Wilkinson's World

Archive for January, 2010

We have just returned from the most amazing visit to Norotshama, a resort in southern Namibia on the banks of the Orange River. Amazing because it was a long-overdue family reunion (more about that in another blog) and also because of the awesome scenery in that part of the world.

Having traveled extensively in central and northern Namibia, I have always felt that the southern part of the country is somewhat lacking in tourist appeal, apart from Luderitz, the Fish River Canyon and Duiseb Castle. I have amended my opinion since doing this trip.

We stayed about four kilometers from the little village of Aussenkehr. This village is quite unique, not only because of its position – surrounded by breathtaking mountains and desert scenery, as well as wine lands and the mighty Orange River – but mainly because most of the houses are built of reeds from the river bank. It was quickly assigned the name of “straw village” by our party.

One wonders if the shacks are made from reeds because they are free and readily available or because reed houses are cool inside, giving their inhabitants some measure of relief from temperatures that can soar up over 50oC in summer. I noticed that some of the houses were built of corrugated iron and just cladded with reeds, whilst others were made from a combination of mud and reeds.

Because it is a grape-growing area and most of the local employment comes from the nearby wine farms, many houses have patches of grapes spread out on the ground to dry in the sun. These look like miniature tapestries and add a bit of colour to the otherwise dry, dusty exterior of the houses. With the sun beating down on them, the grapes soon shrivel up and turn into raisins providing food for the shack dwellers.

Passing Aussenkehr and heading west, the scenery can only be described as breathtaking. If one heads up a short 4×4 track just beyond the sign to Rosh Pinah, the views are spectacular in every direction.

In fact one has 360 degree views of different types of scenery – from dramatic mountains, to sandy desert and lush green where the river cuts a swathe through the valley.

It is a place of awe and wonder and a photographer’s paradise. A word of warning though, strong winds come up in the evenings, which is unfortunate because that’s when the light is best for photography. It’s also a magic spot to watch the sun go down with an ice cold beer in one’s hand.

From Aussenkehr it is a short drive to the entrance to the Richtersveld National Park. Alas our time was too short to go into the park, but it now sits firmly on our agenda for another visit to this amazing area.

The resort that we stayed at, Norotshama, is an oasis in the desert. With campsites and chalets overlooking the Orange River and rocky desert mountains as a backdrop, one is rewarded each evening with glowing pink and orange sunsets and an assortment of birds flying down the river. In fact the bird life along the Orange is abundant and at any given time one could see herons wading, cormorants sunning themselves with wings outstretched, kingfishers diving into the water and red bishops busily courting in the reeds. A lifer for us was the little green Orange River White-eye.

Rob was in his element cycling through the grape vines and along the deserted roads, whilst the rest of us fished, paddled canoes up the river or relaxed in the swimming pool. The temperatures were quite uncomfortable at times, with one thermometer reading going up as high as 57.4oC in our braai area. It did cool down in the evenings though which made our supper times outdoors rather special.

The Norotshama Resort is very nice, although a little on the pricey side. They did sweeten the deal a bit by providing free canoes, which we made good use of, but the breakfasts were very ordinary and we found that management didn’t control noisy patrons very well. Although we booked as early as March for our December visit, there was a mix up with our reservation and our party had to be separated. We were also given misleading information about the white water rafting that we wanted to do. These were minor problems though and we can still thoroughly recommend a visit to this area and the Resort.

Visit almost any of the acacia bushveld areas of Namibia at almost any time of the year and you will almost certainly see the beautifully coloured, distinctively slender shape of a Swallow-tailed bee-eater as it hawks insects from its roost, usually a branch on the outside of a convenient bush or tree.

A short aerial sally to catch a passing insect, particularly a honey-bee, then back to its perch to beat it against a branch before gulping it down.

The adult swallow-tail is 20 to 22 cm in length and is quite striking in its plumage of green and blue, with a yellow throat and blue gorget. It has bright red eyes and a long slightly decurved black bill. The diagnostic deeply forked blue tail distinguishes it from any vaguely similar birds. The sexes are alike.

The swallow-tail’s scientific name is Merops hirundineus – Merops being Latin for a bee-eater and hirundineus being Latin for “like a swallow”. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

The swallow-tail is widespread throughout most of Namibia, usually found in pairs or, when not breeding, in small flocks of 8-10 birds, preferring woodland, often near water.

It nests in tunnels up to 1 m long, excavated in a low bank or in a burrow such as that of an aardvark, in which it lays a clutch of 2 to 4 white eggs. It is parasitised by the Greater honeyguide (Indicator indicator).

First described by Lichtenstein in 1793.

I first became aware of and interested in mantras after visiting the Himalayas in 2002.  I wanted a Tibetan meditation cd and stumbled upon the famous Om Mani Padme Hum mantra whilst visiting a small market in Kathmandu.  This mantra is found on every conceivable surface in Nepal and Tibet  but mainly on prayer stones and prayer wheels.

Om Mani Padme Hum Prayer Stone

For anyone not knowing what a mantra is, let me explain.

There are many definitions of the meaning, but I think that the most understandable is to break the word into two:  “man” being the root sound of the word “mind” and “tra” being the root sound of the word “instrument”.  A mantra is therefore an instrument of the mind.  Traditionally a mantra is repeated one hundred and eight times, but there is no hard and fast rule in this regard.  People who hear them for the first time often wonder if the songwriter was stuck for lyrics!

For those new to meditation, chanting a mantra is a great starting point as it helps to focus the mind on a single sacred power phrase.  We all know how impossible it is to still the ‘chattering monkey’ mind and it can take years of practice to get to the state of altered consciousness that meditators strive for.  This often puts beginners off, but if they started with joyful mantra practices they would soon become hooked!

The world is made up of vibrations that, with practice, can be heard if one sits very quietly.  According to ancient Vedic wisdom the vibrating sounds in nature are expressing the cosmic mind and are the means through which the infinite potential expresses itself as the manifest universe.

Reciting or singing a mantra out loud creates a special pattern of vibration that has transformational properties which can manifest effects in our physical realm.  These properties can be anything from healing to stress reduction and can take one to the field of pure consciousness where the vibration originated.

I said earlier that a mantra is a sacred power phrase, but in itself, a mantra is meaningless.  Once one adds intention to one’s chanting of the mantra it becomes a sutra.  Sutra is literally the Sanskrit word for stitch or sew (‘suture’ in English) and it means to stitch an intention to a mantra to give it a sacred purpose.  Mantras have been repeated by millions of people over thousands of years and this repetition has added strength to their power of manifestation.  It is far more potent to repeat an old much-used mantra than a new one, as one taps into the higher probability of the intention being fulfilled.  It is also not essential to know exactly what the words mean, as long as they are said with intention.

I struck gold with the Om Mani Padme Hum cd that I bought, as it is the most practiced mantra in the world.  It is a mantra of compassion and roughly means “Hail to the jewel (the mind) in the lotus (the heart).  When the mind and heart are used together the possibilities to transform oneself and the world are incredible.

As a regular meditator, I can highly recommend the work of Henry Marshall and The Playshop Family for joyful and meaningful mantras for both beginners and seasoned meditators alike.

These simple, yet powerful mantras that combine the wisdom of the East with the music of the West, are easy to sing along to, both in meditation groups or on one’s own and they leave one feeling uplifted, expanded and happy.  Henry gives an explanation along with each mantra so that one can choose the most appropriate mantra and visualize the effect that one desires.

I personally love all the songs but daily chant the hauntingly beautiful one called Dhanyavad Ananda (a mantra of gratitude) that can be found on Henry Marshall’s cd “Mantras II – To Change Your World”.  If you haven’t already experienced the wonderful world of mantras do yourself a favour and give it a try.

Namaste and all the best for 2010.

Take a walk along the beachfront at Walvis Bay and one of the most distinctive and easily recognizable birds to be seen wading in the shallow water is the black-and-white Pied Avocet. Appropriately named “Avocette élégante” in French, this elegant bird with its delicate upturned bill is often seen walking slowly forward across the mudflats with its head lowered as it scythes its bill from side to side through the shallow water in search of crustaceans, insects, insect larvae and small fish.

In slightly deeper they will feed in an upturned position and will move forward more slowly.

The dark grey upturned bill has given the Avocet the first half of its binomial – Recurvirostra avosetta – and also the old English name by which the bird is still sometimes known, the “Cobbler’s awl”.

Although monogamous, Avocets are gregarious birds and aggregations of more than 1000 birds have been reported in the Walvis Bay – Sandwich Harbour region. It is widely distributed throughout Namibia and also many other parts of the world. It favours shallow inland vleis and dams, and coastal estuaries and lagoons, which suits its characteristic style of feeding. They nest on open ground, often close to the water’s edge, sometimes in the company of other waders, laying 3-5 eggs in a shallow scrape in the mud.

The males and females have similar distinctive pied colouring when fully grown these medium sized waders are 42-45 cm long, including the bill of around 8 cm and legs of about 8 cm, and they have a wingspan of approximately 80 cm.

To watch a pair of Pied Avocets flying in tandem past the sand dunes of Sandwich Harbour, their shadows racing over the rippled sand below them, is a treat for anyone with the slightest interest in birding.

The Pied Avocet is the emblem of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.