The Human Experience

"Really, it doesn't matter who you are, what your background is. You can converse on that experience. And that is what makes us human."-Makoto Fujimura

After two full months, 10,000 miles, and 16 states we have opened the eyes of over 20,000 children and teachers to the amazing wonders of the rain forest. We have also met more incredible people and done more amazing things than I could have ever hoped for. It's hard to sum up all these experiences in one blog post, so I'm going to talk about the things that have moved me the most, and how I have changed as a person.

Purple states we have taught at, blue we have only driven through. 

This journey has been one of the most moving and richest experiences of my life so far. I have met people that have restored my faith in humanity almost everywhere I go. For example, there was a kind young family that invited us into their home in West Virginia for a home cooked meal. They may never know how deeply grateful and impacted we were by this loving gesture. There was a nice selfless young man who went out of his way to come to one of our shows and film us, so that our families can see what we are doing every day. There was an incredible Indian man who talked with us for hours about the drastic change in the ecosystems and in the mind set of people in India, and discussed the philosophy of conservation with us in a perspective we have never heard of. 

The assistant principal showing us the nature trails the kids created behind the schools. 

There was a passionate and driven assistant principal at a school in South Carolina, whose efforts to create a school garden, greenhouse, and nature trail have succeeded in so many ways at opening the children up to their impact on the environment, and had drastically improved the behavior of many troubled teens. There was an older couple we met and had dinner with who went on and on about how important our work is to them, and that they can rest easier knowing that when they leave this earth someone will still be fighting for it. Lastly, there was a guy we met and became close friends with, who after seeing our animals and our passion for what we are doing, decided to start recycling and looking closer at the impact he has on the environment. He has said that seeing these creatures and listening to our passion and motivation has broadened his perspective on the world around him in ways he would have never thought about.

One of the most rewarding experiences has been all the different children from different backgrounds we have met across the country. We have had countless kids at each show come up and ask us how we got this job, because they want to work with animals and save the rain forest when they grow up. This is what makes my heart the happiest, seeing little Ambers and little Jessicas in the crowd whose enthusiasm for nature shines brightly on their faces. We tell them how we went to college for Fisheries and Wildlife, and how they can do something similar to that like biology or zoology. Their faces light up each time and I can just see them starting to plan their future around this two minute conversation we have had with them. Many children have stood out in the crowd after talking to them, and I will never forget some of the things they have said. One little girl came up to us and said she started a rain forest club with her friends called the "Yapok Club" (apparently named after a rain forest animal that I had not even heard of yet.) She was so excited and enthusiastically nerdy about it, I couldn't help but feel like I was talking to the seven year old version of myself. After hearing that the rain forest is being destroyed at an incredibly fast rate, one little boy came up to me afterwards and said "Miss Amber, When I'm president one day, I'm going to make it a law that we can't cut down any more rain forest." This moved me to tears as I told him thank you for that, and how happy that makes us. 

Jess and I enjoying a hike in a Georgia swamp :)

Before this job my hopes for our future were spread thin and bleak, which is understandable if you simply pick up a newspaper anymore. All you will read about are environmental disasters, animals being driven into extinction and humans continuing to blindly march down the path of destroying our world. After teaching, seeing and reaching over 20,000 kids from across the country, my hopes have gotten much higher. At the end of the show I tell them that in twenty years, you guys will be in charge of this earth because you are the future. I then ask them if you don't care about the rain forest or any other ecosystem that's in dire need of help, who will? They get very serious yet enthusiastic, as if I've given them a challenge that they will follow for the rest of their lives to care about and protect our earth. This fills my bucket every single time, and in the faces and hearts of these children is where my hope for our world lies.  

These rich human experiences that we have encountered in the last couple of months have changed me forever. I will never forget the moments I shared with people who started out as strangers and became amazing friends all over the country. I will never forget the children whose minds we have touched, and who have touched our hearts in return. My eyes have been opened even wider, my heart even greater, and I have soaked up every story, every lesson, and every moment with each incredible person we have had the privilege to meet. I believe life is about always leaving behind more than you take, and connecting with people and with our world on a intellectually intimate level. I feel like I have lived more in the past two months than I have in my entire life, and for that I will be forever grateful. 

Our Show!

West Virginia and Virginia have  been amazing to us so far, and we keep meeting amazingly kind people left and right. One fortunate meeting happened when we ran into a father and son while watching the Super Bowl in a small town in West Virginia. The son happened to be a film student at a college in Pennsylvania, and offered to film our presentation. We were so happy!! We have always said how it would be awesome for our family and friends to see our show for themselves.

So here is our presentation! It is in five parts, click the link below for each part. Of course there is a disclaimer, this was filmed a few weeks ago, and we both feel we have added and improved since then. Also, during this filming I was at the tail end of a cold, so I promise my voice sounds better today! Thanks so much to Gary who filmed it! We are still so amazed by the kindness of strangers :)

This particular show was filmed at an elementary school at a small town in West Virginia, and we taught about 400 excited and enthusiastic kids. Enjoy!

Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0Cd6WR7_Pg&feature=channel

Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S4xq0D0c_s&feature=relmfu

Part Three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68M499YSL_Y&feature=channel

Part Four

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajvRs26afsc&feature=channel

Part Five

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBK5dxyxjkA&feature=channel

Second Week

Our first animal is Pickles! He's saying hello to the kids.

 The second week came and went already, and with 13 shows it flew by so fast! Our routine is becoming better and better and I feel like our program we offer to the children is improving every day. 

The kids love Pickles, a lot of them say he's their favorite. 

We are becoming more and more comfortable and excited about being up there in front of sometimes 700 children and teachers. The best part is when people come up to us afterwards and tell us that they can tell we love what we do, because we bring so much enthusiasm  and passion to each show.

We love interacting with the audience, we ask a lot of questions and they learn a lot!

Here are some details of our second week on the road:

We taught in three states: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania

We put on thirteen different shows in nine different schools.

We reached 3,500 kids and hundreds of teachers.

Some of the kids are chosen as volunteers to hold the  Madagascar Hissing cockroaches. 

We had some interesting things happen this week also. One private Lutheran school actually had us do our program as a recruitment for coming to their school. Another school we went to had used our program as an incentive for great behavior, so out of 450 children out of that elementary, 50 weren't able to go because of bad behavior. At that school two reporters showed up and took pictures and facts down to write articles in their newspapers.

Ellie showing off for the kids. 

One of the most fulfilling shows we did was at a public school in Cleveland, Ohio. This school was in the center of a very impoverished area, and most of the children came from economically disadvantaged homes. Yet despite all the odds, the school holds very high expectations of character and grades over the students, which builds personal responsibility and confidence in the students. Before, during and after the show, this confidence and good  behavior showed tremendously in the students. 

She loves to jump up on Jess and I during the show. 

These students turned out to be one of our most attentive and interested audiences, and afterwards as they were all walking out one by one, several of the little girls ran up to Jess and I and gave us hugs. It warmed our hearts to see the joy and gratitude on their faces.  Also, a teacher came up to us after the show and told us she had a phobia of spiders, but wanted to hold Carl our tarantula to face her fears. That was so awesome to hear, and we eased her into holding Carl on her hand, and letting him walk up her arm a little. She stood their shaking as Carl eased up on to her hand, but afterwards was so happy about facing something that scary to her. We were really proud!

Little Maki is our last animal of the program. He usually clings to his otter, but has been jumping more for the kids. 

One of the most moving moments we had last week was at the end of one of our shows. Towards the end I like to say my favorite quote:

"In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught."

-Baba Dioum

After I say this, I explain that this is why Jess and I do what we do. No we are not in the rain forest directly trying to stop deforestation and habitat destruction, but we are right here right now in front of all you kids hoping to get you excited enough about these animals so that one day one of you might want to visit the rain forest or even try and save it. Then I hand the microphone to Jess to finish up our conclusion. She explains how these animals will never be able to live outside in the wild again, and then she asks if everyone can do us and the animals a favor. Of course everyone usually enthusiastically says "Yeah!". Then she asks everyone to get outside as much as they can, because when you are outside in nature you start to love it and appreciate it more, and we tend to protect the things we love.

After we concluded with this, a little girl came up to Jess as we were putting things away. She pointed to our banner which has a picture of a beautiful rain forest, right next to a picture of a completely decimated area of stumps and dead shrubbery after people clear cutted parts of a rain forest. 

At current rates of deforestation, over 55% of the Amazon Rain Forest will be completely gone by 2030. 

Jess wrote the following about what happened next:

When the little girl came up to me she looked very bothered and I could tell her mind was racing. She pointed to the pictures on our banner and said, "How can people take something that is so beautiful and turn it in to something so ugly." She looked sad and said how much she loved all of the animals she had seen during our program. For some reason this question really caught me off guard. Although simply put by a little girl it proved to be a very hard question to answer.

So in a fast simple way as she was getting ready to leave with her class I did my best to answer her question. I told her that sometimes people take things without thinking about the effects they will have later, and sometimes people also take too much, and consume much more than they have to. I then explained to her that the more we get outside and see what nature has to offer us the more we will love it and feel connected to it, and as humans we tend to protect the things we love. I ended by just telling her to always try to give more than you take in every situation in life, even when talking about the earth that supports us and all other living things. I hope she got something out of my answer, but most of all I hope she goes home with something from our program because education is really the key.

`

Chicago

We got to stay the weekend in Chicago, so after all the animals were fed, cleaned, watered and exercised, we decided to take advantage of it! Taking the metro was a first in the U.S. for both of us, but we managed it. It was about a 35 minute ride to the central of downtown. We got off and walked up onto the street and were greeted by an amazing view of the tall buildings and city lights. 

"Cloud Gate" sculpture in Millenium park, nicknamed "The Bean"

There were so many people and cars, honking, talking, and yelling. There were so many sights, sounds and smells it was a little overwhelming. We headed East to Millenium Park. I was determined to see "The Bean", because I've heard so much about it. It was amazing!

Jess hugging the bean.

The night skyline of Chicago reflected perfectly in the 110 ton stainless steel sculpture. We had some strange urges to just hug this giant thing...so we did. Going under it was crazy too, there were so many reflections of us big and small.

It was huge!

We also went to the 94th floor of the John Hancock building. The view was incredible, you could see lights for miles and miles. After finding our way back down, we stopped into a busy brewery for some hand crafted ales. We ended the night on a fun and safe note by actually finding our way back to the metro and jumping on the one that took us to our vehicle.

Chicago skyline seen from the John Hancock building.

Overall it was a blast! We were really surprised by how friendly everyone was. We were told about this, that although Chicago was a huge city, it was also still a Midwestern city, with Midwestern values. Anyone we casually asked for directions was overly helpful and went out of their way to show us the way. The friendly people, the exciting atmosphere and the beautiful sights made for an amazing night!

First Week!

Ellie the coatimundi, when she's being sweet.

Well we survived our first week! We ended up teaching 11 shows at 10 different schools in 3 different states (Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois), and reaching 2,610 different children, all in one week! We did a lot of driving, and a lot of loading and unloading the animals every morning and night and for each show. It got tiring and traffic was frustrating at times, but each time we got into a school, and got up there in front of all those smiling little faces, our buckets were completely filled again.

Maki loves peaches!

Here are some of my favorite things the teachers said:

• "This was incredible, I saw some children smiling today that I haven't seen smile in a long, long time."
• "Kids did you hear they went to college for this? You can go to college for anything, not just to be a doctor or a teacher. But you have to do really good in school and you might  get to do something as cool as what these girls are doing."
• "What do we say every day before class? Learn something new, be kind to one another, and have a great day. I think we all learned something new and awesome enough for a month!"
• "Thank you so much for telling the kids to get outside as much as possible, most of these kids never get outside, and they really needed to hear that."
• "I want everyone to thank these two young women for getting out there following their dreams and doing their part to save the planet."

Irwin the Blue-Tongued Skink

Here are some of my favorite things the kids said:

•  When told to "Get outside as much as you possibly can, because it's so good for you" One kindergartner said "Ya, especially if there's a fire in the house!!"
• One girl came up and asked "What was the first snake in the world?"
• When they started getting really loud, we said "We have to have you guys quiet down, because you might scare Pickles", everyone said "We're sorry Pickles!!"
• When asked what's something they think of when we say rain forest one little boy said "Soggy trees!"
  
  
  

  

  Pickles the Gold and Blue Macaw

  Overall it's been an amazing first week. We noticed some pretty apparent trends too. For example, the more urban the area was where we were teaching, the more frightened and skittish the children were by most of the animals, especially the "scary, creepy" ones like Carl the tarantula, Herbie the red tail boa and the Madagascar hissing cockroaches. In fact a few girls even said "gross get it away" when we brought cute little Maki (baby ring tail lemur) near them. This was interesting to us to see how little experience they've had with animals and nature in general, and how disconnected they seemed to be. Those are the schools we really love to go to, to show kids what nature has to offer. I really hope out of all the children we reached, we made a small difference in even a couple of their lives.
  
  

  

  Ellie loves a good belly rub.

The Ultimate Adventure Begins

All it was was a phone call. And then everything changed. I checked my voicemail and it was from my old professor at UNL. He said that Wildlife Encounters is looking for a traveling environmental educator and he thought of me. I knew Wildlife Encounters, I've worked with them before bringing them to our Wildlife Club for meetings and even our big banquet. They are a non profit organization that owns exotic animals used for educational purposes. I called Stacie from Wildlife Encounters to inquire about the position, almost to entertain myself. I have a job right now that lasts until December, and I didn't want to think about all the complications of applying for a different one.

However Stacie was thrilled to hear from me. The person who had this position had a family sickness and had to leave abruptly with short notice, so she was desperately trying to fill someone. She said that she has known me for years, she knows I would be amazing at this, and if I wanted the job it would be mine. I couldn't believe it! So I asked her details about where, when and how long the position would be for. She said it starts in two weeks, and it lasts until the end of May/beginning of June. Oh and about the "where" and the "what"? Here it is: Me, a lemur, a parrot, a  burmese python and a coatimundi all together in a van traveling up and down the east coast doing different educational programs at schools all along the way.

I was in shock, and told her that sounded amazing and I needed to get back to her with my answer. Of course I called me boss, who was amazing and told me he wants whats best for me, it sounded perfect for me, and when I come back in June I can continue working for him. I called my mom and dad and tried to keep my cool as I explained the opportunity. I felt like I had just won the lottery, like I finally caught my lucky break. Everything I'm passionate about just signed itself up as job that placed itself in my lap; environmental education, animals, traveling. I called Stacie back quickly and accepted the offer. My first program is in Arkansas and I leave Sunday January 22.

Here is an exerpt from the Wildlife Encounters website of the program I will be offering to children all over the east coast:

Wonders of the Rainforest

"See the Rainforest spring to life as our national touring Wild Encounters wildlife show presents “Wonders of the Rainforest.” 

Explore rainforest habitats and the plants, animals, and people that live in these ecosystems.  Learn what products come from the rainforest, why rainforests are considered the lifeblood of the planet and the factors that threaten their survival and what people can do to protect the rainforests around the world.  Discuss the relationship of rainforests to climate control and global warming.  Identify ways to use rainforest products without destroying the habitat.

Wild Encounters will showcase live animals and products from the rainforests around the world and talk about their survival, natural history, geography, natural behaviors, and conservation education."

And now meet my new travel buddies for the next four months!

A lemur, which live in Madagascar

An albino burmese python

A coatimundi

A macaw

So...that's my big news! I can finally fulfill my childhood  dream of being a traveling gypsy accompanied with exotic animals! I can't describe how excited I am. Yes, yes, I will miss Ben and Kingston and my family back home. But I will see them again before we all know it. Until then I will be heading east with a van full of creatures from the rain forest and a mission to educate today's youth about the wonders of the natural world. 

I will be updating my blog at least weekly. I'm sure I will have a lot of funny stories about trying to keep a lemur from jumping on the hotel beds and all the other excitement that will entail. I can't wait!

Wildlife Encounters website:

http://www.wildlifeencounters.org/

A Traveler's Lessons

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”-Miriam Beard

Planning an adventure is a thrilling process. Your mind is filled with faraway sights and naïve expectations of what is to come. Partaking in the adventure is even more exciting. The first step off of that plane onto a different continent sends chills of anticipation through your body. Then three weeks of amazing activities, sights, smells, food (most of the time), people and places zooms by and you find yourself home in your own bedroom staring at your pictures with a reminiscent smile. Is this all you have left, pictures, distant memories and maybe a few souvenirs? At first it may seem that this is what Africa has left you with, material objects and captured sights on photographs. But I have found that Africa and traveling in general is much more giving and wise than that. Through my experiences abroad, especially my last experience in Namibia, I have grown in ways that I’m not even aware of yet.

            Namibia was full of amazing wildlife. This is one of the main notions that peaked my interest about the trip. From the bush elephants of the north and the lions of the Skeleton Coast to the endemic black faced impalas, Namibia has a lot to offer to a young aspiring wildlife biologist. And in this sense I was not let down at all. I lost count after forty different species of mammals, birds and reptiles. One of the most moving sightings was a herd of about 30 elephants, (Of course I am slightly biased, since this is my favorite animal). As we turned the corner of the road in Etosha National Park, I spotted a huge bull elephant. We drove closer and realized that the bull had company, a lot of company. There we saw several bulls, cows and even calves. Some of the babies were definitely less than 6 months old. I sat in silence and watched in amazement as these pachyderms lumbered along, browsing tree tops with their resourceful trunks, or spraying themselves with mud and water to cool down in the African heat. One obnoxious elephant strutted right in front of us with a big branch in his mouth, and then as if showing off, decided he didn’t like the taste of it and tossed it over his back. We watched the babies play in the mud hole, the mothers keeping an ever watchful eye. I could have sat there for hours soaking up the beauty and serenity of these amazing creatures, but of course they had other places to go, and marched on.

            Namibia’s landscapes were breathtaking. For hours all we would see were shrub dessert type land you might find in Wyoming or Nevada. Then looming in the distance would be giant rocks, sometimes jet black, and always full of distinct layers, telling a story of billions of years of formation. The Skeleton Coast was an unforgettable site. After driving along the Atlantic coast, we reached the famous sand dunes of the ancient Namib Desert. We stopped for a while and I attempted to climb all the way up a somewhat vertical sand dune that was probably 80 feet high. The sand easily gave way under my feet, making it much more difficult than I anticipated. However after many attempts, I made it to the top. The reward was completely worth it. I sat there, the fresh ocean breeze lightly kissing my face, the warm ancient sand under my toes. I looked out across the coast and saw a sight that is one of a kind; it is the only place in the world that it occurs. The rolling sand dunes of the Namib Desert plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, creating a unique ecosystem and a beautiful scene.

            The wildlife and landscapes of Namibia were truly amazing and unforgettable. But surprisingly, this is not the high point of the trip for me. The people I met in Namibia have changed my views, broadened my horizons and touched my life forever. We had the great fortune to meet and even stay with all walks of life; from farmers, game ranchers, wildlife rescuers, to local tribes and traditional farms. The chance to spend time with each of these types of people is something I took advantage of to the fullest. I asked them questions and had conversations with them about anything and everything; From their native language, sustainability, wildlife conservation, value of carnivores, trophy hunting views, to everyday living and wildlife management. I learned that the people of Namibia and their views are as varied as the landscape and the wildlife. However I discovered one thing they all had in common not only with each other, but presumably with the rest of the world. They all were doing everything they could with what they had to try and eke out a living and provide a life for their families. Sometimes it was not much at all. In the slums of Katatura people found whatever they could to turn a lean-to shelter into their home, using scrap metal and old signs, rocks and wiring. On community conservancies in their traditional farms they used every bit of the cattle and goats as a resource, from consuming their milk, producing butter, using their leather and even using their dung in the construction of houses.

This ingenuity and resourcefulness is something I will never forget. Coming from a culture where we use up our credit cards trying to fill a void in our life with material items, I watched in amazement as the eighty something year old Herero grandmother taught us to make butter from fresh milk using simply a gourd and a stick. As she explained that this was a staple in their diet, she kindly gestured for me to have a seat by her on a pad made of goat skin. In this moment I saw her, matriarch of her family, her skin weathered by the dry Namibian air and sun. She had a glow about her, a sense of pride that can only come when satisfied or at least happy about her life and her family.

            Africa has given me more than photographs, souvenirs and mere memories. It has given me these moments I have described and more,  and the lessons I learned from each. It taught me the patience and tranquility you feel when observing nature’s wonders, the sense of place it puts you in of your own role on this earth, the respect that grows for every living thing around you, and the appreciation of what you and your family have, when most of the world survives and thrives with a tenth of that.

Like a wise professor, Africa did not shove these lessons in front of my face, but patiently taught me through experience to open my eyes to the beauty of the natural world, open my ears to listen to all walks of life and their views, and open my heart to the full experience, letting it change me forever. 

For a video slideshow of my trip, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psfL8ahQzjM

Otize and Cattle Dung

Eye balls and mopani worms

"guys, I have eye ball in my teeth and need some floss"
-Amber
What a day! So many new experience, almost a sensory overload. We had a tour of the slums of Windhoek, named Catatoura. The name means"place where we won't settle" conveying the blacks resistance towards moving during the apartheid. Our expert tour guide Ouapi showed us the diversity of the slum. It was amazing to see how different one area was from another, ranging from concrete brick houses top tin shacks. One thing that was the same thought was the tenacity and ingenuity of the people in ecking out a living.
To end our tour we went to a local resaurant and tried a variety of traditional foods including a "smiley" which is a whole head of a goat or cow, grilled or roasted then boiled, causing it to grin. In our case we were treated to a goat. I have to say the cheek meat was not bad, but Amber went to an extreme and decided to eat the eyeball. Katie was kind enough to extract the eye while reminding us of how similar it was to making a European mount. After some hesitation Amber made good on her promise and ate it. According to her it tasted like "chalk and butt" or something along those lines. All in all it was an amazing day.
Love,
Ben

Otize and Cattle Dung

There is so much to tell and so little time! I can't wait to tell everyone in person about my favorite day in Africa so far, and that was on our friend Uapii's farm on a conservancy. He spent the day having us meet his traditional Herero family, grandmother mother and little sister. We got to learn the daily activities, and even take part in them!

 Us girls started off with a woman's duty of patching their hut houses. I was prepared to do whatever in order to immerse myself in their culture and really live the experience, but nothing prepared me for sticking my hands and fingers into a pile of warm fresh cattle  dung! But I did it with a smile anyways as I filled a bucket with the dung and carried on my head back to the hut. Then we mixed it with soil and water and formed balls. The balls were thrown onto the hut in places needing patched and then kneaded into the wall. The arid environment dries this mixture like concrete, making it a great insulator and a good foundation for their house. The old grandmother watched me work and said I was worthy of staying! She said I got the highest marks for how much I participated with a smile :)

Next the boys rounded up the donkeys and hooked them up with harnesses made of old tires to what we called the "Kalahari Ferrari" which was an old donkey cart! Then all of us got to ride and direct the donkeys. It was a blast!

After that we learned how to milk their cows. Uapii's mother strapped up her little 2 year old daughter on her back and we followed her into the cattle corral made of sticks. She leaned over and put the bucket between her legs and started milking like a pro. We each got to try it out, and pretty soon had a bucket full of milk.







Then we went up to the house and sat on cow hides as we poured the milk into a big gourd hanging by a rope tied on sticks and began to rock the gourd back and forth to make butter. She said she does this every day for an hour. The grandmother later showed us how she strains the butter and cooks it for a better taste.






The last thing we did was go into one of their huts and they showed us how they apply otize, which is a mix of butter and red ochre, to make a red paste that is applied to the skin. This paste acts as a sunscreen, and is also great for your skin. I was the only one who volunteered to put it on, and I put it all over my face and arms. I can still remember the grandmother laughing and laughing, she'd never seen a white girl with this on! Speaking quickly in Herero, she told me I looked so beautiful, and that she wanted me to marry her grandson Uapii. Uapii laughed and Ben told him "She's your for 15 cattle." Uapii said "Deal!" ha ha.

Later that day we visited another tribe the Himba. They greeted us with a traditional lion hunting dance, and after awhile I even joined in the dance. They all laughed and loved it! The kids were so cute. The Himba wear little clothing and are covered in the red otize. Their hair has red clay and otize in it, and it looks like painted dread locks. They are beautiful people and I'm so glad I got to meet them.

That night we camped by the river and parked our truck right over some elephant dung! We played in the river and I searched for tracks, then we roasted a whole goat from Uapii's farm. Pretty soon there were Himba men and Herero woman coming from all over throughout the forest to join in the feast. I spent the night practicing the little language I knew "Movango" means "want some?" as I passed around food. "Koda" is a greeting like "Hello how are you" and "Nowya" is the response meaning good. Even though we were all languages apart, we spent the evening enjoying good food and laughing and telling stories to one another as Uapii acted as the interpreter. The stars overhead so thick there were star shadows, the fire burning before us, and about 25 people from all different races and tribes sat together and enjoyed each other's company all night.

There is so much more to tell, and I'm sorry I don't have pictures. But this was by far one of the best days not only on the trip, but of my life. I learned so much, experienced so much, and put myself out there 100% to walk in the shoes of people across the world from me on so many levels.

Cape fur seals and Sand dunes

A couple nights ago we had or first camping experience. As the sun was setting over the savanna we found out spot against a rock outcropping. We grilled bush toasties (kal you would love them! They're like grilled cheese!) And lamb. The tents are on top of the truck so you don't have to worry about snakes and predators. The next morning we headed to Swakopmund. This is a city on the coast.
Yesterday we had a boat tour of the harbor. We saw dolphins, jelly fish, pelicans, and cape fur seals. Three different seals actually came on our boat! We got to pet them and feel their slick fur and powerful slippers. Its unreal how big they get!
Next was the dune tour. The dunes of the Namib Desert come right up to the ocean, the only place on the world this occurs. We took a land rover over the 100feet dunes so fast it was like a roller coaster! Then I looked to my right and there was an ostrich running over the dunes! It was incredible. We found a lot of lizards and chameleons when we stopped to have lunch. They served us fresh oysters and fish right on the middle of the desert. It was fantastic.
Later that night Ben, Katie and I attempted to cook mexican for everyone, but we had to make the tortillas because there of nothing like that here. It was a success! We called it african mexican because it wasn't exactly the right spices and had an african kick to it.
We are having a blast everyone! I love and miss you all but rest easy (especially you momma) that I'm having the time of my life! This might be the last post for awhile. We will be visiting the Himbas for a few days, and then make our way to Etosha.

Weaver Birds and Klipsringers

We have been off the grid for the last couple of days. So there is a lot to tell! I have been enjoying the peace of being out of the city and into the country. We were at a ranch called Namtib, settled into the beautiful Tierras mountains. We did counts and surveys on the giant weaver bird nests, pictures to come. In the morning I hiked a mountain at 530am and got to see the sun rise over the tips of the mountains. You could see each minute the warm rays lit up the valley below, catching it on fire with golden color. It was breathtaking. In the distance you could see see the smoldering orange dunes lit up by the morning sun. On our way back down we saw three klipspringer hop along the mountain. I don't have a picture so you'll have to google them :) We've seen so many oryx ostrich and springbok. Last night we camped and the stars were amazing. I am so happy! Today at Swakopmund on the dock over the Atlantic I saw dolphins! My friends made fun of me because I was so excited I did a dolphin dance :)

More to come later!! Love and miss you all!

Amber

Cats!

Today we went to Anamani Cat Reserve. We got to see leopards, cheetahs, and lions who have been rescued and rehabilitated to be back in the wild. When we first showed up we were greeted by two baby warthogs who affectionately nibbled on my fingers and squealed with delight as I scratched their ears. soon we jumped into a vehicle with sidebars and open top and headed towards the Khomas mountains to search for the big cats. Seeing them up close was amazing, and I was reminded of the raw power of these predatory cats. And when the lion roared as the sun went down, the deep bellow echoed through the mountains and awakened something in my soul. While driving back to the lodge I asked some of the Damara people to teach me some words. They were delighted to teach me several phrases that had the clicks in it! Now I'm practicing my clicks with whoever is listening ha ha. We ended the night at a famous game restaurant where I had zebra, ostrich, crocodile, and kudu. Great food and even better people! Here's a toast to our first day in Africa! With so much fun today, I can't believe there is over two weeks left! Love you all from Africa!
Amber