To fill in all of you of what has been going on here...the Internet access has not been easy.
Pam and Lorrie (Michele's cousin and her girlfriend) met us in Cape Town, South Africa and enjoyed some time with us. We visited Robbin Island, Cape Point, and attempted to hike Table Mountain.
We then headed to Namibia...after a 14 hour drive we arrived in Mariential, Namibia for a night of sleep then headed to Windhoek for a short stop over. Later that day we headed to Etosha to view animals. We saw zebra, giraffe, elephant, springbok, warthogs, rhinos, and other various things. Pam and Lorrie were in heaven!
After a few days there, we drove to Okonjima. We stayed at the most amazing place and saw cheetahs and leopards! This place was truly wonderful! They rehab big cats to return them to the wild and support their operation vis a vis tourism!
On our final morning at Okonjima the race was on to get Pam & Lorrie back to Windhoek to catch their flight home...and we (ok, me) had a slight mishap...I hit a guinea fowl. Now, I've never in my life killed anything with a car-but that damn thing started going in the other direction and then turned on a dime right into the grill of the Toyota Yaris-what could I do? Well, Lorrie (my sometimes attentive co pilot) and I witness this tragedy while Michele and Pam where in the back seat and only heard the thud! One of them asked what that noise was and without hesitation, Lorrie replies that it was a rock. A few seconds later, Michele asks, "are you sure it wasn't a guinea fowl?" We reply with all sincerity that it was rock-all the time a plume of the poor guinea fowl's feathers were nearly blocking my view of the road as they blew up from the front grill! Lorrie and I could barely contain our laughter at the irony of this. If I'd been alone, I would have been a crying mess of a murder!
Throughout the rest of the drive I assumed the corpse of the fowl had fallen off and, since it was raining on and off, I just knew that the rain was cleaning any left over remnants of the encounter off the car...until we pulled into the gas station. I have never seen so many gas station attendants pointing in shear bewilderment...at this point I assumed the fowl had left her mark on the car. However, under no circumstances would I have guessed that damn thing was smashed like a cartoon character to the front of the car like a hood ornament. Thankfully one of the attendants removed the bird from the grill and kindly offered it to us..Michele politely refused the "meat."
And if that wasn't enough, we drove back through that gas station yesterday on the way to drop Michele at the airport-a good week and a half later-and as we pulled up, the gas station attendant starting telling his buddy the story of the guinea fowl hood ornament and was pointing and laughing at the car...the poor guinea fowl didn't have a chance.
As I said in the previous blog, Michele left for home today. Yesterday I picked up Kayla, a former student of mine, at the airport. She will stay with me for a couple of weeks to see what it is like here.
Tomorrow we are headed back to the northern region (near Ondangwa) for a traditional wedding-a cousin of the family is having the second part of her wedding tomorrow. Then we are going home to the village!
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7 comments:
What a classic Maggie story! I laughed until I cried. So, when does the data collection start (asks your momma donna conscience)?
Love and miss you terribly.
Donna
Maggie! How quickly you forget the night you, Sclafani, and I got onto I-77 in Parkersburg in my little blue Subaru. You were in the front seat, Sclafani in back. I zipped out to pass a semi, and low and behold...a goat in the highway! We ran it over, you screamed, threw the sunvisor down to block your eyes to the bloodshed, and the alignment on the car was never the same. Ran through a carwash to get the goatfur out of the hubcap. Hope all is well! XOXO Mike
Good news, Mags. You've reduced the size of your murder victims, and increased the number of accomplices (trainees??).
Goat, eh? Having lived in WV myself I am not a bit surprised that a goat was in the middle of a major highway. There is a "missing goat" sign down the road from my home in Tucson (true story)- Any chance you were involved, Maggie? The sign has been there since around the time you left.
Maggie,
Lorrie is quick as whip with those, as she calls them stories to protect me, I would like to note, you went along with the rock story without missing a beat.
Thanks to you and Michele - it was the trip of a lifetime. One of two times I can honestly say I wish I was starting vacation over.
Much love - Pam & Lorrie
guinea..
guinea..
guinea..
guinea..
fowl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i know i speak for all of the namibia peace corps community when i say that even now i am too busy mourning the loss of the guinea fowl.
nangula
Even me, I am busy mourning the loss of the beloved guinea fowl along with Nangula.
Really? You never killed any animals with your bakkie? Come on, you at least knocked a few donkeys on their ass when they wouldn't get completely out of the 2-track. What about all that green paint in the bed of your bakkie? Oh... wait... nevermind...
love-Ndapandula
You did comment in the first days of your blog on how guinea fowl are as prevalent as squirrels...we have many squashed squirrels decorating the roads of KC. The grill ornament tho can only happen to you Maggie!
Hope you and Kayla have a fun two weeks.
Snow is forecast for later this week.
Love Libby
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