I went on a 3hr walk from the clinic today.
Around here, there's just deserty plants and gravel roads. No sign posts. So my plan of action was to take a phone and a piece of paper and draw a map as I go! So this started off very well, until my pen stopped working about 1.5hrs into my walk, leaving me stuck on the main gravel road. This was fine, lost of cars would stop and ask me if I was OK. I think its unusual for westerners to be seen travelling around on foot. Many locals just hitch rides. But i hadn't come out with any cash, obviously thats far too organised for me. Anyway, so in the end i just started hiding behind bushes when cars came down, to avoid the 20 questions. It felt a bit odd! Then life was good, and i noticed that my road was leading me towards the wild fires, but this was fine as the road is gravel and so i assumed it would be safe to travel through them. They were only small. I passed 2 cows. Now, let me tell you about cows. They're evil. That's all. So, I passed the cows and they seemed placid. Then they started following me. The brown one was evil. Shed follow me from one side of the road to the other (i was testing this out!). Then it started trotting. Now, when you're on a solitary, empty gravel road and there's nothing on either side but burnt out thorny deserty bushes and wild fires, you're pretty screwed. So I jumped into a burnt out thorny bush and got tons of them in my arms and legs, but at least the cow left me alone and eventually moved off. So, a little shaken up, I carried on down this solitary gravel road..the wild fires became closer to the road. I wanted to go home but twice we've had fires in our kitchen at uni, and i hate fire now so i thought it would be useful to keep going to get over this! So i was walking on, and there was quite a lot of smoke coming from the right side, and then this big bush just bursts into flames! i carried on..i could see a family further down the road. one person was on a horse, there was a donkey cart, and some people hanging around. Now, when you're in the middle of nowehere and Namibians are on the path, it's more useful to go and meet them and see they're safe than to run off home. So i persevered, and they were pleasant enough. They told me I was in Pos 2 (the next twn along from Pos 3 where i live), and they asked me if i was afraid of the fire. I said no. I asked them if they were, and they said no. So, i don't get that question. They told me the fire had jumped across the road, because the wind had blown over burning embers. I was a little freaked out by this stage..should i be afraid of the fire? Is Pos 2 too far away from home? Are there more mental cows around? I continued for 10mins then turned around and walked back. When i walked past them the second time, the women asked me 'are you not scared of the people around here?'. A car full of wierdo men had just driven past, but i had ignored them. They pointed to them and said 'are you not scared of the people around here? the tribes, the san tribe?' I said 'no'. The san are the people we treat at the clinic! I asked them why, should i be scared? They said that those kind of people chase women. They said they had been chased and had run all the way back to Pos 3. I asked why they had been chased, why they are chasing them. I asked this because if you dont know then you always assume the worst, and i was hoping the worst wouldnt be the case. 'Because they want to rape you, to steal all of your things' she said looking directly at me. Well, thats a lovely thing to be told when you're 1.5hrs away from home, in the middle of nowehere, alone. She asked me if she could escort me back to Pos 3. I saw she had a child on her back. I said no thank you, its far for her. But really, i just didnt want to expose her and her kid to more risk, if there really was a risk. So i set off back home, alone, on this road, trying not to freak out. I picked up a big rock. If any cows pissed me off or cars pissed me off maybe i could use this? I didn't like cars anymore. I hid when the next car came along! But then i rationalised..as a tourist, im probably safe. So i stopped hiding and 3 cars went past without a problem. Then i was almost back at Pos 3 and this bitch cow wouldnt let me go past her on the road. Even 2 cars had to manoeuvre around her because she was staring at me, unmoving. I waited 30mins next to the solitary big-thorned tree, then she eventually moved off and i could tiptoe past her. Got home and had a shower, tended my wounds, and am definitely staying AT HOME tomorrow!! Namibia is not Uganda. That's for sure. Evil thorny bushes, evil wildfires, evil cows. But, whatever those women said, i have only experienced positive conversations and experiences with Namibians here, and I'm not going to let their experiences freak me. Think about london. So much crime goes on right, doesn't mean you stop going and having a great time. You just mind your buisiness, they mind theirs, and everythings cool.
Saturday
went for another walk today. still ended up in a tree! angry dog this time, don't want rabies. I walked past the shabeens - where they make their own alcohol - and walked up a sandy path. very quickly it became fairly isolated, with a couple of houses ringed with wooden fencing. they looked a bit bemused to see me there. one guy taught me how to greet in africaans. I walked past the last house and was about to go into an area of bushy countryside where they graze their goats, but then the dog started up and I just ended up in the tree. after the dog pissed off, I wondered down another path and found some really lovely small (still spikey) bluish bushes with a single flower. it looked quite nice against the background of dry deserty plants. but then a herd of cattle came along, so I sprinted down the path and went home! I really want a Doberman. or a bloody Rottweiler. all these animals need to fuck the hell off!
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