African handshake

Handshakes are also an icebreaker: the African handshake consists of 3 parts: the Western handshake, followed by turning your thumbs around eachother and grabbing eachother's palms with your fingers & repeating the conventional handshake again! : )

Everybody also always ask how you are doing. Even when you just knod at people they reply 'fine' since every greeeting is considered as an inquiry about your health ; )

Les 1 Nederlands - Afrikaans

Afrikaans sounds like a dialect of Dutch and is written very phonetically.

Nederlands Afrikaans

Goedemorgen: Goeiemôre
Goedeavond: Goeienaand
Alstublieft: Asseblief
Dank u: Dankie
Hoe gaat het? Hoegaandit?
Roep de politie! Roep die polisie!
Ik ben verloren: Ek is verloorer
Gedroogd zout vlees: Biltong
Frui: Vrugte
Stadscentrum: Middestad
Gisteren: Gister
Verkeerslichten: Verkeerslig
Jeep: Bakkie

The big 5

Lions

Basically the lioness does all te work, the lions sits on his lazy ass and only comes out to grawl & hunt when he gets indications of food or danger. What a life! 85% of the 350 lions in Namibia are confined to Etosha Park. Once they escape from the park, it's only a matter of time before they are shot by ranchers to protect their cattle...

African elephant

This baby weighs 6.5 ton and drinks about 65 litres of water a day (and this for a dry country like Namibia) Namibia is the only country in the world where you can find the "desert elephant", a whiter species adapted to the harsh conditions around the Skeleton Coast.

Buffalo

Main occupation: grazing all day long! While herds are unlikely to charge, solitary males always think attack is the best defence (so don't feel sorry for his lonelyness)

Leopard

Spends most of his days hanging in tree tops, enjoying the shade, either sleeping or eating from the carcas of a prey.

Black Rhinoceros

This hunchback has a big neck hump and a horn up to 1.3m! They're rarer than the white rhinoceros.

8 tips for National Parks (with the courtesy of Lonely Planet)

1. Lie still if large animals brush against the tent.

2. Riverbanks are sidewalks for hippo's, and you don't want to be in his way when this big bully passes by. (oh... and the extremely poisonous puff adder likes to crawl in dry sandy riverbeds...)

3. Don't keep fruit in your tent, since you're tent probably isn't elephant-proof.

4. If you encounter large species such as buffalo's, lions or elephant, back away slowly & quietly.

5. Don't run away from lions. If you respond like a prey, the lion will treat you accordingly.

6. Don't swim or walk aling riverbanks where crocs or hippos might be wandering about.

7. Mammals with offspring are always more agressive.

8. Hyenas are normally just after your food. But be sure te be in safety once you run out of food.