Making a plan

'If its not one thing, it's another'...is becoming quite a catchphrase around here. Yesterday, Elle's Toyota Hilux bakkie broke down about 70km from Katima. Unable to fix the problem, we had to ring for a vehicle recovery truck to tow us into town. Initially, the problem was put down to a blown fuse. But nothing is ever simple it seems, and hopes of speedy repair were dashed when the mechanic identified a further problem with the alternator. Unfortunately, the required replacement part is in Botswana, and can't be got until Monday, leaving us without a car for a weekend and a hefty repair bill to look forward to.

This latest development has thwarted our plans to drive the 1300km to Windhoek next week, where I intended to catch a plane to Cape Town. (Fortunately, I hadn’t booked a ticket yet!). As they say in Africa, I will now have ‘to make a plan’.

This expression, a common phrase among old Africa hands, seems like a contradiction on a continent where relatively little goes according to plan. But here it means something entirely different. ‘Making a plan’ is entirely reactive to the unforeseen, and means finding a solution to a problem or a situation when there usually isn‘t an obvious one. Having to ‘make a plan’ is a test of one’s resilience and resourcefulness and can range from making a fan belt out of a sock to sourcing a crate beers late at night. The latter born out of necessity.

Just seen a small crocodile in the garden. About two foot long he shot past me and into the water at breakneck speed. Just hope Mum isn’t around...

Hyaena Cubs

Elle returned from the park today with news and pictures of hyaena cubs. The little critters, which look like a cross between a rodent and a pig (in my view) were captured on the remote camera playing outside their den. This is quite a breakthrough for her and she is very excited at this new development.

She also brought home a dead baby Vervet monkey which she found. It was promptly added to her hyaena 'stinky brew' - a barrel of coagulated cow's blood, currently fermenting in the garden which she uses for bait.

Power has now been fully restored to Sijwa thanks to the purchase of a new electrical inverter. The solar electrical system is charging once again and delivering enough current to comfortably power two laptops during the day. The internet is also working well for a change.

Elephants in the garden

We had elephants in the garden last night. A concept, never mind a reality, I'm still trying to get my head around. They announced their presence about 9pm, with a deep, throaty, rumbling sound (Think Tyrannosaurus Rex in Jurassic Park) outside the bedroom window and then proceeded to slosh around in a small pond at the bottom of the garden. We couldn’t actually see them through the window and going outside to take a closer look was definitely out of the question. But they were definitely there, as evidenced by the flattened grass and elephant poo which we found this morning.

Elephants and hippos are a big problem for local subsistence farmers and villagers here and not a night goes by when you can’t hear, humans shouting and banging metal in the distance, in their vain attempts to scare these monsters away from their vegetable patches and crop fields. (I can’t imagine farmers at home trying to deal with this sort of problem!)

Making lots of noise, seems like a largely ineffective way of countering large animals with notoriously thick skins, not to mention risky. Another method, which has proved quite successful, is the use of hot chillies, which some farmers deploy round their fields. They not only keep elephants at bay but grow well here in the generally poor soil producing a valuable cash crop. A definite win win situation of which their relatively few examples when it comes to human wildlife conflict.

Have to go Home Affairs tomorrow in Katima to extend my visa for ten days. Given a choice, I would rather pull out my toenails with a pair of pliers which I reckon it would be marginally less painful.

Problems take their toll

It's been a tough week. The electrical solar system which powers Sijwa seems to have been damaged in the generator fire. (Although we now have good reason to believe that the fire was caused by a short in the electrical system!) Attempts to fix it have so far failed and we have been without electricity for a week now which presents a whole host of other problems. (My laptop is presently being powered by a car battery!)

Getting an electrician in the middle of the African bush is no mean feat, although we did manage to get a young apprentice to look at it yesterday. Unfortunately, he was unable to help because is knowledge of solar-powered electrical systems was limited. The wiring of the system, which was done by the German missionary who lived here previously, is also archaic and confusingly colour coded.

We've also had a robbery to boot. Someone it seems stole a pair of my trousers and Elle's handbag and contents from our bedroom. (Fortunately, she keeps her purse elsewhere!) Thieving by the locals is common here and something unfortunately one has to live with. We suspected Evans for awhile but have no proof. We know he pilfers food but we turn a blind eye to that. He's not poor either, telling me he has a thousand pounds saved in his bank account.

Until Elle moved in, Evans had a 'maintenance' budget for Sijwa, which by his own admission, he used to supplement his salary with. Since he lost that, he now feels somewhat aggrieved and feels that Elle should make up the shortfall in cash. (Remember this is money which he embezzled from the budget. Work out the logic there...)

All these events, although they might seem minor to some, take their toll mentally. Both Elle and I feel tired and worn out, just trying to manage all the variables here and put in a day's work. I've been trying to write newspaper articles but am endlessly frustrated by intermittent internet, bad phone service and constantly having to recharge my laptop battery which is last about 20 minutes now. On top of that both our laptop adaptors/transformers blew last week with the short on the electrical system and had to be replaced.

Elle has gone into the national park today to set up a remote camera at a hyaena den which she has located with the help of her radio tracking collars and Google Earth. She's hoping to find and photograph hyaena cubs. She's walking in on foot with a colleague from WWF which is risky. (While I get to stay at home and mind the dog!) We know there is a pride of lions in the area and a large herd of elephants - her worst fear - have also been reported.

Fire!

Major drama this morning when the petrol generator burst unto flames. Fearing it would blow up, both Elle and I immediately fled from the house. After regaining my senses (or perhaps losing them) I went back only to find huge flames leaping from the shed where the generator is housed. (To make matters worse, the shed also contained a full jerry can of petrol which we only bought this morning!)

Terrified that the fire would spread to the trees above and the thatched roof of the house just yards away, I had no option but to try and put the fire out. In the absence of a fire extinguisher, this involved gathering buckets of sand from the yard, entering the shed and throwing them onto the burning generator. Mindful, that it might blow up at any moment, this was carried out with some urgency. Fortunately, the Gods were on my side and I managed to eventually smother the fire, saving us from what would have been a major disaster.

Needless to say, the generator is no more, reduced to a molten mass of plastic and scorched metal. It's the afternoon now and Elle is still quite shaken by the experience. I'm just glad it happened when I was here and I was able to put it out before it spread to the house.

Don't know what the cause of the fire was but hopefully will have a full enquiry when Robin the fireman gets back later today. Will also ask him why there is no fire extinguisher in the house...

Animal Encounters

Robin, the fire management man has gone away for a few days to burn some bush, leaving Elle and I alone to enjoy the seclusion and privacy of Sijwa. (Robin will be leaving permanently in about two weeks, and heading back to Mozambique where he is now based).

Went to switch on the generator last night and startled something big in the small storeroom beside it. Couldn't see what it was because it was dark and I didn't have a torch. But as I backed away, I heard what sounded like a sudden burst of air from a tyre which Elle now assures me was a snake, probably a Puff Adder. (Talking tractor tyre here and not bicycle tube by the way!)

Elle has had more than a few snake encounters over the years but fortunately has never been bitten. Just over a year ago, she discovered an Egyptian cobra under the groundsheet of her tent by inadvertently standing on it. Fortunately, she was able to phone Evans at the time, who came round and killed it. (see picture: and this is a small one...).

Apparently, a large bull elephant swam across the river the other night about fifty yards from the house. I was fast asleep but Elle heard it crossing. (She can distinguish between an elephant and hippo breaching water apparently). Evans confirmed it the next morning after his whole village was roused and tried to chase it way.

Evans and the Cobra

Writing this from the viewing platform which stands in the river in front of the house. Erected on 30ft long poles sunk into the river bed, it looks like a POW camp watch tower. The view (see left) from it across the Kwando flood plain is spectacular, especially at sunset. Out there in this vast field of long reeds and tall grass, are hippos, crocs and more wetland bird species, than you could shake a twitcher's stick at.

Went to Katima yesterday for supplies. The heat and the hordes doing their shopping after the Easter holidays was enough for me. Caprivians, generally walk in a slothful manner. If you are already irritated, the sound of hundreds of people, slowly shuffling round a supermarket while simultaneously blocking the aisles, can push you to the limit.

Elle's feet are still in a bad way, despite liberal daily applications of Cortisone cream. The itchiness torments her at night and nothing less than long scratching episodes, provides any relief. The good news is, we think we have identified the culprit. Larval mites or ‘chiggers’ which inhabit the long wet grass through which she walks in the mornings. The insects, which are too small to see, latch onto the skin, injecting an enzyme (which causes the itchiness) which breaks down the skin cells, which nourish the larvae apparently.

Bit of a drama this afternoon when Evans who was working in the garden, started shouting for Elle. It seems the poor guy had a close encounter in the vegetable patch with a very large Egyptian snouted Cobra, last seen entering the garden shed. Evans was clearly quite excited by this and wanted help to chase it out. I was bit miffed that Evans thought that Elle was better equipped for this task than me. In the end, we couldn't find it, which was probably a blessing. A large pissed off, poisonous snake is not something you really want to deal with.

'The horror...the horror'.

SIJWA (pronounced Sidge' wa) sits on the Kwando River which runs all the way from Angola into the Caprivi. The main channel of the river flows literally in front of the house and is about 30 metres wide with reed wetlands either side. When it floods for several months of the year (starting in June), Sijwa becomes an island, and is only accessible by boat. (Unless you feel like taking your chances with the crocs and wading across which I did last year just for the hell of it.)

These wetlands are unique to Namibia with over 400 species of bird. Plovers, herons, hornbills, warblers, bee-eaters, jacanas, crakes etc are all common species here. I had never paid much attention to birds until now but when you live in a giant aviary, its hard not to.

What I find interesting is some of their behavioural traits. Take the male Weaver bird, who makes a little hanging basket nest for his female partner. Apparently, if they not up to scratch, she refuses to move in and lay eggs, meaning he has to build another one. Proving that women can be difficult no matter what the species.

Being next to the river and in the heart of the wetlands, while undoubtedly beautiful, has of course its downside. Mosquitoes are plentiful here, particularly at this time of year (coming towards the end of the rainy season). I'm covered in bites and just hoping that none manifest into malaria. Fortunately, we are in a low density populated area which means less likelihood of catching it, because the Anopheles mosquito transports the parasite from human to human.

Elle is currently reading Joseph Conrad's classic 'Heart Of Darkness' set in the Congo. Those not familiar with the book, will no doubt have seen the film 'Apocalypse Now' which was based on the story. I mention this because Sijwa, reminds me a lot of mad Colonel Kurtz’s remote jungle outpost...

Thank Heavens for Evans...

It has rained all day today. I'm sitting at a table watching the rain drip from the thatch roof. The 'Jenny' (short for generator) is pleasantly purring in the background powering my laptop and the energy-saving light above me. Can't tell you what a pleasure it is, not to be in a tent on a day like this.

Been at Sijwa almost a week now. Taking awhile to learn how to power the place, as it alternates between solar power and a generator. A day's sun is enough to run the lights and the fridge but on a dull day like today, the 'Jenny' is on almost constantly.

Robin, an Australian who works in fire management arrived back a couple of days ago from Mozambique. He's on contract to IRDNC (Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation) the NGO who own Sijwa and will spend next the couple of weeks living here while he supervises a bush burning programme. Up until last year, he lived permanently at Sijwa, while he trained locals in fire management. He now has his own company called 321 Fire! and has become a fire consultant to a number of NGOs which seems to be quite lucrative work.

Elle, has much to celebrate this week, having succeeded in attracting a number of sponsors to her project, including a Dutch zoo. She is now very happily 'moved in' to Sijwa, having quite quickly overcome her reservations about living in a 'house', and her aversion to modern appliances.

The house comes with a young caretaker called Evans, who is quite a handyman. He's also self-appointed pest controller and is at his happiest when destroying termites, ants and various other creepy-crawlies which threaten the fragile human eco-system here. Today, he has been busy setting traps for a huge rat, I encountered in the kitchen the other night, which I was surprised to find given that he's probably at the very bottom of the food chain round here.

Evans I'm relieved to hear, is pretty good at dealing with snakes too which is reassuring. According to Robin, who lived at Sijwa for four years, the grounds are full of black mambas, which are Africa's most deadly snake. 'Thank Heavens for Evans' is turning into a bit of catchphrase round here.