Road Trippin’ in Namibia

I spent the past week on the road with a colleague from the Ministry of Education’s Directorate of Research, Science, and Technology. We were visiting schools and conducting outreach to administrators in regard to the computer-based learning centers the Directorate is funding and that I am managing (in Khorixas and later in Ongwediva).

At a few points, it was hard to distinguish the scenery and vast expanses of space I saw while road-tripping in the U.S. from road-tripping here. Other times, the warthog and elephant crossing signs were dead giveaways of the fact that I’m not in Kansas anymore. (Arizona, maybe. Sorry, mom and dad, but y’all are in the “boonies”).

The roads throughout the country are a mix of gravel and tarred surfaces. Some are two-lane, while most are one. Cows apparently own the road. We often had to maneuver our way through dozens of cattle that were chillin’ in the street or leisurely crossing in HUGE herds. Goats and donkeys also seem to have adopted the road as their own.

Other animals are less "gangsta" with their presence in the street. I saw ostrich, baboons, kudu, warthog, jackals, and dik-diks, quickly flee into the bushes upon encroachment of our vehicle. At a few times, we were driving alongside the border of Etosha National Park, and I saw giraffe, zebra, oryx, and other indigenous species grazing along the gates.

Oh, and I found it interesting that Namibian police also hide out in the bushes with a camera and car to catch violators of the posted speed limits.