12 July, Tuesday Uchab River
I received an e-mail from our best friends in South Africa who wanted to know where we are, because they will be in Swakopmund from the 11th– 14th. We met in 1980 in
Cape Town where Marianne and I worked at the School for Cerebral Palsy Children.
We moved to Namibia in 1985 and Handrè, Marianne and their 2 daughters came to
visit us often. Most of our 4x4 safaris were with them and we have chests filled
with photos and unforgettable memories of our shared adventures. It was
difficult for all of us when we moved to the US in 1994, but as it is, usually
more difficult for the ones staying behind. Our friendship survived and
strengthened through the years of absence even though life took all of us on
very different journeys. We were excited about the fact that we will be closer
to one another again.
When Willie heard that they will be in Swakopmund he immediately
decided that we can adjust our plans so that we will be able to see them before
they have to go back to Cape Town. The plan was to meet them tomorrow afternoon
where they were going to stay with another good friend of ours, Elsje.
It is an interesting place to come to after all the months of
travel as the reality of the end starts to crystallize: our second last
breakfast, our last night camping, our last breakfast, last pack and strap,
last meal etc. Sadness and uncertainty laced our excitement as all of us
realized that our journey is coming to an end. A new beginning and season are
waiting for us: Willie and I will start our ‘new’ life in Namibia; Hugo is
going to New College of Florida in Sarasota; Andrej will go back to Serbia and
then on to America later in the year. Our lives will look very different in a
month from now. We will never have this again – the 4 of us together on a
journey like we’ve had. We might have trips in the future, but this was a
unique, not to be repeated experience and the thought brings a sense of pending
loss - so many mixed and different emotions.
The last 5 – 10 kilometers to the Uchab River takes us through
harsh and serious 4x4 terrain. Hugo and Andrej sit on the roof and I walk in
front of the car as Willie slowly and carefully help the car climb over rocks,
through potholes, around bends, uphill and downhill. We finally see the Uchab
River down in the valley – a wide river bed with green trees and reeds. Wet,
marshy areas make it very difficult to drive in what we remember as a dry, sandy
river bed. The rain over the last 4 years has really changed and softened the
face of most of Namibia and we cannot get used to seeing water in what was dry,
arid places.
Willie finds our last camping spot under a few big trees in the
middle of the river surrounded by towering cliffs. We make a big fire, grill
sausages and steak and Hugo and Andrej go through all the pain of making fries
again! I have no idea why they want to do that, but I’m glad once they are
finished when I can eat it!
They stay behind at the fire when Willie and I go to bed and I
hear them reminisce and laugh about so many experiences. They are in Jordan,
then in Egypt and Turkey; they laugh about things that happened in Ethiopia,
recall how sick or hot or tired or out of shape they were; they remember people
and new friends and I know we’ve gathered a storehouse of memories that will
keep us going for the rest of our
life!
I received an e-mail from our best friends in South Africa who wanted to know where we are, because they will be in Swakopmund from the 11th– 14th. We met in 1980 in
Cape Town where Marianne and I worked at the School for Cerebral Palsy Children.
We moved to Namibia in 1985 and Handrè, Marianne and their 2 daughters came to
visit us often. Most of our 4x4 safaris were with them and we have chests filled
with photos and unforgettable memories of our shared adventures. It was
difficult for all of us when we moved to the US in 1994, but as it is, usually
more difficult for the ones staying behind. Our friendship survived and
strengthened through the years of absence even though life took all of us on
very different journeys. We were excited about the fact that we will be closer
to one another again.
When Willie heard that they will be in Swakopmund he immediately
decided that we can adjust our plans so that we will be able to see them before
they have to go back to Cape Town. The plan was to meet them tomorrow afternoon
where they were going to stay with another good friend of ours, Elsje.
It is an interesting place to come to after all the months of
travel as the reality of the end starts to crystallize: our second last
breakfast, our last night camping, our last breakfast, last pack and strap,
last meal etc. Sadness and uncertainty laced our excitement as all of us
realized that our journey is coming to an end. A new beginning and season are
waiting for us: Willie and I will start our ‘new’ life in Namibia; Hugo is
going to New College of Florida in Sarasota; Andrej will go back to Serbia and
then on to America later in the year. Our lives will look very different in a
month from now. We will never have this again – the 4 of us together on a
journey like we’ve had. We might have trips in the future, but this was a
unique, not to be repeated experience and the thought brings a sense of pending
loss - so many mixed and different emotions.
The last 5 – 10 kilometers to the Uchab River takes us through
harsh and serious 4x4 terrain. Hugo and Andrej sit on the roof and I walk in
front of the car as Willie slowly and carefully help the car climb over rocks,
through potholes, around bends, uphill and downhill. We finally see the Uchab
River down in the valley – a wide river bed with green trees and reeds. Wet,
marshy areas make it very difficult to drive in what we remember as a dry, sandy
river bed. The rain over the last 4 years has really changed and softened the
face of most of Namibia and we cannot get used to seeing water in what was dry,
arid places.
Willie finds our last camping spot under a few big trees in the
middle of the river surrounded by towering cliffs. We make a big fire, grill
sausages and steak and Hugo and Andrej go through all the pain of making fries
again! I have no idea why they want to do that, but I’m glad once they are
finished when I can eat it!
They stay behind at the fire when Willie and I go to bed and I
hear them reminisce and laugh about so many experiences. They are in Jordan,
then in Egypt and Turkey; they laugh about things that happened in Ethiopia,
recall how sick or hot or tired or out of shape they were; they remember people
and new friends and I know we’ve gathered a storehouse of memories that will
keep us going for the rest of our
life!
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