LOCALadk Magazine

50 LOCALadk Magazine Spring 2014 At over 100 degrees, class is best held in the shade Day 28: Etosha National Park I'm not sure if words will capture the day I've had, the animals I've seen, or the land upon which I'm camping. Today, around noon, Marthin led us through the gate of Etosha National Park. Our driver, Steve, a fourth generation Namibian with Irish ancestry and a thick beard, opened the top of our vehicle so we could stand on our seats and peer out. It wasn't long before we started to see game: zebras, kudu, and springbok. We drove past the waterholes and saw herds of animals. It was beautiful and humbling. I had tears in my eyes. To watch giraffes run is amazing; they use their necks to pump their bodies through long strides and appear as if they're going in slow motion. We're not allowed out of vehicles except at designated areas which are fenced in. The next waterhole we stopped at had a herd of 25 elephants. There were big bulls, tiny calves, and feisty adolescents. Their size is enormous, and their presence is even larger. I'm in love. Seeing these animals in Namibia is like standing atop a mountain in the Adirondacks. I'm humbled by the greatness around me and thankful to be a small part of it. Day 31: O.R. Tambo International Now, I sit in Johannesburg with a cup of green tea waiting for my oatmeal and flight home. I have been to Africa. Everything I ever envisioned or dreamed about as a child I have felt, smelt, or seen. I feel emotionally and spiritually content; I have witnessed something I knew existed. There is a part of me that will always be a little tow- headed girl running around with a Rafiki stick streaked with warpaint. It is the same part of me that will always believe in and fight for wild places.,

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