Our Man in Namibia

Last week we received a short but telling text message from our friend and product tester, the adventurer Mathias Ekornås: «I am stuck in Namibia.» Now, Mathias is not the worrying type, and we are used to him being at some remote part of the planet anyway, but the corona pandemic does present a new reality in which being stuck in Namibia might cause a concern. When asked, Mathias sent us the following report:

«When I came to Namibia in early march, the corona virus was something that happened in China.  There was also reports from infections in Europe, but to be honest I did not give it much attention: there are reports of epidemics every other year that never before have had practical implications for me. My plan was to stay a week in Namibia to learn survival skills from indigenous hunter-gatherers. The week after I was supposed to go to Bhutan to make a mountain trail assessment for a Russian adventurer, and after that fly to Jordan to work for the Norwegian Refugee Council before I went to Svalbard to guide a group of skiers from Ny-Aalesund to Longyearbyen. In short: I had a busy program this spring. When I came back from the bush and turned on my phone to read the news, the world had gone off its hinges. International flights were cancelled and national borders closed. Suddenly we were unable to leave the country.

At first we stayed at the Habitas lodge in a Natural Reserve in the Khomas area. The lodge was closed for new guests due to the pandemic, but the employees continued their work and training. I supported the organization with risk assessment and helped wherever I could. I had to question the safety of being there if the economic should collapse and lawlessness prevail: We were in a remote area, plentiful of resources, but the human factor was uncertain. When we learned that the Khomas area was planned for lockdown to stop the pandemic, we decided that the safest thing to do was to leave the premises.

As luck would have it, my travel companion Aleksandra received an invitation from good friends that live on a farm not far from the Botswaninan border. After four hours by truck we drove through the farm gates and met with 6 smiling faces: two kids, their parents and two grandparents. No welcoming hugs, of course, but a solid handshake was needed.
As of writing we have been here five days. When we can return to Norway is anybody’s guess, but we have clean water and food, we can hunt and read books, and the nearest neighbor is very, very far away.»

Thankfully Mathias and Aleksandra are safe and sound for now. We are sure they make the best of their unplanned stay with the very generous and welcoming folks at the farm.
Dundas Footwear can add the moniker «Apocalyptic-pandemic stress-test in subequatorial Africa» to our boots, and Mathias the adventurer by profession is now adventurer by necessity.
The world is not how it should be, it is what it is.

You can follow Mathias´ endeavors on Instagram @mathiasekorn and
@dundas_explorer

 

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