Ammar Keylani was another intriguing and inspirational individual that we met at the Chameleon Backpackers Lodge. Ammar has been on the road for 13 years already; and his Land Rover certainly shows it! Covered with countless homemade gizmos tailored to facilitate life on the road, this Landy is probably the most unique I have come across! The vast array of items Ammar had packed away in his Land Rover would amaze just about anyone. On the roof he is even carrying an air compressor for his scuba tanks!
Ammar gave up his life as a medical doctor in Denmark to travel the world. Ammar has trended away from conventional medicine and has adopted a holistic view of the human body and health related matters. He illustrated his convictions by telling us a fictional story about a middle aged banker named Mr X. As with Mr X, most people horribly neglect their bodies; lack of exercise, lack of sleep and stress coupled with the consumption of foods that contain all kinds of preservatives, colorants, artificial flavourings, sugars, saturated fats, caffeine and of course alcohol. Our bodies natural defence mechanisms fail and we fall ill. Not to lose any time in our fast paced lives, we pop all kinds of pills; pain killers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory tablets, just to name a few. We do little to build up our natural immunity. Ammar may have taken it further than most, but he refuses any kind of conventional medicine. Even when he contracted one of the worst types of malaria, he refused to be treated and rather cured himself. When he was stung by a scorpion, he let his body's immune system fight the venom and naturally create antibodies. Ammar cannot remember the last time he was sick and claims that he in fact cannot get sick or contract a disease!
An amazingly versatile individual, in addition to being a medical doctor, he is an advanced scuba instructor, martial artist, musician, writer, jeweller, documentary film maker and an amazing photographer. Ammar's photography portfolio is impressive and he has an eye for a wide variety of subjects. He also speaks five languages. Ammar showed us one of his documentary films titled "Blind Jewels"; an emotional film in which he attempts to open the eyes of the sighted to the lives of the blind.
Ammar left Windhoek with his assistant Marion, to produce a film on the influence of tourism on the Himbas with further plans to travel to Zambia and then on to Malawi while continuously trying to raise awareness of noteworthy issues. Before he departed I purchased one of his framed prints that he had on display in Windhoek.
I feel privileged to have spent time with Ammar and feel inspired by his life and his words. I hope our travels have the fortune of crossing again in the future.