Big Game Hunting In Namibia: Thanks for P*ssing Me Off

 I just spent 9 days in Tanzania the purpose of which was a photographic safari.  We wanted to see cheetah, lion, rhino, elephant, leopard and miles and miles of zebra, wildebeest, and water buffalo.  We saw all of this.  The high lights were the sightings of two cheetah and we were lucky enough to see 6 leopard.  My first safari was in Kenya in 1983.  Even then we wanted to see leopard.  We did not.  On my second trip, we did see 2 and on our third, none.  There are anywhere from 400,000-700,000 leopards in Sub Saharan Africa.  The exact number is not known because the leopard is so reclusive therefore difficult to count.   So seeing 6 on one trip is amazing.  We were ecstatic, euphoric, and high fiving.  Fast forward to my return trip from Johannesburg, South Africa.  I'm standing in line waiting to go through the final piece of security.  There is an American couple in front of me.  I started up a chat.  Where are you from, where did you go in Africa, what did you do...and this is where I was dumbfounded, flummoxed for words, and almost beside myself.  So much so, I almost, involuntarily, spit my water on them.  Well, maybe not so involuntarily.  They calmly told me that they had gone to Namibia to hunt.  "And what were you hunting," I queried.?  "Leopard",  they responded.  I asked, "and were you successful?"  "Yes, we were," the husband says.  And added, "my wife killed all kinds of animals."  I said, "really. I didn't realize that hunting leopard was that easily available."  The wife chirps in, "Oh they're a menace to the farmers."  I then realized that I was among people who liked to kill animals for the pure pleasure of killing.    I don't care if they are from my home state.  Killing animals for the sheer thrill of it makes me want to knock them upside the head.  So I said to them, "do you mind if we don't discuss this any further?"  The husband says, "no, I understand."  The wife huffs off and proceeds to tell her husband, rather loudly,  that apparently "there are more of THEM than she thinks."  I guess she means those of us that don't believe in killing an animal for the thrill of it.  I hope you're happy back in your cozy house telling all of your friends about how you got the leopard in your sights and there he is, stuffed, for all to see.  You're standing by it proudly for all to take your picture.  This encounter clouded my entire trip home.  This got me to thinking about all of the people that I know that hunt.  One friend went on a deer hunting trip to Montana and came back empty handed.  Why?  Not because there wasn't anything to shoot.  It was because what they kill, they eat.  And the deer they saw would not amount to a plate full.  So, they killed nothing.  Some people detest hunting, period.  But the meat, chicken, fish we get in the store was once alive.  And they died somehow.  I've seen the "somehow" and trust me, you don't want to see that.      Read more...

First Sand, Then Rock, Now the "Bush"...Namibia and Zambia Part Two

We once again head to the gravel runway to catch our Caravan plane to head to Etosha National Park.  By the way, depending on the airline you're using or the country in which you're flying, there are strict rules on the weight of luggage and they must be soft sided, like duffel bags.  When we did the Botswana and Zimbabwe trip, we were limited to 25 pounds each and that included all carry ons and camera gear.  This time we had a little better weight limit of 44 pounds each.  Read more...

Are There More Stars in the Universe than Sand on Earth?

This is the kind of question that physicists like to answer when they're drunk. I can't take claim for that.  I read it on Ask Google.  But the question in the title is one my husband kept asking the entire time we were in  Namibia.  Because Namibia is one interesting country of wild topography and lots and lots and lots of sand. If a would be first time visitor to Africa were looking for a safari for their first trip, Namibia would not be on the top of their list(unless you're a geologist).  Most people pick Kenya, South Africa,  Tanzania, Botswana.  Well, this would be my third trip to sub-Saharan Africa and I had always heard about the haunting beauty of the Namib desert and the Skeleton Coast. Read more...