Gabe in the hospital

All is well now, Gabriel is out and healthy, but gave us a bit of a scare this past weekend. He started vomiting in addition to diorreha, wich in itself isnt that unusual for kids, but here in Namibia, with both kholera and malaria, the doctors didnt want to risk anything. He was therefore omitted to the hospital, where they put him on dryp and did several tests on him. He was dehydrated and couldnt hold anything down, so the dryp was necessary. No tests showed any sign of malaria, and we were able to leave the hospital after 1,5 days. He was really brave and despite being angry at the hand which the dryp was attached, he was in fairly good spirit when he started coming around after the first night.

Update on Fish River

Fish River Canyon didnt happen, hours before we were to catch the train to Keetmanshoop, Namibian Wildlife decided to close the canyon as the water in the canyon was reported stagnant, and other hikers got sick from drinking it. Since it is impossible to carry enough drinking water for a 7 day hike, despite the will, we had to take our gear and backpacks and start planning another trip. Disappointed for sure, but such is life, these are things we cannot control. Vicki and I decided to go to Spitzkopp, Brandberg (where we stayed at Ugab Wilderness camp, where the Namibian Desert Elephant had come through the camp just the night before), a Rhino Camp with nightly lion tracks in the campgrounds (supposidly a very shy lion who just came out at night), and then drive the Skeleton coast down to Swakopmund. We were able to do some hikes and see some of the desertet yet beautiful parts of Namibia.

Fish River Canyon

Tomorrow we are off. The kids and I will drive the 9 hours to Windhoek to meet up with Sammy, and this will be our first time to do this drive alone. With a good vechicle, and tools in the trunck we should be ok, but the first 3,5 hours of the drive is on gravl road, and not the most pleasant drive. However, we are all excited to go to Windhoek, and Erik cant wait to visit his favourite restaurant Spur! It`s been more than four months ago that the kids and I were in Windhoek, and for us villagers it seems rather exotic at the moment.

Friday, I will be travelling on to Ketmanshoop on my way to hike Fish River Canyon. Sammy and the boys will travel back to Opuwo and be homebound for the week I am gone. Fish River Canyon will be a huge challenge, but that`s what I love about it! Vicki and I have hiked all over Opuwo for the past three months to get in shape, and hopefully it pays off. The hardest part of the hike will be carrying the backpack with all the food and equipment we will need. We`ll be sleeping outside under the stars, but we have to be mindful of scorpions who has a liking of warm sleepingbags. Vicki and I are hiking in a group of 6 other people, which makes it a bit safer, as there`s absolutely no people around, and if there is other groups, we will most likely not see them (mind you, this is the worlds second largest canyon after Grand Canyon!).

For those of you interested in reading more about Fish River Canyon, click on one of these links:

http://www.namibia-travel.net/southnamibia/fishriver.htm http://www.footprint.co.za/fish.htm

I will let you know how the hike went, but won`t be back in Opuwo until May 20th, so be patient with me. And to those of you, pappa, Auden, Mari and Anne that I was planning to call on skype before leaving, I apologize, but time ran out and I have been way too busy entertaining the kids (especially Erik who is on holiday, as his pree-school is closed for a full month!).

Guri

Coca Cola!

It never seizes to amaze me how well Coca Cola promotes itself! Where NGO`s sometime are challenged to find the neediest of villages, Coke for some reason always finds its way. The reason for reflecting on this is Opuwo`s local newspaper, Good News, that we just received. Good news talks about water tanks in Otuzemba (the slum area), and that during the Cholera outbreak we had here in Opuwo in January, the Prime minister gave money to purchase 10 water tanks to be put there. The watertanks were installed shortly thereafter, HOWEVER, due to inefficiancy,the tanks are still empty, and people keep on putting themselves at risk by potentially drinking cholera infected water, because they have no other choice.

Oh yeah, I was actually talking about Coca Cola....! In the same newspaper that discuss important issues such as lack of water, hiv/aids on the increase, refuse removal programs etc, they also have a section called Good uses for Coca Cola. The following bulletpoints are listed:

-Do you have ugly oil spills in your driveway or garage? Pour some Coke on the oil spot, wait and clean easily

-Burnt food on saucepans, or burnt your pots? Soak in Coke for a few hours, and problem is solved

-For a sparkling toilet bowl, pour a can of Coke around the rim, leave for an hour, then brush and flush!

-Flat Coke re-hydrates you when you have diarrhea

So, there you go - Coke is all you need!

The picture of the two Coke bottles, and the himba lady, where ironically taken when I volunteered for the Emergency Cholera Campaign in January. I was fortunate to support Red Cross and the hospital when they flew out with helicopters to the most remote areas in Namibia. I saw the two Coke bottles at the womens hut, who has to walk for 2 days to reach the nearest village. She had carried the bottles back home with her. As you can see, the bottles are being used as sourmilk containers, and they absolutely serve a purpose! Go Coke Go!