Last week, I returned to Oshakati after being away from site
for over a month. At the start of December, my parents came to visit me
for 10 days. We did a lot of traveling and I tried my best to expose them to
the variety of cultures that Namibia has to offer. After they arrived in Windhoek,
we went to Etosha National Park for a couple nights where we were fortunate enough to see an abundance of animals.
We saw elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, springbok, impalas,
zebras, gemsbok, rhinos (we even saw two fighting) and much more. Before going
to Etosha with my parents, I was told that we might lesser quality game viewing
during December because it can be unpredictable as the dry season comes to an
end. However, this was not the case for us. We saw quite the haul.
After Etosha, I took my parents to see my site in Oshakati.
They were able to see where I live, my community and my counterparts. They were
very surprised at how developed Oshakati actually is (even though the power in
the entire town was out for the day we visited) and I guess after being here
for a while, I kind of take it for granted.
We only spent one day in Oshakati and then went back south
to Swakopmund via Otjiwarongo for one night. I think I’ve described Swakopmund
in a previous blog post but it is basically a touristy beach town with a
sizable German population and is completely different from the rest of Namibia.
I wanted to show my parents the two spectrums of Namibia and I think this was
accomplished with our trips to the northern and southern part of Namibia.
We spent the final leg of our trip back in Windhoek. We got
to explore the city and we were able to see how deserted the city was around
this time of the year.
Overall, the visit from my parents was a success! We saw
exotic animals, I got to tell them about my projects, they met my colleagues,
we went to the beach (even though the sun decided to go on vacation too), we
went quad biking, my parents got a chance to meet a lot of my Peace Corps
friends and I ate like a king for a week! I’m really glad they got the chance
to visit me and see where I’ve been living for the past year and a half.
My parents’ visit here was just Part 1 of my summer
holidays. Next up was Part 2: Zambia and Malawi. Once my parents left, I began
my long journey to Livingstone, Zambia. I had been there before in April so I
had already done some of the tourist activities. This time around, I did
nothing but rest at Livingstone. It is a major tourist town in Zambia with lots
of activities available but I basically did NOTHING. And I loved it. After
driving around Namibia for the past couple of weeks, all I wanted to do was
just unwind and relax and that is exactly what I did. I went with my friend,
Carlos, who did far more things in Livingstone like white water rafting and
swimming at a pool by the edge of the falls. I decided to swim at the hostel
pool and eat bagels and mangos all day.
After a few days in Livingstone, a couple more of my Peace
Corps friends met up with us in Livingstone. Once they joined us, we hopped on
a night bus to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. We arrived in Lusaka in the early
hours of the morning (Carlos and I should have arrived even earlier but our bus
broke down for a couple of hours at 1am). Lusaka is whole different breed than Namibia’s
capital, Windhoek. The population of Lusaka alone is almost 10 times bigger
than the whole country of Namibia. The amount of people there was overwhelming
and I was ready to get out of there as soon as possible. We spent less than 24
hours in Lusaka and got the 5 am bus to Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi.
Lilongwe appeared to be a lot tamer than Lusaka and I felt more comfortable
there. One thing that I immediately noticed in Lilongwe was Malawi’s
significant Muslim minority and this was very apparent due to some mosques
located in the center of town. We only spent a couple of days in Lilongwe, one
of them being Christmas day, and although our time there was brief, it was very
much enjoyable.
Next up on our trip was Nkhata Bay, a small fishing village
by Lake Malawi, which attracts many Peace Corps Volunteers from all over the
continent. This was our final destination and it took many hours and days to
get there and it was definitely worth the journey. We stayed at a hostel
situated right by the lake. We borrowed kayaks and embarked on small trips during
our stay there. Nkhata Bay was very peaceful and the people there were
extremely welcoming. My friends and I decided to take a ferry to an island
within the lake. We intended to stay on the island for a couple of days but
ended up staying there for few extra days due to the lack of boats leaving the
island. The island was beautiful and had mangoes which you could eat straight
from the trees. It was a perfect environment to celebrate the end of a great
year.
Unfortunately, all great things have to come to an end and
we then had to embark on the painfully long journey back home. Although no one
wants a unforgettable holiday to end, I was looking forward to returning to Namibia.
After seeing more of Zambia and Malawi, I can now appreciate how lucky I am to
be living in a country as great as Namibia… But I didn’t miss this damn heat.
Just writing this blog post is making me sweat. I guess I should just enjoy my
last hot hot season here before I return to the cold winters of America next
year.
 |
| Papa and Mama Muir at my office |
 |
| Elephant at the Halali watering hole |
 | |
| Zebra crossing |
 |
| Quad Biking at the dunes |
 | |
| First sunset of the New Year |
 | |
| Village in Malawi |
 | |
| My crew on the island |
