Bicycle Empowerment Workshop Keetmanshoop
A few weeks ago I traveled to Keetmanshoop, 325kms away from Luderitz, to give the first of three refresher classes for BEN's Namibia. Bicycle Empowerment is an organization that helps community members earn an income through the sale and repair of second hand bicycles. The people are trained in bicycle repair and basic entrepreneurship. My job this weekend was to refresh the repair skills of the nice folks at the Disability Resource Center.
Computer Classes for First and Second Graders
I have started teaching basic computer classes to grades one and two at Diaz Primary School. The classes are held once a week and so far we have gone over the parts of the computer, how to use a mouse and a keyboard, and class rules. All of my learners are very excited about learning more about computers. Next term we will start playing educational games in the computer lab. Here are a few photos from one of the first classes.
Teaching…lots and lots of teaching
Exams have started for term two and I have just completed grading 140 papers. I only have 140 left until I am finished .... I realized that I posted photos of my empty classroom but here are a few of my classroom full of learners. We also received all new activity textbooks, 96 of them, a few weeks ago.Thanks to Eugenie for taking photos of my classroom.
What do you do in your free time?
Most of my time is spent working on my Primary Assignment, Teaching, and Secondary Projects. Every so often I do take advantage of my sea-side location to go swimming. The water temperature never gets much warmer than 14 Celsius or 57 F. Check out the photos
Updates are on their way!!
I've been incredibly busy these past few months, training people in bicycle repair, installing a database at the library and getting audiobook listening stations setup. At Diaz School I have also started teaching Computer Classes to grades 1 and 2!! Lots of Audio, photos and updates are coming...
Happy Independence Day America!
FYI my roof is an excellent place to read books in the sun!
A List of items that ran in front of my vehicle while on vacation
This is a list of all the things both man-made and natural that attempted to block our path while touring around North West Namibia and the Skeleton Coast.
Glass Bottles-both 750 ml 330 ml and 340ml (Tafel)
Elephants
Giraffes (behind a very short fence)
Kudu
Oryx
Eland
Springbok
Warthogs
Guinea Fowl
Zebra
Small Boys
Old Men (3)
Large rocks, various sizes
Dogs, numerous breeds and sizes
Goats, in the thousands
Cattle, see above
Sheep, see above
Jackals,
Birds including Hawks
Duikiers (small antelope)
Ostriches, including one particularly dumb individual that ran down the road in front of us.
Namibia is a beautiful country but it seems like every plant , person or animal is out to run in front of your car. Drive Safe.
Renting a car in Namibia
Renting a car in Namibia is similar to renting a car in the states right? Yes and No.
In the US you can get all of your insurance covered by a major credit card or pay extra to have all damages waived. This is not the case in Namibia. Here ,most people don't accept American Express and due to the high number of accidents it is all but impossible to insure your rental for total coverage. One rental company lost 15 4x4 Trucks last year due to negligent drivers.
Tip 1
READ YOUR CONTRACT!
The roads in Namibia are good, sometimes great and they cause people to drive too fast. Most accidents that tourists are in happen when there are no other vehicles around. All of the rental agreements I read had a condition that if you wrecked the vehicle on a road and there were no other vehicles involved in the accident you were responsible for the entire replacement cost of the vehicle!
Other things not covered by insurance are tires and chipped windshields (the two most common damages that a vehicle will incur during a trip). I personally had to buy a brand new tire for the truck I rented.
Go with a reputable company: I have heard great things about Asco, Value Car Hire and Car Hire Namibia. Others might be good but renter beware. The company I rented from had decent maintenance but on closer inspection had lots of things that were broken on the car.
Tip 2
Inspect every part of the car or truck before you leave and be vocal about things that you want replaced or fixed. This means more then just looking for body damage. You will need to spend at least 45 minutes looking over the car. If you rented camping equipment make sure everything is there and in good working order. If it is not, ask them to replace it or don't take the car.
Please, please take the time to personally inspect all spare tires. This means getting out the winch and lowering the rear tire from under the truck bed on a 4x4. It's a hassle but something I wished I had done.
Don't assume spare tires are new!
I made the mistake of not checking every inch of the two spare tires I had and paid for it dearly. One tire looked ok until I rolled it over and found a palm sized piece of tread ready to separate from the rest of the tire. The spare under the truck was a 16 inch spare and the other tires were 15 inch. On top of that one of the back right rear tires was rather chewed up. I had two flats on my trip and had to replace them with sub par spares because I didn't take the time to check them out personally.
Also check out the jack, compressor (I had to fix mine on the road with super glue because the cigarette lighter portion was broken), and lug nut wrench to make sure it is the correct size.
Treat Tires as a consumable item.
The roads are good but that doesn't mean you won't chew up a tire. If you puncture a tire sidewall you will have to replace the tire. The Goodyear Wrangler A/T I ended up buying cost N$1300.00 Budget accordingly.
If you are going to Kunene, make sure you take a shovel. You might need it.... Also be aware that you might have a tow rope, but that does no good if you don't have a second vehicle to help pull you out of the sticky situation.
Asked to be instructed on how the fuel tanks work. Our 4x4 had a dual tank setup that continuously filled the main tank until the slave tank was empty. What this means is you had a full gas tank for 500km+ until you ran out and moved to only the primary tank....which went quickly.
Fill up with fuel EVERY CHANCE YOU GET!
Places are far and few between and just because a map shows a fuel stop don't think it will have fuel in the reservoirs. Sesfontein and Palmwag were out causing us to drive a nerve wraking 3 hours to Opuwo on 1/2 tank of gas. Maps also tend to be guesstimations on services. There is a rail road track listed on every map I have seen that goes to Luderitz. The track exists but has not been in use for 15 years.
Plan ahead and have a ton of fun. Also consider how much money you are prepared to pay if an elephant destroys your truck and purchase the insurance you need. And remember just because the car looks nice and new doesn't mean it is. 8 days with a radio that doesn't is annoying, but 8 days with two bad spares can ruin a trip.
Vacation to North Western Namibia
I have not posted much over the past few weeks because I have been in training and on vacation. Here are a few photos of our adventures that took us from Swakopmund up the Skeleton Coast and on to some of the most picturesque backroads I have ever had the pleasure of driving- angry desert elephants included.
