Playing in the Mud on Valentine’s Day
Because Namibians aren’t used to water
I didn’t actually know it was Valentine’s day. Valentine’s day was never really a thing for me. We were just on a mission to get out of town. We were some young adults in their 20’s or 30's. Let’s say we were a group of friends going on an adventure. Because that is what it was.
A fun adventure out in nature.
And it happened to be Valentine’s day 2017.
The background
For those of you who still don’t know where and what Namibia is a quick introduction. Namibia is one of the most amazing countries in southern Africa. It’s dry. It’s hot. It’s full of surprises.
The rivers in Namibia run 90 percent of the year dry. There’s one river in the north, at the border to Angola which carries water all year around. And one river in the south at the border to South Africa which also always carries (some) water. The rest of the Namibian rivers are nothing but sandbanks throughout the year.
Playgrounds. That is what we call them. Because we camp in them. We go rock climbing. We watch the stars and have parties in the dry riverbeds of Namibia.
But sometimes. Sometimes, when it rains enough, these riverbeds actually do fill up with water. And then…
