from our presentation. We sent out flyers to the villages. We made posters, advertising the sale. Ryan even spoke on the local radio (NBC) to promote our sale, set for Nov 10-14.

We were all ready to go, except for one minor problem: two days before the sale, and STILL no torches!! In true African style, FedEx was delayed, and everything was going wrong.

Ryan and I were sweating, to say the least. We were worried that if we didn’t know show up with the torches, we might be run out of the Caprivi, by (REAL) fire-torch bearing villagers!

Thank our lucky stars…the DAY before we were set to leave for Wuparo Conservancy for the big 4-day sale, 800 torches magically arrived in Divundu, a few hours from Katima. Ryan and I rented a car, met the Mike’s Bikes guys and helped them unpack the big crate…800 torches hidden under 450 bikes. HALLELUJAH!!! It was better than Christmas. After unpacking bikes for a few hours, Ryan and I celebrated with Windhoek Lagers on the river.

At pretty much the last possible minute, we had torches!!! Tons of torches!

Mikes Bikes is a bike shop out of San Francisco, CA. They have a charity program where they help set up bike shops in Africa with local entrepreneurs. They let us stash our 800 torches on their shipping crate, so we helped unpack the crate of bikes. I also traveled with them to Livingstone, to pick up our OTHER shipment (the FedEx shipment), which arrived, in true African fashion, two weeks late - right in the middle of our sale.

http://mikesbikesafrica.blogspot.com/

The torch sale went smashingly! Almost 400 torches sold. The first day of the sale was insane – people arrived at 7:30 am in hoards, bum-rushing me for their torches. I learned how to scream “FORM A LINE!” in Lozi. We probably sold 120 torches in 2 hours. It was insane! The next day was a totally different story: villagers calmly awaiting their turn, approaching me and politely saying, “Good day. May I have a torch, please?”

Ryan said that he drove back through the village in the dark and saw all the huts lit up by the solar torches. An amazing sight!

I had to take off in the middle of the sale to pick up our FedEx shipment of torches from Livingstone, Zambia. Yes, Victoria Falls…again. This time I did the “Devil’s Pool” tour…basically swimming in a natural infinity pool over Victoria Falls! AHHH! Don’t look down! I picked up the 300 torches and quickly made it back in a day or so to meet the customs requirement. Overall, the week was a big success.

Otherwise, things are changing slowly at the Fish Farm. The climate is morphing from hot and dry to hot and humid, with an occasional reprieve of light rain or a cloudy day.

Our “pets” have been evolving as well. When I first arrived, there were plenty of wasps buzzing around at night. Next came the ants – tiny, maddening sugar ants infesting anything they can get into- which was everything: the sugar, of course, the floors, the counters, our laundry, any food they could get into, and even the water heater. Gross.

Now, the cicadas are here. They are by far the worst. The wasps were like large, harmless flies buzzing around our heads, cuddling in the thatched roof at night. The cicadas, on the other hand, scream in unison every night so loud that it hurts my ears when I walk past their tree. They pee on us from trees, the ceiling, and occasionally, from the tops of our mosquito nets. There are plenty of them dead on the floor every morning, which the puppy loves to gobble up. A few days ago, one decided to land on my nose, and stubbornly refused to leave, despite my panicked screams and flailing arms. I wish someone had been there to laugh at me. Luckily, they seem to be on the way out.

The salamanders seem to have moved on, and the small sleepy frogs have been replaced by fat, active, dark ones. No sight of Roscoe for a month, at least. I found one guarding my laptop in my backpack this morning. He happily hopped away when I opened my bag.

Wow - I didn't think that I had a lot to say! That's enough for now. Cheers!

MAL D''AFRIQUE

On Wednesday morning, I received a phone call which caused me to jump on a bus a few hours later from Katima to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. (More on why below.) Fifteen hours later, I was transported from grass huts and elephants to the luxuries of a Westernized city. I have been told that the income and development information puts rural areas of Namibia at about the level of the DRC (Congo), and Windhoek at about the level of Sweden. A stark contrast.

Windhoek is dry and hilly like northern Arizona. And clean - apparently ranked the second cleanest city in the world! Sterile, quiet, and slightly boring. But I was shocked at the mansions in the surrounding hills. The fabulous housing developments look like Southern California style white stucco houses with pretty flower and tree lined roads. I found myself sipping African wine at a wine bar on a posh veranda, looking at the city lights; eating skewers of zebra, kudu, ostrich and croc, washed down with wheat beer at Joe's Beer House; attending Oktoberfest - beer, brats, and a live band; Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, and German restaurants; AND streusel and cafe lattes. Be still my heart. It was a nice break from living among the pets in the bush. But this isn't Africa. I can't help but feel that I am cheating.

There is a downside to the development: petty theft is rampant here. I think pretty much everyone has at least one mugging or pickpocket story. Luckily, it's not violent like in South Africa...yet. There are signs at the hostel: "TRY THE WINDHOEK SPECIAL: Walk around with a purse in town and be robbed at knife-point!" I have my own story already: I was walking on the block with the American Embassy, and found myself alone on the street with three teenaged-looking Namibian boys. They came towards me, asking for money, and one started to go for my purse. I screamed "NOOO!" in the scariest voice I have ever heard come from my little body. They stared at me, looking bored. "We can shoot you," one said lazily. I could see from their tight clothes that there was no way they had a gun. I glared at them and walked away, muttering "MOTHERF$&*RS." A pretty poor attempt on their part, if I do say so myself. I would never hesitate to hand over my cash if I ever thought I was in danger or if they were serious. But these guys were just seeing if I would just hand it over. No one even touched me. Little turds!

I also went by the Royal Palace in Windhoek - a huge mansion complex on a hill. Pretty incredible. A little too "Versailles" for my tastes. I wonder how many people could have running water or electricity for the cost of that building...

Another character that I feel compelled to include is Helen, an Australian-turned-Caprivan woman, who has lived in Katima for quite some time. I won't be able to do justice to Helen as a character, but I will share a few tidbits. She invited us over for amazing Lebanese food, recounted all of the people she wished would "F*ck off and die!" and causally threw out racial slurs from time to time. She explained why she had to give up on moving back to Australia after only a few months: "Those people are so incredibly boring!!" She exclaimed. "They live their lives like soap on a box, sitting on the shelf of a supermarket in neat stacks." She couldn't live without the chaos, the excitement, the danger of Africa - so she had to return. "A nice place to visit, but I could never live there,"she concluded. Helen may be crazy, but she sees us from the outside in.

Helen is probably suffering from something known as the Mal d'Afrique. I found this description of it on the Open Africa website:

“If you are already in Africa, or intending visiting here, be aware that you have succumbed to a condition for which there is no cure.

This is nothing new. It has puzzled many people for many centuries. Some of them were great explorers (Livingstone), others famous physicians (Albert Schweitzer) and philosophers (Carl Jung). Way back in ancient times it had already been identified and given a name, yet to this day it has defied description. That is to say, nobody has ever been able to be precise about exactly what it is.

The symptoms are extraordinary. Your life will never be the same again. Those of us born here inherit the condition involuntarily. There is no escape, no known remedy. Others who come here, with few exceptions cannot resist the infection…

This something is the mystique of Africa and the malady to which you have succumbed is what was called mal d'Afrika by the Latins many centuries ago. These days the French call it mal d'Afrique.”

http://www.openafrica.org/page/about

Don't worry - I don't think I've been afflicted with a "grand mal" - This is not my favorite place I have ever lived. It's hot. The food is not that great. I can't run hike bike or SKI. The people seem suspicious of one another. But there is something about this place that gets under your skin. Something I can't put my finger on. I find myself very happy here without knowing why. Ernest Hemingway once said, "I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke that I was not happy "

On that note - I am not coming home for awhile. Haha! It's crazy, I know. It's not all worked out yet, but I have tentatively accepted a 6 month position with the Legal Assistance Center of Namibia. The Legal Assistance Center was instrumental in Namibia's fight against apartheid, imposed by South Africa. South Africa even tried to shut it down ten years ago! http://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/20/world/namibian-legal-aid-center-fighting-for-survival.html

Since Namibia only gained independence less than 20 years ago, there is little precedent, and sot eh LAC is trying to build important precedent for many issues.

History of the LAC: http://www.lac.org.na/about/history.html

The LAC called me on Wednesday and asked if I could be in Windhoek the next day, to interview with them for a six month position, advising the conservancies about their rights. The job would be a joint venture between WWF and the LAC. They want someone to stay in Katima and advise the conservancies about their rights. This would include reviewing the enabling act/constitutions of the Conservancies with them, and holding workshops on legal issues and maybe governance. They are thinking about a 6 mo position for me there, but first I have to commit and then the LAC will have to negotiate many things with WWF, so the details are not all worked out. But it sounds...really amazing. Considering the legal job market in Colorado, I will happily do an intnl/environmental/rights based project in Africa!! I know I will miss Christmas. And I will miss all of you. And the snow. I already do.

I told someone recently that I feel that when I have these adventures and twists and turns, I feel like I am really living. I feel like I am really alive. I don't think I want a life like this forever. But for now, I will happily go along for the ride.