Gaub River, Part 1

Twenty-four hours ago my greatest concern was finding a dry shelter from the approaching rain, maybe a cave or a thick tree under which I could rig up a makeshift tent. Needing to get to higher ground, I climbed out of the sandy river bed up the side of the rocky cliff that formed one side of the canyon wall. Quite a ways up the steep mountainside I spotted an overhanging rock forming a small cave underneath, no more than a few feet high, but just enough to keep me dry for the night. I poked my walking stick all the way to the back to make sure it wasn't already occupied. The cave floor was a mixture of sand and rocks so it took my last precious hour of daylight to make a flat enough space to sleep. Just at the mouth of my cave was a large flat rock forming a little "porch" which had an incredible view of the canyon mountains and the dry river bed below. Satisfied with my shelter, I finally settled down to enjoy a dinner of cold oatmeal and crackers on my "front porch" when I felt the first few drops of rain. . . .

But perhaps I should go back to the beginning.

I had heard about the Wilderness Therapy Program from a friend, so when he told me there would be a facilitators training hike I was excited to join and see firsthand what this was all about. The program is run by a Christian psychologist who used to work as a school counselor. She found that troubled students weren't that interested in opening up to a counselor sitting in an office, but by altering the environment she could have dramatically different results. So now the schools send her 8 of their most troubled youth who join with 3 other facilitators for an 8 day backpacking hike through the Namibian wilderness. During the trip they work through different exercises and initiatives designed to help the students confront their internal issues and deal with the root of their troublemaking.

The facilitators training, however, was only a 3 day hike just to give us a feel for the program and prepare those interested in getting involved. On Friday afternoon, the 9 of us involved piled into two 4x4 trucks for our adventure. We drove for about 3 hours on dirt roads that got progressively smaller and less well maintained with each turnoff. The last road was simply two tire tracks through the bush, winding through rivers and around rocks and trees. The further we went, the more beautiful the mountain views. Finally, we came around a corner and saw our base camp, a small, stone, one-room cabin and an old broken down bus.

With only 2 beds in the cabin and 4 cots in the bus, I spent the first night with a few others out under the stars. Or at least there would have been stars if it weren't for the thick cloud cover. The ground was a hard bed so I spent most of the night tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. With no phone or watch, the first dim glow on the eastern horizon was my alarm clock. I laid in my sleeping bag watching the sky slowly turn from black to pale blue. The approaching dawn painted the clouds in brilliant shades of red, yellow and orange. Finally the deep red sun peeked up over the mountains, but by then our day had already begun.

After a quick breakfast we packed all the gear and food we would need for the next 3 days into a backpack, pulled the straps tight, and started off with great anticipation on our wilderness adventure.

To be continued . . .