Oshana

December 9

Last week an Owambo friend of my colleague offered to give us traditional waist beads. Mine are beautiful! They are the colour that would happen if you blended all the tones of the Namibian sky. I am talking of the colours in all their transient vividness as I have seen expressed upon the sky these last 3 months. Namibia is a truly beautiful country! I have been watching this symphony of change in all the new oOshana (ponds, lakes and water holes) that form while the sand turns greener with each rainfall. In the three short months since my arrival I have seen the landscape turn from lion-coloured and dusty to a shimmering expanse accompanied by an explosion of fleshy, succulent flowers dotting every type of vegetation. But the skies! The sunsets are actually a match for the rainbow of flowers below. I watched one sunset while I was in Etosha National park that I can only attempt to describe. I’m not sure what part of the scene was more humbling. It might have been that every subtle tone in the palette of fire was painted across the horizon. Or it may have been the herds of elephant, zebra and springbok splashing and sharing the watering hole with birds and bats in front of us.

I love that here in Okahao there is hardly any light pollution. I have never before appreciated a full moon like I do here. Under a full moon the sky is not dark at all but more of a filmy twilight. It’s a bit like the view of my bedroom from inside my blue mosquito net. My bedroom has only the one overhead light source but outside is different. Now that there are so many oOshana the moon is reflected back up to the stars in a million novel sizes. Night time is usually calm here so the million moons I see are still and perfect. The stillness is in shocking contrast to the electrical storms that gather here most late afternoons before the clouds empty their contents.
The rains have also brought changes to my daylight hours. Suddenly there is birdsong and chirping lizards everywhere. The domesticated animals that wander freely in and out of the hospital grounds have suddenly multiplied too. Donkey foals, goat kids and chicks are at every door. We don’t have many cows here in Okahao but I can tell you that the calves are not far away either. The loudest are the donkeys but I think there is something ahead to look forward to. My neighbour tells me the Elephants migrate through here once a year and if I am alert I will be able to see them too. That pleasure will have to wait till after my vacation though because next week I am back to Canada for Christmas. I hope to see many of you while I am home so please contact me by email (no phone in Canada anymore). I am off now to ask my neighbour to watch out for the little cat, Okutsi, who I am feeding. Maybe next time I’ll tell you about her!
Ka lapo nawa