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Travelling Harvest, NAMIBIA

DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020 – So you can pretty much fry an egg on most parts of Namibia at the moment. Which means it’s not a place very conducive to hiking canyons or climbing mountains right now. So I googled ‘winemaking Namibia,’ and discovered Thonninggii Wine Cellars and Der Katholischer Wines in central northern Namibia near the Etosha National Park. I emailed them, in a nutshell said I’m a kiwi who has made a bit of wine in some off-the-beaten-track places like Zimbabwe and Arizona, and would they mind if I tried my hand at winemaking with them? The response; ‘Great, let us know your dates, see you soon.’ So here I am! It’s been a long couple of days getting here. From the Okavango Delta it took a boat ride, a short Cessna plane ride, a stop over in Maun, a taxi ride, a bus ride jam packed with people and various possessions, a hot and dusty walk, a stop over near the border town of Shakawe, a taxi ride, a border crossing, a lift to a nearby town with a Botswanan guy called Jay Jay (who finds it quicker to pass through Namibia to get from one end of Botswana to the other), another three taxi rides, some sitting around and waiting. A lot of sitting around and waiting – Africa Time at its best – to eventually get my to my new ‘home town’ of Otavi. And then of course the final pick up by Gilmar, whose home, vineyards and winery is nestled in the mountains. A little bit fabulous… Note: the term ‘taxi’ is used loosely in Namibia, and much of Africa, when referring to the cars not the vans. It’s generally a group of guys hanging around their cars at a gas station, looking real casual. It’s a bit like they just had some spare time and thought they’d make an extra bob or two. (There’s even a selfie with one car load.) You ‘hike’ taxis in Namibia, which means you get dropped at a spot where taxis regularly frequent, to sort out a lift. Thank goodness, I had a few hundred kilometres to cover today, hiking would have been less than ideal. The lyrics cracking from the speakers of my first taxi ride were ‘If you wanna stay alive…. listen to your cultures…’ Yes, staying alive was the plan. Now it’s time to make some wine, Namibia styles. Yay. 🍇🍷❤️#winemaking #namibia #roadtripafrica @ Namibia

‘Baboon watching’ everyday means you’re making wine in Namibia. Der Katholischer Winery (The Red Catholic) is a skip and a hop from Otavi, near Etosha National Park in central north Namibia, not too far from Angola. Nestled in the dolomite cave-riddled mountains, Gilmar Boshoff says “Making wine is about having the connection between the earth and the vines, and not being too lazy or useless to f*ck it up before you put it into bottle,” with a grin of a hard working, challenging and rewarding way of life. Next door is his parents’ property, Thonninggii Wine Cellar, (Thonninggii being the local fig tree). The clay brick cellar door boasts hearty farm lunches; home-produced meat, fresh dairy products, on-site produced marula schnapps, grappa, and port. This Namibian harvest is in full swing now; picking the white and red varieties; crushing, pressing, generally having a lot of fun. Overcast days are very hot. Some drizzle, thunder and lightening, blue skies too. Seven dogs, (including Ana the ridgeback who really should be wearing pearls and have painted nails) at least two cats, and one pet sheep who always likes to be FULLY involved in all parts of harvest. Frogs croak, sable, springbok, sheep and cattle graze, chickens, cuckoos and weavers play, guinea fowls and pheasants trot. The Damara are the local people of this part of Namibia, whose dialect (Khoekhoe) involves many clicking sounds, so nice to hear every day. Namibia; a country of just 2.8 million people so plenty of space, where nothing less than 800 hectares is considered a farm, it’s a plasie (a small farm, a plot). Life slows down just a little bit here – the early morning coffee ritual, Norma Jean the bull terrier snoozing at our feet . Speed then picks up for a day of all things winemaking, and constantly reminding pet sheep Kolletjies (dots in Afrikaans) to stop eating the grapes or sneaking inside the house to eat the loo paper. Morning runs along the train tracks because ‘trains only use it about once a week..’ Sipping home made bubbles on Christmas Day after a morning grafting in the winery, eating a potjie pot of home produced oxtail – ‘well ain’t that just Christmas.’ 🍷🍇❤️👌 #derkatholischerwinery #thonninggiiwinecellar

The Boshoff family do what they love, and love what they do. Gilmar Tamara Boshoff… With hard work, focus and determination, many things are possible. Like making wine in Nambia? Well at Der Katholischer Winery and Thonninggii Wine Cellar – yes most definitely. Thanks so much for having me along for some of your journey, it was one big treat. 🍇🍷❤️#winemakingnamibia #derkatholischerwinery #thonninggiiwinecellar @ Namibia

No elephants in Maun. BOTSWANA

December 2019.

WORDS FROM MY MAUN BUDDY MARK- thanks mate!!!! 😁🤙🏼

@markvanzyl A change of scene from last nights 38 degree high humidity run, this mornings trot was more forgiving towards the “the Kiwi” who is having a blast checking out my home town of Maun for a couple of days! In true Bella style she face planted on the actual final step of this morning’s wilderness adventure #noelephants but the search continues! GO BOTSWANA YOU BEAUTY! Ps. I had help writing this 😂

***Arriving at Maun airport this morning wearing grubby mountain biking gear covered in sand, sweat, dirt and a spec or two of blood – subsequent to thorny bushes and one fall- (too busy looking at the donkeys and crashed into Mark..who had forgotten his helmet..🙈😬) is an authentic perfectly themed end to an action-packed couple of days with my mate from Maun who was chuffed to bits to show me around his back yard.

I never did see the elephants he assured I’d see roaming the streets. But I did see elephant poo.

Mark did make me run in the searing evening heat and humidity. Minus the

The Makgadikgadi Pans this time.

And he did make me run a 9km speed session the following morning in the drizzle.

But I’ll offer forgiveness because we ran amongst zebras, impalas and baboons. We rode horses amongst giraffes, eland, wildebeests, and we mountain biked amongst donkeys, cows, and elephant poo.

The flight from Kasane International Airport to Maun a couple of days ago was a fun one; the little MackAir Cessna stopping at three safari camps in various delicious spots of Botswana along the way. A good way to test stomach robustness.

Navigating around Maun is good fun, there’s always a pot holed dirt road to rip down to avoid the main roads. Even though traffic is never that hectic because the goats, donkeys and cows tend to stick to their grass verges. I’m sure the elephants are equally courteous.

So cheers Mark, legend couple of days in your playground!! Enjoy your kiwi mountain biking adventure next month, I’ll be back on home turf by then so will feed you up on some top notch NZ lamb when you’re done. #noelephants 🐘🙄

A couple of days in the Okavango Delta. BOTSWANA

December 2019

It’s a really good thing to keep your promises. So when I promised the Air Safari pilot I wouldn’t touch any of the controls if he let me co pilot the last leg in the Cessna back to Maun from the Okavango Delta, I kept my word. There were lots of buttons, too many to count.

The Okagvango Delta, a place one will hear many tales about, but it’s only once you are there that you can grasp it.

A World Heritage Site 1500km long, while the ‘hands’ and ‘fingers’ of this majestic earthly biodiverse feature make up 6000sqkm and 12,000sqkm.

Camp Okavango is nestled in the north west of the Delta, a slice of bliss for a couple of nights. The baobab trees that have stood for thousands of years, which have provided tartaric acid and yeasts to bush people for many lifetimes. Termite mounds decades in the making, which can be knocked down or partially destroyed by a passing elephant in the blink of an eye. Kilometres of the papyrus reed along the waterways, used by the Ancient Egyptians to make the first ever paper, and it can also be eaten and made into boats. Surprise encounters of elephants enjoying a cool down as you navigate the waterways to a hippo infested yet great fishing spot. Catching two red breasted tilapia and enjoying them for dinner under the Botswana stars. Coming across a pack of wild dogs walking back to Camp after a mokoro, through the waterlilies which not only look beautiful, but are used as methods of survival by the traditional people of the Okavango Delta. (Mokoro are the original boats carved from soft wood, used to navigate the waterways of the Delta, although now fibreglass ones are more commonly used.) Hearing tales of bushman of the Kalahari combining friendships, skill sharing and years of collaboration with those who called the Delta home; together they’d learn the ways of the life in the desert and by the water. Sighting the rare antelope, the Statunga, who live in water and on land, but too quick to photograph. Taking a bush walk on Nari Island, ‘buffalo’ in Swana. We saw a massive herd in the distance. Flying in to Camp Okavango in the Safari Air Cessna was fun; the distant clusters of trees and watering holes turning into detailed havens for many forms of wildlife. A great couple of nights with an awesome crew there who love the place and love nothing better than for those who visit to love it just as much. Cheeky monkeys at the camp, busy squirrels, lingering baboons, the distant honking of hippos and roaring of lions, and the constant chirp of so many birds. During activities and over delicious meal times and refreshing drinks was a chance for constant learning about this land from those who know it best, who live and breathe it. What a treat. Departing Camp Okavango by boat to a nearby camp, inbetween thunder storms and heavy rains, a final chance to be on the water, a final thrill. All this, and I’ve barely scraped the surface of this paradise.

Running with the Desert Gods, Kalahari Desert. AFRICA

www.holliewoodhouse.com, February 2020.

Running across the Kalahari Desert for 250km requires a lot of hard work from the top two inches. And some solid graft from the legs too. Signing up for the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon gave me the chance to experience first-hand the tales of desert running I’d heard so much about this year…

Read all about it here on Holly Woodhouse’s website, the Adventurous Kiwi!

Victoria Falls – a true wonder. ZIMBABWE

December 17, 2019. Back to the mighty Falls – So Dr David Livingstone thought these Falls were pretty cool too, when he was transported to the very edge of them in a canoe by the local Makalolo people in the November of 1855. So cool in fact, he named them after the Queen.

Victoria Falls, Mosi oa-Tunya, ‘The smoke that thunders.’

Livingstone was so stoked with his newly found playground, that he created a little coffee plantation on one of the islands, Livingstone Island, (I’m not sure if he named that after himself or if that was someone else’s doing.) But anyway, the bloke he left the plantation with to look after did a really crappy job, and it, well, was an epic fail. What a pity.

Hard to comprehend really, the Victoria Falls were first formed between 250-150 million years ago, by tectonic movement; backed up by the fact the same basalt rock can be found in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana.

And so here we are today, seeing a place which has seen many changes, fed by the Zambezi River, as mighty as ever, the creator of this Wonder standing 1700m wide and varying in height from 73m to 108m above the river water level. During the wetter winter months 900,000 cubic metres of water per second will navigate the Victoria Falls.

I stood with the easy going guide Zulu this morning, who taught me plenty through his words and pointing out various places of the Falls. We walked the 38 steps down to look over to the most western part, the Devil’s Cataract. As a kid, Zulu would go there with his football team every Tuesday, back when there were 78 steps that would take you closer to the water, and they’d climb them 20 times.

Nuggets of information like that makes this place even more tremendous.

So, even this morning, albeit in the ‘low season’ it was still truly awesome to be at this playground again, as awesome as when i visited nine years ago in the high season of August. River levels rise, and they fall, but the Victoria Falls will never disappoint.

Now, I’m not usually one to post ‘food photos,’ but it was an absolute treat staying at Victoria Fall Safari Lodge, and going to the incredible Boma for dinner with all its flair, colour, and of course the awesome drum beats.

#notdry #onezimbabwe #victoriafalls #naturalwonders #victoriafallsphotos #with_belles_on #thesmokethatthunders