In the past week I have a chance to reflect on our Africa trip and a few things stand out. The first is the amazing diversity of mammals. Not only are there the standard big five: Elephants, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Lion, and Leopard or was it Giraffe. If I was a giraffe I would want to be on the big five list. But there are myriad other mammals that no one talks about. For example did you know that there are squirrels, aardvarks and badgers in Africa? On the surface you could say "why of course, why not." What's the big deal with squirrels? Well the big deal is, if Africa has squirrels, why doesn't America have elephants or giraffe? There seem to be whole group of species that are unique to each continent. How did squirrels evade this evolutionary purification?

Another dilemma for me is the people. While were in Namibia we visited a small village on the north end of country. Standing on the corner you could watch three "epics" of Africans walk by. The Himba, the Herero, and the western dressed all move about and interact in with each other in this village. Himba are the people that you would see in the pages of National Geographic. The women wear nothing other then a goat skin mini-skirt and have ochre colored clay smeared on there exposed skin. They have elaborate hair held in place with braids, goat fat and colored with ochre clay. The clothing the do wear is very elaborately decorated with seashells and other bits and piece they find. If a woman wears a cone seashell around her neck it means that she is available. Married men where a colored cloth over their head much in the way modern rappers do. They live as nomadic extended-family groups in small huts made from light branches driven in to the ground and bent over to meet at the top. The top is plastered in mud and cow dung. The huts resemble large bee hives and have dirt floors. Cattle and goats are the measure of their wealth and their life is herding these animals. Aside from adopting some modern vices, like alcohol, sweets, and matches, they are untouched by modern life.

The Herero are caught somewhere between today and tomorrow. They were basically Himba that were Europeanized and converted to Christianity. The women wear full-length dresses with full petticoats and a cloth headdress that resemble a bowtie on top of their head. The dress are handmade and their display shows the women take great pride in them. They live in more European style but still very simple in houses that vary from "Roundels" with thatched roofs to concrete block homes with tin roofs. They are herding people as well and when some dies they place a number of bulls skulls on a post at the grave site. The number of skulls is an show how important the person was. On the way to Pupu falls on the boarder of Angola we came across a couple of grave sites with six skulls each along with elaborate granite gravestones.

The blacks dressed in western clothing are more or less indistinguishable from anyone else on the street. Though they usually dress better then casual. Blue jeans are not the usually seen, but dresses, slacks and collared shirts are the norm. They maybe clerks, government workers, or gas station attendants. The conundrum that I wonder about is how the Himba maintain their simple lifestyle with the influence of western civilization. Are the bounds of their tradition and lifestyle strong enough to bind these people to their past? Are they next endangered species?

In the four weeks that we drove around southern Africa we covered almost five thousand miles. This should give you an idea of the size of this place. South Africa is about the size of the western half of the USA. Namibia is the size of he eastern seaboard, and Botswana the size of the great plains. It’s huge and this is just the southern bit of the continent. Despite this size it is a very settled continent. Even in the most remote of areas there was always some settlement or family huts along the road - or as he case usually was two wheel track. It was almost spooky when we stopped for lunch in what we would have though was a remote area, the people came out of the brush to watched us.

Christmas morning
We successfully made it to Trinidad and through customs with six of bags of stuff. Our first surprise was when we tried to join the "pot luck" at the marina where we are staying. We were told they were all full! How can you be full for a pot luck - on Christmas of all days! Me thinks someone is missing the point.

The boat is fine, other then a few hundred ants scurrying about wondering how they got themselves in to this situation. It's peaceful and tranquil here. The sun is bright and the temperature is creeping in to the 80's and most importantly we are home. Many thank to all the people that we stayed with during our travels, you opened your homes and your lives to us and we thank you for the soft bed, clean sheets and warm hearts.

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone

Kim Franz and Kim Stebbens
S/V Delphinus