American Staffordshire Terrier Amigo in Africa: January - July 1999

January - July 1999

South Africa - Namibia - Botswana - Zimbabwe

For 6 months I travelled across Africa together with Brigitte and Edy:
hilly and rough in Lesotho, plain and barren in the Kalahari and in the Makgadikgadi Pans, Mediterranean and mild at the Cape, at times hot, at times freezing cold in the Namib Desert, humid in the Okavango Delta, tropical and sultry by the Indian Ocean and on the Zambezi.
Together we made the acquaintance of fascinating people from different cultures and of various animals.

Zurich - Johannesburg: an 11 hour flight, check-in 2 hours in advance and 2 hours of red tape on arrival. Thanks to the preparations with the authorities for freight and veterinary affairs, everything has gone well. I felt a bit tired and, despite being a American Staffordshire Terrier, behaved quietly.

At the port in Durban, we picked up our Expedition Truck - a MAN, 10 tons, 4x4, 1500 km autonomy, suitable for rough country. The adventure began: 25'000 km, 6 flat tyres and several minor break-downs, which Edy took care of.

Sitting in the driver's cab, between my tour-guides, I keep constantly an eye on both and enjoyed the wind with its different smells.
Therefore, I hardly found time to sleep during the day, but in the night, nothing could hold me back from sleeping, not even elephants pulling out trees, grazing hippos or howling hyenas.

Only at the borders, there was an identity card check for me. My presence speeded up the border crossing process, because none of the customs officials dared to enter the cabin while I was there.

We took a lot of time to relax at the beaches on the Garden Route, by the Epupa Falls in the Kaokoveld in Namibia (on the Angolan border), in the biggest saltpan of Botswana (500 sq km) and at the Lake of Kariba (a reservoir containing 150 billions m3 of water and thousands of crocodiles).
I enjoyed playing around, relaxing and getting my two companions' full care and attention.

Don't move - avoid any efforts! In a wet T-shirt of my boss, I endure the 55 degrees in the shade. The Fish-River Canyon is beautiful, but not even I think of walking and running. Walking on hot sand and stones is extremly troublesome. When the temperature dropped to just about bearable levels at night, it was time of sunrise again!

I was not allowed to accompany my travel companions into National Parks. But since I am well-trained ans smart, I kept quit during the entry checks, so that there was nothing to keep me from visiting all the beautiful and wild animals myself. Barking strictly forbidden!
We refrained from the idea of staying in the park overnight... after having been attacked by a group of some 80 baboons.

We lived a lot of adventure and are already planning the next trip.

Amigo
The Woodlane Gang's Adam