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Goodbye Namibia – goodbye Africa

2019-03-03 | Namibia | No Comments

Etosha National Park

Today I am leaving Namibia. The only country where I haven’t interviewed any humanists. So far, I know the country doesn’t have any humanist or atheist organisations – or at least no organisations are members of Humanists International.

I decided to visit anyway – purely for recreational reasons. So, I have been on holiday the last week, experiencing Namibia. A fascinating country almost twenty times the size of Denmark, but the population is half the size of Denmark. It is the least dense country in Africa with only 3 people per square kilometre – In the whole world only Mongolia is less dense (2 people per square kilometre).

Namibia has is all, in great amount. Savanna, desert, ocean, mountains etc. And everything is big – the national parks goes on forever, you drive for hours through each park in search for animals. For the first time ever, I have been part of a tourist group with people I didn’t know beforehand. I’m used to be the only one or travelling with Sofie.

It’s been interesting travelling with other tourists, even though it means you don’t get as close to the guide or the locals. You meet people from all over the world who are interested in the same things as you – to see some animals up close and spend time in a 40-degree desert after hours and hours of driving. Canadians, Americans, Namibians, British, South African and French – the latter has spent the last 8 years sailing around the world in their own boat (impressive).

Cheetah in Solitaire

The wild life is amazing – I saw my first leopard (2 actually) and my first cheetahs. Black rhinos, elephants, zebras, Oryx’s and many other animals. It is much drier here than in the other countries I have visited – Namibia is dry, but also feels the consequences of the climate changes.

There has never been much water in this dry land – maybe one of the reasons for the small population – but it is getting worse. They change salt water to drinking water to cover the need. And everybody is asked to save water wherever we go. On the positive side the water is clean enough for me to drink – I don’t need to bye water all the time.

The most overwhelming experience was the Namibian Desert – especially the orange sand dunes. This is the oldest desert in the world. The sun is relentless, the wildlife is well hidden – but there are some. We managed to come across the mountain zebra, many oryx’s, jackals and other animals.

Dune no 45

Some from the group climbed the Crazy Dune – aka Big Daddy – it is 325 meters tall. You must get up at 5 o’clock in the morning or else it will get to hot to climb. I didn’t get up there but walked to Deadveil to look at a dried-out flood pan with trees which have been dead for 800 years – a fascinating place.

We had a nice view of all the ‘crazy’ people climbing the dune while the sand got hotter and hotter. Soon we could all feel the hot sand burning through the bottom of our shoes – and it was only 11 o’clock. The temperatures were reaching 40 degrees at noon.

Etosha pan

This country was definitely worth a visit. It was a so-called protectorate of South Africa until 1990 – or the real story is that South Africa didn’t follow the agreements made in the UN, so they took power over Namibia and treated it as a protectorate and even implemented apartheid rules. It took 35 years before Namibia finally got its independence.

When I leave Namibia – I also leave Africa heading home to Denmark. It has been an amazing trip, and an experience of a lifetime – I have been away for 10 weeks, 2½ months. This was a test run. I wanted to find out whether I can travel a long time on my own. I can. I do not have any problems travelling alone – I met a lot of people on the way. I talk to locals, I talk to tourists – and I meet humanists, atheists and non-believers.

They are the heroes of Africa today. They are fighting for human rights and humanism. They are fighting for their life stance in a part of the world where they are the odd one out. Their stories deserve to be told – and to be heard.

When I arrive in Denmark, I will start planning my next steps. I want to visit several countries in Africa north of Equator. I would also like to cover some countries in the Middle East. I hope to be on the road again in April, but I will continue blogging about my experiences from Africa.

Some facts:

Namibia (Denmark)

Population:   2.6 mio. (5.8 mio.)

Area:   825.000 km2 (43.000 km2)

Density: 3/km2 (133/km2)

Life expectancy: 64 years (80 years)

Goodbye Botswana

2019-02-13 | Botswana | 1 Comment

The Okavanga Delta

It is difficult to comprehend the amount of open spaces in Botswana – the country is the size of France, but France has almost 30 times as many citizens. So much space everywhere.

The Khalihari Desert covers a large part of the country. Together with the Okavanga Delta and Chobe National Park it attracts a lot of tourists – but it is by far the most expensive country I have visited. The parks are covered with air strips where tourists are flown in to stay in luxury lodges. Some cost several thousands of dollars for one night (one night!). A bit out of my league.

Endangered wild dog

The wild life is amazing. Even with my budget I managed to se a lot of animals – even some I haven’t met before, like the pack of wild dogs and the python I met in Moremei Game Reserve. Botswana has thousands of elephants which causes a lot of tension with the local farmers.

Elephants will take down trees, fences and crops on their way. The number of elephants is so high it is a problem. If there is not enough food for them in the parks, they will migrate and ruin farmland. Even though I love elephants I see the problem – some places in the Moremei Game Reserve looked like a graveyard for trees due to the elephants taking most of the trees down or eating the bark of them.

An elephant passed by

Climate changes also has an impact in Botswana. The country is very dry, but I visited during the rainy season and it hardly rained. Newman, my guide in the Okavanga Delta told me the water level should be 2 meters higher at this time of year.

Like in the other countries I have visited the population is growing despite the fact Botswana has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world (estimated 25% of the adult population). More youngsters get an education. But unfortunately, there isn’t enough jobs and unemployment is high even though Botswana is a success story in Africa with high economic growth rates.

Religion plays a vital role in Botswana. Most of the population is christian, but the traditional beliefs still exist including witchcraft. Being a non-believer can be challenging since they are considered to be devil worshippers and without ethics and moral.

There is no humanist organisation in Botswana – not yet. There is a small group of friends, non-believers, who wants to create a humanist organisation.

I met a couple of them while visiting and at this point, they are focusing on being formally registered. Next steps are to make humanist more visible, basically showing the public humanists are good people through charity work.

Like other humanists in this part of the world their biggest challenge is the lack of funding. I hope they succeed.

Some facts:

Botswana (Denmark)

Population:   2.3 mio. (5.8 mio.)

Area:   582.000 km2 (43.000 km2)

Density: 4/km2 (133/km2)

Life expectancy: 63 years (80 years)

We love elephants

2018-12-28 | Uganda | No Comments

From the top of the mountains to the savanna in Queen Elizabeth National Park – from gorillas to elephants. On the bumpy roads we passed volcanoes, villages, farms on the steep hills, mosques, churches, tea plantations – all over we see ongoing constructions of petrol stations and houses.

We arrived early at the Simba Safari Camp and had time to relax all afternoon. On the evening game drive, we saw a tree climbing lioness with her cup and a lot of antelopes. During the next morning’s game drive, we saw two lions and a lioness in the distance, not pictures were taken since they were to far away. We met waterbucks, antelopes, vultures, eagles and a group of elephants with a tiny baby elephant maybe only one month old.

You spend so much time starring and searching for the animals that your eyes gets tired. You stare at the grass, the cactus trees and the bushes in the hope of seeing an animal. When you finally spot an animal it’s like winning, a victory, a rush. I could look at these amazing animals for hours.

In the afternoon we went on a boat ride on the Kazinga Channel – filled with elephants, hippos, water buffalos and crocodiles. Amazing, so many animals and birds – eagles, storks, pelicans and our favourite the kingfisher (and many many more). The boat ride was a nice smooth break from the usual bumpy rides. We could have stayed there for many hours just slowly passing by the many animals and birds, watching.