Mariette du Toit
People generally avoid the wet season in Namibia because they associate “the wet season” with rain without end, days of soggy weather, endless grey skies… the list goes on.
But Namibia’s wet season is nothing like our European travellers expect. Our scorching heat gets a new factor – humidity. And then the clouds start building up… Towering cumulonimbus clouds fill the skies… sometimes the built-up last for days without a single drop of rain. But just when you feel that it has got to end, lightning lights those very clouds that you have been staring at for days and thunder ripples through your bones as it follows the lightning.
And then it rains… wherever you are, you can hear it coming. If you are in the bush, the sound is gentle and the breeze cool. If you are in town, you can hear it coming over the rooftops with gusts of wind searching for forgotten clothes to rip from washing lines.
It can last for an hour or two, or it can last for mere minutes, but the effect is always the same – a smile on every Namibian’s face. We love rain. We live for it. In Namibia we simply cannot wait for the rain to come.
Just days after the first rains, the dead browns turn to lively greens. The birds seem chirpier and the people friendlier. The greens are here. Time to go camping, fishing and hiking. The adventurous among us polish our mountain bikes. Time to leave the dry dust behind and go for the muddy roads. Our dogs are rewarded with endless summer walks along Avis Dam and every other imaginable trail. Everyone that has a farm, has a friend for the weekend. Everyone with a 4×4 truck heads for the unreachable.
And then tonight, when we make a fire next to the dam, we take out the marshmallows… and we toast to life. What on earth can be better than just this?
