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 the whole country is in excitement. Everyone wants to see the rivers flowing. Everyone wants to play in it. Touch the water.

My boyfriend’s explanation for this picture and his behavior:

“Namibians are not used to water.”

That is why they play in the mud. They play in the water. They are happy like kids. They embrace nature.

The planning of the adventure

It was raining season. February 2017. Somewhere I heard that the Kuiseb river was coming down. And then I reacted immediately. I asked my boss if I could borrow her car for two days (I had a really good relationship with her and was lucky to be able to use her vehicles often for our adventures).

As the next step, I texted in our WhatsApp group “we’re going to the Kuiseb, picking you guys up at 12 pm”. Not giving anyone an option about coming along or not.

Being the German in this group of friends it was usually me initiating and organizing most of our trips. Not that I had to force the others to join but they aren’t the ones who take the initiative. There are people out there who are perfectly happy when others organize their adventures.

I grabbed everything I needed for a night in the wild and off we went.

The drive

We had a two-hour drive ahead of us in order to reach the river. And then we would check it out and see where the river was actually flowing. But during this long drive through the desert, nothing looked like we would see any water.

There was nothing but sand. Rocks. And endless vastness.

I guess that is what you call a desert.

But still, now and then we saw some tiny little plants coming up on the side of the road. The only sign that there has been water in this area.

Arriving at the river

We did make it eventually. We arrived at the tiny forgotten town of Gobabeb. It’s actually not more than a research station with some local housing next to the riverbed. We parked the car and ran down to the riverbank.

Yes, the river is flowing!

About two seconds later I was stuck in the mud. Because I am impatient and had to run into the water. But I obviously didn’t make it. The sand soaked up from the water turned into one slimy piece of mud. Letting me sink in up to my knee.

Some more responsible people behind me warned the rest to be more careful and check out the area first. And helped me to get back out of this situation. But I was smiling already. Being stuck in the mud or not. I was laughing and having fun.

The mud fight

We drove down the river for a few kilometers until we found the perfect spot. Away from any sign of civilization (which is anyway given so deep in the desert). The river down here was still flowing. Not that strong but just enough for us to play in it.

As soon as the shirts were off and we all stood in the river the fight started. A mud fight. Just like people do have snowball fights. We started throwing mud at each other. Girls against boys. Girls having chunks of mud stuck in their hair. Guys having muddy backs from turning their back towards us.

A bunch of grown-up teenagers having the best time of their life.

We were actually a really mixed group of friends. There were two German girls. One Swiss girl. A dutch guy. A Canadian woman. Some South Africans and obviously the local Namibian crew. Did I miss someone? I don’t think so.

Swimming in the water

Yes, the water is brown. But that is how the water looks like when it comes down first in the season. Or how it always looks like in Africa. There’s too much sand in the riverbeds. Not enough rocky riverbeds.

But so what?

We all jumped into the water. I mean we had to wash off all that mud. In the muddy river. Not sure how successful we were with this task. But nobody really cared.

We were trying to swim. The water wasn’t very deep but the current was pushing you downriver. So you could try to swim against the current and come back up. A few of us would knock their knees and toes on rocks. Actually all of us. Because you couldn’t see what was underneath the surface.

One thing I do remember. We were laughing all the time. Smiling from one ear to the other one. All of us girls were sitting in the water. It’s been five of us. We even put our heads underwater. Don’t even want to think about swallowing this dirty water. But we didn’t care.

We had the time of our lives!

I didn’t take as many pictures as I usually did during our adventures. But how should I while being covered from top to bottom with mud? There’s no way any mud will get onto my precious camera. But I still got a few good shots.

My boyfriend rolled himself in the mud. He did not have one piece of skin which wasn’t covered in mud. But his smile — a smile you usually only get from the innocence of a child. From children playing and having a good time. But we were just like children. We forgot about the rest of the world and just had fun.

And this is something I did learn here in Namibia. People smile more. People laugh with their hearts. They enjoy their lives and don’t really care what others think about them having a good time.

I did ask my boyfriend if I could use the above pictures showing him playing in the mud. He had nothing against it. He said that he had the best time of his life and I’m allowed to share this experience with my readers.

The dunes

For almost its entire length the Kuiseb river runs along the dunes of the Namib desert. The riverbed actually stops the dunes from moving more north.

After hours of playing in the water, we decided to climb one of these dunes for sunset. These dunes can be very deceiving. You think you’re at the top but when you get there you’ll realize that another point is higher.

A few of us make it to the top and just sit down in the sand. We look into the setting sun and soak in the moment.

It’s been an incredible day. We had so much fun. Together. As a group.

Valentine’s day

As I mentioned before it happened to be Valentine’s day. I do not actually celebrate this day or even pay attention to when it’s coming up. Despite being in a relationship. I think we don’t need a day to show our partner how special they are to us.

And none of us really cared what day it was. Somebody mentioned what day it was during the mud fight and got a piece of mud thrown at him for saying that.

None of us really cared. We just enjoyed the adventure.

We lived in the moment.

We laughed. Smiled. And had a good time.

Not sure how to thank someone for such an unforgettable memory but this is supposed to be a thank you to all my friends who joined this trip. You made my day. Writing this article is supposed to bring back those awesome memories and motivate us to get back together again. As soon as we are allowed to…

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