Harnas Guest Farm

I arranged a last minute camping trip over the 4th of July with some friends at the guest house, Amanda and Mark, and Amanda's co-worker, Kaylin. We went Northeast of Windhoek, to the Kalahari area, a part of Namibia that Chad and I will not get to. We camped at a wonderful guest farm, Harnas, that I heard fellow travellers talk about. Apparently Brangelina (that's Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Dad) is a big supporter of Harnas. Harnas rescues and fosters injured and abandoned wild animals, including baboons, lions, giraffes, oryx, cheetah, leopard, cows, mongoose, bat-eared fox, crocodile, etc. etc. They also had 47 cats and probably a dozen dogs. Upon arriving we set up camp and watched springbok and oryx wander around. There was also a giraffe, Klippie, who had free reign of the place. Klippie was not afraid of people and came right over to visit the campsite, smell around the kitchen area, and even nuzzle my sweatshirt on the table. We were a bit alarmed because it's a big animal and we didn't want to scare her. While Klippie is definitely an animal to be respected we did find out later that we could pet her. She was orphaned and Harnas took her in within her first week of life. That afternoon we went on a feeding tour and watched the volunteers at Harnas distribute meat to the various animals. The cheetahs were amazing as they were prowling around the fence purring and talking like cats, waiting for their hunk of meat. I also enjoyed the baboons although I understand they can be quite dangerous. I was allowed to hold their hand through the fence. I extended my hand, somewhat close to the fence, and they would come over and reach through the fence to touch you. I was literally sitting there and the baboon and I were stroking one another's hands. Their hands do look very human-like with knuckles, nails, and all. They also pulled on my fingers with their very strong grip. It was incredible! We also saw 5 six-month old lions and 3 year-old lions. They were all raised by dogs who faithfully stayed in the pens to supervise.

That night we started up a fire at the campsite and began to prepare dinner. In celebration of the 4th of July Amanda brought some crazy blue lollilops and a small book from the U.S. Embassy with some of Obama's speeches. She was unsuccessful at leading a read-along but definitely had the spirit for it. The dark sets in very quickly and because you think it is much later than it actually is you tend to retire to bed early. Perfect for a granny like me. That night we slept with numerous interruptions as the baboons and lions talked throughout the night. I think next time I won't set-up camp right next to the baboon area. They are crazy!

I also got some practice driving in Namibia, a manual car on the left hand side of the road. I was the only one who knew how to drive manual so I was the designated driver. Fine by me as I like driving. But it was a very tedious afternoon after we first got the car. We ran a couple of errands in town and tried to get comfortable with the car. This was probably not the smartest idea. Driving in town where no one pays attention, drivers pass you, and run red lights. It definitely made my driving look like I fit right in though! Driving to Harnas was a much smoother experience and it was wonderful to get out of the city and see some new sights.