{"id":18311,"date":"2024-01-12T09:07:19","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T16:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelingschool.com\/?p=18311"},"modified":"2024-01-12T09:14:48","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T16:14:48","slug":"rolling-on-the-orange-river-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelingschool.com\/rolling-on-the-orange-river-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolling on the (Orange) River"},"content":{"rendered":"
Here’s a little snapshot of life living and learning with The Traveling School. Morgan Comey, a teacher and Logistics Coordinator for TTS39, shared moments and photos from their time in Namibia last fall. This was originally posted on the TTS39 Parent Blog<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/h6>\n

Hello and welcome to a little slice of life at the Traveling School \u2013 a taste of the air we\u2019re breathing, the sights we\u2019re seeing, and the moments we\u2019re sharing. Come on the Orange River with us for four days. But first, let\u2019s set the stage \u2013\u00a0 the environment, the feelings, the group \u2013 before we pushed off the banks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The headwaters of the Orange River are in central South Africa in the Drakensberg Mountains. From there, its waters wind their way east, eventually becoming the border of Namibia and South Africa. Along the way, the river sees many things and carries many secrets. One of them is diamonds. After skirting away from the Drakensbergs, the Orange River passes through Kimberlites, a place where diamonds are thrust from beneath the Earth\u2019s crust to the surface. The river picks up some of the diamonds and transports them as it slowly erodes its way to the Atlantic Ocean. Today, much of Namibia\u2019s diamond mining is offshore, extracting these same diamonds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The students of the Traveling School just passed our two-month-a-versary. They are happy, they are tired, they are full to the brim with new learnings, they are hungry for more. Last week, TTS looked different than this one. We were deep in midterms, writing essays, role playing stakeholders in the management of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, reading <\/span>Nervous Conditions,<\/span><\/i> and drinking loads of tea in our cozy hostel in Luderitz. Then, we had a whirlwind day of interdisciplinary action, connecting the scientific process of diamond formation with the historical influence of mining and monopolies, the economic impacts of the diamond industry, and the complicated existence of conflict diamonds. Leaving the backdrop of this heavily German town and the neighboring ghost town of Kolmanskop (see photos below), it was only fitting we next stepped onto the banks of the Orange River, where many of those diamonds have also traveled.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Orange River was a bit of a pause from classes as well as a mid semester reset and re-grounding. We pulled back a bit from academics and took a moment to focus on our community and to look within ourselves and our group.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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DAY 1:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

We met our guides, Titus, Salaam, and Franz, and they introduced us to \u201criver time,\u201d i.e. the concept that we would wake up with the sun, have our day with no need for specific times, and go to sleep with the sun. We latched on, leaving our watches at the shore, a rare and special time for TTS students to leave the schedule behind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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This day, and trip, also marked our first round of student leader of the day, affectionately known as SLOD. Harper jumped in as our first volunteer, setting the tone for our time on the river. Our first day was special. It can be hard to get long periods of one-on-one time here, and we were gifted a lovely day of just that: paddling in pairs, swimming during breaks, and eating great food carefully made by our guides. Traveling School students were seen sprawled around camp, splashing in the water, huddling in the shade, taking naps, reading, relaxing, and staying cool.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite its name, the Orange River\u2019s waters are on the green side. It weaves and braids through an epically harsh landscape. After just a few kilometers, jagged peaks surrounded us, absent of any vegetation beyond a few yards from the shore. The \u201cOrange\u201d must come from there, from the oxidized rocks setting the landscape into a constant glow, like a never-ending sunset.<\/span><\/p>\n

We capped the afternoon with a Leadership & Life Skills class about vulnerability and trust, building our own self awareness, reflecting, and gaining insight into our collective experiences. We fell asleep to a bright moon, though some folks were able to catch a truly magical night\u2019s sky in the wee hours of the morning after the moon had set.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scents of the river:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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  • the most delicious sauce any of us have ever had on our chicken<\/span><\/li>\n
  • campfire smoke from cooking on the open fire<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Rooibos tea, Ceylon tea, Nespresso, hot chocolate<\/span><\/li>\n
  • fresh fish caught by Cora<\/span><\/li>\n
  • sunscreen, so much sunscreen<\/span><\/li>\n
  • crisp pages in books\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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    DAY 2:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

    The next day, Ashelynn stepped up to the SLOD plate. After a pleasant morning paddle and science field journaling, we braved a hot windstorm that tested our collective patience as we tried again and again to set up our shade tarp. Lilla rocked a fierce sun protection outfit after some sunburnt feet the day before. We snuck out of the wind and up to a vista, taking in the view of the sprawling river from above. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t