After a period of travel, I like the silence where I can recollect how the places I visited made me feel - and this has been a defining theme for most of the places, I have been privileged
to visit over the past few years. This is not a feeling of nostalgia or longing, but is the feeling that is evoked when we read a book that stays with us, or a scene from a movie that lets us project ourselves into the scene.
I attribute this to the fact that without my realization, I was lucky to be around two incredible raconteurs - who filled a lot of my early years with incredible stories from my large extended family & their deep knowledge of a culture that spans more than 5000 years interspersed with vivid history, mythologies & essential truths. These two raconteurs - are my Patis (Grandmother in Tamil);
Rangi pati (an endearing term of reference to her name - Ranganayaki, paternal grandmother) & Roju pati (from her name Saroja - maternal grandmother). I think this immersion in storytelling (and listening) is at the Kernal of almost all my decisions to travel at this point - I travel singularly for the stories - of the people & places.
The ones that stay - always seem to appear at the boundaries of where comfort dissolves. So even before deciding where to go - the real expectation (or may be unrealistic) is to hopefully reveal to myself a story or two through an experience. Alternatively, I project myself as a character in a story from that place - maybe from a book, or a movie. If all of this sounds like the romanticized experience of traveling - it certainly is - and I would want to be no other way.
This letter is from & for the continent - Africa. Turns out that my connection to it runs at least two generations, with my mother, Pati & their family having spent about half a decade in the late 60's & 70's in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania where my grandfather was deputed by the Indian government. I grew up to an occasional story from those days, a jingle in Swahili, interspersed with stories about the school & life there. When I finally got an opportunity to start visiting the continent, I started with Morocco (Driven by images of the Stones in the Kasbah) followed by Kenya (and a brief kiss with the Tanzanian border in the Masai Mara) & before I was head down to the vast expanses of Namibia last winter (well summer depends on where you live!).
This is not a what to visit guide - it 's more of an assortment of experiences that completely enthralled me. There are an immense number of what to guides which do a much better job than I ever could. The TLDR summary of my time in Namibia is - Solo, Remote, Surreal & Incredibly beautiful. Also, it is also the last time I would ever use an actual paper map to navigate (it actually was way more of a pleasant experience & added a tiny sprinkling of adventure as well).
Namibia 's population density is about 4000 times lesser than the suburb of Mumbai (Thane! For those interested!) I grew up in, so my instinct to acclamatize always is to surround myself with people & Joe's on Nelson Mandela Ave in Windhoek was where my travels began.
The times were good & stories shared was long - but the feeling I was left with was of overwhelming warmth. I do not recollect which match of the FIFA worldcup was on, but I do remember the people I watched it with & for anyone with instincts similar to me - Go to Joe's & I can assure you the Namibian spirit shall be felt!
Driving down from the Khomas region into the Namib, I had the opportunity to drive through the Spreetshoogte Pass. It is a road less taken sitting between the towns of Rehoboth to Solitare, as I made my way to the Namib for the night.
The pass itself is both a spectacular driving experience, and the lookout points are truly an experience that was only elevated (no pun intended) by the views, and sheer drops whilst navigating a 5000 lb truck through 20 degree inclines.
As the KMs piled on, I think the realization that the roads & landscapes were itself the actual draw became apparent. To say that you do not see traffic or people, is an understatement - with stretches up to 100 Kms being almost completely empty. If being crowded is a constant experience (as it has been for me - and I am pretty comfortable in it) - the idea of being isolated - was also remarkably comforting (or it was the lack of cell range that probably was key to that comfort!).
The Namib is a remarkable place - and the Red Sand dunes which feature prominently 's sheer scale cannot be understated. The morning hike & roll down experiences on the dunes which also involved me (not expertly) navigating the truck offroad on the dunes to get to the
Deadvlei pans are going to go down in my diaries of adventure. It is an experience for the faint hearted (yes my heart is faint so if I could you definitely can!). The detour to the Sesriem canyons involved me trying to prevent the spare tires of my truck being hurried away by a pack of baboons, can be chalked into the lessons section of the diary.
A minor first in this trip was I carried a 10lb tripod alongside me, with the hope that maybe I can move up a grade in amateur photography, and I can say with some confidence it worked! I Guess, carelessly taken hand wavey pictures are not as good as ones with stable legs and the ability to focus on the subject. A side benefit was, the 10lb tripod made me work for the pictures, so I was intentional for once and not flood my phone with convenience pictures.
An unexpected feature of my travels was the ability to always be close to a television with the football world cup & an eclectic group of fans to boot. I believe I was able to get most of the round of 16 with a new group of friends every evening working my way up from Namib towards the coastal cities of Walvis Bay & Swakopmund.
The drive to the coast from the desert town of Sesriem, is like fast forwarding through a movie about the Landscapes on Earth, with stretches of dirt roads that would escape the horizon, completely fascinating!
Swakopmund is a town that kisses the Atlantic & my brief tryst there left me a longing to get back. It is quaint, beautiful and has a great boardwalk set to the music of the waves of the southern Atlantic.
The next 500 KMs involved making my way up to the edges of the vast Etosha national park. Etosha is unique with its vast Salt Pan to the north of which is among the more populated regions of Namibia.
What Etosha also offers is the ability to drive oneself through the park, making my way East ward and then with a helping hand for a day with park guides, the park surprises with its herbivorous game & pride of lions. The most remarkable part of Etosha is just being in the edge of the Pan, and taking in the sun, salt, and views of game as they graze the edges.
Finally, on the way down from Etosha, I had a lucky detour to what created some of the most remarkable memories for me from the trip. The Cheetah Conservation Fund in Otjiwarongo has a special connection for me as they were responsible for making happen an incredibly important moment for wildlife in India - the relocation of Cheetahs's to Kuno in India
bringing back these majestic cats to India after a hiatus of many many decades - to what used to be one of their primary habitats. I first saw Cheetahs in the wild in the Masai Mara and it is till date - what I can say is the closest I have come to a spiritual experience. At CCF, I was gratified not just by the work in conservation, but also pushing ahead frontiers of research which included building genetic libraries and studying habitats.
I treasure the conversations with Chimbi who guided me through their enclosures which sharing stories about Life growing up & living in Namibia, and an extremely gracious employee - Himee who served as a fantastic ambassador for CCF introducing me to many of their staff - to get fascinating stories around the cheetah relocation & conservation.
As I came down (well up) to Windhoek and started my wind down - the act of driving solo through 2000 Kms of the Namibian hinterland, left me with an overwhelming sense of gratitude, and I carried it with me - as I bid temporary goodbye to this very very special place.
Epilogue
On the way back to Stockholm, during the layover in Addis Ababa, I had a quintessentially airport moments of catching the World cup Quarter-finals game with the excitement of chatting up with a fellow traveler - a French man on a Christmas break from a UN mission, cheering & anxiously watching the gate as my flight boarding calls came about.
These fleeting moments in many ways remind me of stories I heard growing up from my favorite raconteurs (A.K.A my grandmothers!), of listening to stories of individual people, paying attention & staying grateful for the time that they share.
Traveling is a Gigantic privilege (of all that I have, this one sits on the top). The stories from it are ways to remind me to be grateful about it & always push myself to that boundary of discomfort - where the magic happens.
Life is beautiful!
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