It’s true – there are longhorns in Namibia! Well, at least cows that remind me of longhorns. After spending the holidays on the beach I traveled north with Rachel and Lindsey to visit their villages. It’s a long way there, so we first stopped in Tsumeb. Tsumeb is incredibly green and has mountains on the drive getting there. It’s beautiful. It also was very rainy – I guess that comes along with all the green. In fact, we had to delay our trip because it was raining the morning we wanted to leave. But we did get a ride out the next day. Namibia has what is known as the “Red Line”. The Red Line is a border of sorts that divides the most Northern part of the country. Above the line they are not allowed to profit from selling livestock overseas outside of South Africa. Therefore, you cannot bring meat over the line. Once you go above the red line, you can see cows and goats EVERYWHERE! There are no real fences (there are fences all along the road in the south) that keep the herds contained. It can be dangerous driving in the north because of this. The north is also very crowded. We stopped in Ondangwa to visit the Peace Corps office there. I picked up some great books – some travel guides and Half the Sky (see my “Reading” post). From there we continued to travel north and our next stop was Oshakati. When we were dropped at the taxi ring here, we were SWARMED by drivers trying to get us to take their car. It was very overwhelming and I’m glad I was there with three (Kim joined us in Tsumeb) people that knew what to expect. We quickly got into a taxi but had to wait to find one more passenger. It’s very unlikely for a taxi (or even combis sometimes) to leave without a full load. But we filled up and were on our way. Rachel and I went to Outapi (Lindsey and Kim went other ways) and there found our final ride to her village Okathitu. We were in a small yellow car and as we were driving closer to her village the road became a winding dirt road. Because of all the rain in the area, many parts of the “road” were under water. I don’t know how this car managed to make it – he was splashing water above the roof of the car! But we did make it and were dropped off at the kuka shop (small store that sells a few grocery items, cool drinks, and beer). From here, we had a 40 min. walk to Rachel’s homestead, but it started raining. So we took off our backpacks and sat down to enjoy a cool drink (a coke). We waited out the heavy down pour, and once it was light enough, we decided to start the walk. There was a lake in our way – a lake that was not there when Rachel left. We waded through knee deep water, carrying our backpacks and trying to stay a little dry carrying our umbrellas. We made it across and by then, the rain had at least stopped. My flip-flops were not very good shoes to wade in, so I made the trek barefoot. And continued to walk barefoot for awhile until I stepped on a sticker. It wasn’t too bad, but I decided to try wearing my shoes again. It was a long journey, but it was very beautiful once the sun came out. Everything was so green, and there were large areas of water that reflected the brilliant blue sky. White lilies were growing in parts of the water. The area is heavily covered in bushes and trees and the grass was growing with so much rain. I was told that it all was very sandy and dry when Rachel arrived, and the green and growth was all new with the rain. It’s such a shocking contrast to the south! There are also palm trees! A true tropical paradise.
While in the north, I was taught by my fellow volunteers how to greet in Oshiwambo. This was good, because I wanted to greet the most polite way when I met all those on Rachel’s homestead. The homestead includes much land that is used for cows, pigs and goats and to grow mahangu. The mahangu is a type of grain that is grown and then dried out. It is stored in traditional containers like the one below. Once the grain has dried, it is then pound by hand to a powder that is cooked to make oshithema.
Oshithema is the staple of the north. It is cooked outdoors over an open fire and it makes a thick porridge type meal. It is eaten family style – served in a shallow basket and everyone grabs a portion, rolls it into a ball in their hands (just one hand, using your fingers and thumb) and is then dipped into the “soup”. The soup is the sauce that is cooked with meat and adds flavoring to the oshithema. I was glad that I was warned on how to eat oshithema. Because it is ground by hand and is cooked outdoors, it often is a little sandy. I was told to place it on the roof of my mouth and swallow without chewing. When I tried oshithema during cultural week in Okahandja, I made the mistake of chewing and did not like the stuff. But eating it this new way, I enjoyed the taste.
I had my first experience of no electricity and using a pit latrine. It was all fine – even when I had to use the restroom at 4am. Thank goodness I have a flashlight on my cell phone – it was very useful. Both nights I stayed, we sat around the fire as the meal was cooked and one night we had some traditional dancing. Although there are traditional huts on the homestead, we stayed in a concrete building to sleep, and Rachel will have her own building that has two rooms once the roof is fixed.
After visiting Rachel’s homestead, we took a trip to Lindsey’s village of Ilyateko. This was a long process to get there. First, we waded through thigh deep water to try to catch a ride early in the morning. The car couldn’t reach us, and we didn’t make it in time. So we started walking to town. We stopped along the way to rest, and came across others waiting for a ride. Luckily, once we saw them, it wasn’t too much longer before a ride came. We took all dirt roads, sometimes swerving to miss large puddles of water, and made it to Outapi. From there, we took a taxi to Tsandi and then luckily, a ride was waiting to take us to Ilyateko. This last part of the ride was on a straight dirt road, and it hadn’t rained too much yet so it was still passable. Lindsey later told me that she wasn’t able to get back to her village a few days later because the road was impassible due to all the rain!
Lindsey’s village has less bush and you are able to see between the different homesteads which was different from Rachel’s village. It was also a bit hotter because of the spaciousness. However, it was still very green. This is where I took the picture of the “longhorn”. Lindsey met us at the road and we walked first to her homestead and then to her school. Again, there was a lot of water everywhere, but not as much wading through - we were able to walk around most of the water. I was able to see the teacher’s housing at her school where she has a room. I have to say – it’s nice living so close to school; both Lindsey and Rachel have about a 40 min. walk from their homestead to their school. It would be good exercise, but with the heat, rain, cold, etc. I’ll take my 5 min. walk!
The next day we all went to Oshakati where they did some shopping and I met up with Kim to start heading back south. Everyone always says how different the north is from the south – and they are right! Not only the landscape, but the way of living is very different. It was a great experience being in the north, and I’m so happy that I was able to make the trip.
