We spent a weekend as guests at a working farm in north central Namibia. Caveat here: this is not your everyday Namibian farm. Karl and Izelle’s farm is 8,000 acres of bush, zebra, antelope of all kinds, giraffes, cows, goats, sheep, dogs and chickens. It was a truly remarkable experience.
When NGIN began thinking about doing a Just Transition to the Future program in Namibia, I knew nothing about the country including where it was on the map nor how to pronounce it. So first things first, the basic facts about Namibia:
Located just north of South Africa, it was a South African province until its Independence in 1990 (South Africa’s independence occurred in 1994) . South Africa and Namibia remain closely tied together with a common language and cultural heritage. Most of the South Africans we met had relatives in Namibia and vice versa. South Africa was first colonized by the Dutch and Namibia by the Germans.
Namibia has a mere 3M people spread out over 300,000+ square miles of desert, bush, Atlantic coast line, huge dunes and mountains. There are just two towns of significant size so one does a lot of driving between where you are and where you want to go. We spent most of our time in the capital city of Windhoek.
Nambia’s main industries are tourism (Etosha National Park, Skeleton Coast on the Atlantic, hunting/safari lodges of all types) and mining of uranium, coal, gold, and diamonds.
Like most African countries we’ve been to, Namibia has a large number of people living below the poverty level - 40%. ( For reference, South Africa has 55%, Nigeria 40%, Mexico 36%, USA 11%, Germany 21%) And a few who live extremely well.
Namibia is a one party democracy with the SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organization) winning every election.
Someplace very different
You immediately know you’re someplace else walking down the ladder from the plane….and there’s no bus or walkway to meet you. You walk the couple of hundred yards to the “International” terminal.
Standing in the Safari Truck viewing the sunset.. Driving through the bush is pretty much the only way to get a real feel for Africa at its purest.
Karen and I spent two days driving around the Etosha National Park in Northern Namibia. This is a typical shot from our SUV. Lots and lots of dry brush as far as you can see, interrupted by the occasional zebra, giraffe, spring bok, wilderbeest, elephant, ostrich.
The main highlight of Etosha were a couple of waterholes that the animals visit after dark. This herd of elephants march in fast, huddled together for about 15 minutes drinking water, and then just as fast disappeared into the night.
We were not alone: ). A 300 yard long rock/stick fence surrounded the main water hole. This is a shot right after dinner when most of the safari goers get back from their day tour and head to the water hole for up close pics.
This is what it looks like at midnight.
KR coming back to the truck after looking at an elephant skull at the entrance of a very remote camp. It took us about three hours of driving down rutted gravel roads to get here.
Various farm vehicles sitting in the circular driveway. Karl and Izelle’s farm grows everything from onions to maize, have 350+ cows and a full time staff of 10 which grows to 50 depending on the work needed.
Very average sighting around the farm. What’s not so average is this land — and hundreds and hundreds of acres like it HAVE ALL BEEN CLEARED BY HAND. You can see the natural bush in the distance.
Happy crew just back from a “game drive.” From the right: Karl (Windhoek’s leading orthopedic surgeon and farm owner), Rikus (head of innovation at the Capricorn Group and the reason I’m in Namibia), his long time girlfriend Evana, FW, KR, and Izelle (Karl’s wife)
View of the main house from the backyard. The entire “homestead” made up of a dozen or so buildings, corrals for animals, garages, etc. is behind electrified fence to keep out the predators.
The view from the main house out back toward the lit waterhole. Here, we’re all sitting around an open fire after dinner telling tall tales…
This is one of their prize bulls, still recuperating from almost being kicked to death by a donkey (yes, you heard that right). Just goes to show that size doesn’t always matter; )
Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Here FW is trying his hand at farming by taking care of a new lamb.
The scope of the farm is hard to describe. Here, we’re sitting along side one tiny bit of fencing along a dirt road that has been cleared and constructed. There must be hundreds of miles of fencing and roads just like this.
We hit No. 55
Namibia is the 55th country we’ve visited in our trips together (including the US and its 50 states). This includes 20 in Europe, 14 in the Americas, 11 in the Asia’s, and 7 in Africa. We’ve been on a motorcycle in 30 of them.
As we were flying into Windhoek, I looked out our window at the city and its surroundings. It looked like a nondescript city from the air and all I could see in any direction was brown desert/bush. My thought: who would want to live here? One week later flying out I totally understand why someone would want to live here. Namibia is a very special place.
We spent three weeks in Africa this trip. While both KR and I are glad to be back on Our Mountain, we both are looking forward to the next trip to the Continent.
