Ruacana and Angola

June 13th 2009

On Saturday we went to Ruacana Falls. Paulina, a director at UNAM, offered to take us when we met her the week before last, so, we decided that this Saturday would be the best time to go visit the Falls and the hydro power plant.

It took 2 hours by car to get to the falls. Alison and I sat in the back of the van and listened to Harry Potter on audio book on her ipod. (And, yes, I am the coolest 20 year old you’ve ever met.) We arrived at the power station at around 11am and signed in at the front desk. Sadly, cameras are not aloud at the station, so I’ve got no pictures of it, which sucks because it was really, really cool. It looks like a really old school, science fiction-y, underground laboratory.

We walked down a paved road that led us directly to the mountain. Then, there was a huge tunnel drilled into the side of the mountain, which we entered. We walked down the tunnel to an underground atrium that housed lots of fancy machines, water tanks, pipes and dials. As we followed the tour guide I couldn’t help but feel like I was in an Austin Powers movie. When we turned the corner into a large hallway, I half expected to see a group of men, holding guns and wearing full-body uniforms, moving together in a slow jog.

The guide led us to what I can assume was a sort of control panel that overlooked the large atrium. Once I had a look around I could help but chuckle to myself because it all looked kind of fake. There was this main wall that had all these dials and scales on it, and there were painted-on arrows connecting all of them together. Even uncle Richard noticed this when he said, “sort of looks like the Nuclear Power Plant that Homer works at, huh?” And it did.

Unfortunately, there were three South Africans that were part of our tour group, and they proceeded to ask the tour guide and other employees all sorts questions that outlined their expertise in the field of hydropower. While they hovered over the guide and a computer learning about all the complex physics/engineering involved in hydropower, the girls and I practiced balancing water bottles on our heads. After practically mastering the skill, the SA’s finally finished their intellectual discussion with the guide, and he led us to another part of the plant. We got to see all the water flowing in from the dam into this under- mountain cavern and back out through a tunnel in the wall. Although this was a pretty cool part of the tour, after 15 minutes in the really loud and smelly crevasse, the girls and I started to get pretty antsy to get out of there. BUT NO, the SA’s decided that moving water was way too interesting, and moved from one part of the railing, to another, trying to get a better view of the moving water. Alison and I started to play the “guess what I’m drawing on your back” game, until FINALLY, the SA’s decided the tour could recommence.


The tour guide brought us back out of the mountainside tunnel and we got back into the van. We drove to the nearby river and had lunch. I dropped half of my sandwich in the sand and had to fill up on mini-apples instead, which wasn’t a good idea considering I was about to climb 500 steps and needed all the calories I could get.

After lunch we made our way to the Ruacana falls. Because it’s dry season here, there wasn’t a lot of water running from the dam to the plant, but we got to descend into the valley and scamper around on the rocks. Scampering, I just learned, is when you traipse around on rocks and boulders. It’s hard to describe with words, but Annie, Sol, Alison, Michelle and I all scampered down from the little cliff of rocks to the pools of water. It was super cool, and definitely not something I’m used to or good at. I couldn’t get all the way down because my runners have no traction, but meters from where I was perched on a rock the rest of the girls saw a bright blue freshwater crab. Apparently, Ruacana falls is the only place on earth that has fresh water crabs, and I almost saw one! Woo hoo!

After scampering back to Paulina, her husband and Richard. We made our way to an abandoned power station that was attacked during independence, (1990’s) which overlooks the falls. I got some amazing shots of the place, which is pretty haunting.

Next, we walked up the 500+ steps back to the van. It took about 15 minutes, but it was pretty horrible. I think I told Alison, who was right behind me, that I hated hiking about 10 times. Once I got to the top, though, I was pretty impressed with myself. Me, who is very unfit, and barely exercises, didn’t faint/puke/die during the hike up!! Impressed? Me too.

After about 10 minutes of recuperation, we got back in the van and stopped right at the Angolan/Namibian border. We were allowed to walk into Angola and visit the local neighborhood, which was really cool. You can pass the border without a passport as long as you stay within 60 km, or something like that, which is why we were able to casually cross the border by foot. We stumbled upon a shebeen and saw this beautiful Himba woman dressed in traditional clothing. I felt a bit uncomfortable about taking pictures of her, but the others took some amazing pictures, which I don’t feel too uncomfortable admiring. We stayed there for about 15 minutes, and crossed back into Namibia, making it the world’s fastest trip to Angola.

The car ride home was beautiful because we got to see northern Namibia during sunset, which I haven’t been able to see yet. Everything is really quite at dusk, which is real contrast from the hustle and bustle of Oshakati during the day. Just by looking out of the window I could really appreciate the Namibian landscape, trees and animals. Namibia really is a beautiful country!

The car ride home was also beautiful because Alison and I finished the Harry Potter audio book. What an amazing series.