Driving North

On Friday, we left Okahandja and drove 6 hours north to Ondangwa, where we had meetings with the cooperatives that I will be researching and will be working with.  Before we drove north, while it was obvious that we were in a developing country, I was surprised at how western and developed my experience had been.  This changed on the way north- at first, I was excited about seeing the wildlife.  In a six hour drive, we saw warthogs, springbok, HUGE termite mounds, eagles, guinea fowl, meerkats, and baboons.  As we were driving along the highway, we just drove past at least 15 baboons chillin in the bush- I just could not get over that.  This is not a very good picture, but we were driving at 120 kph, and I SAW  WILD BABOONS!

We also spent our first rand here, and got Namibian dollars for change.  One U.S. dollar is roughly 8 Namibian, but seeing $120 on a menu can be startling nonetheless. 

There is a line that divides the most northern part of the country from the southern part.  It’s supposedly the hoof-and-mouth line- cattle south of the line have been cleared and are allowed to be sold regionally, but cattle north of the line have not.  However, this line also marks the northernmost point where Germans settled- they never got as far as Ondangwa.  This line also demarks the old homelands instituted during Apartheid- blacks could not cross it.  I’ve heard subtle suggestions that the hoof-and-mouth line is more for socio-political purposes than for health. 

North of this line is the Africa I expected- dry and dusty, with men driving cattle and metal shacks rising out of the bush.  This is where the majority of the Namibian population lives, on less than $2 a day.