1: Zebra with rainbow in the background.
2: More Zebies
3: Giraffes
4: Wildebeasts
5: Springbok
After our homestay we headed to Etosha, Namibia's national game park and largest tourist attraction. We did several game drives and saw lots and lots of animals of which I will post pictures. We saw Giraffes, a Lion, Zebras, Elephants, Oryx, Springbok, Impala, Jackals, Wildebeasts and Mongoose. Etosaha is a huge place and it was really fun to be there. Although it was great it was just the perfect amount of time. If i had spent any more time in a car on a game drive I may have lost my mind.
The rest of the time in the north was spent going around to different development operations and activites. We saw another school, some bricklaying iniatives and other stuff. The most notable things were the following...
The Ruacana Dam and Waterfalls. This was awesome. This dam provides most of the power for the entire country of Namibia. It was like James Bond Set. We saw where the water comes in and the huge generators that make the power. It was very hard to hear the man speak so I didnt completely get to understand the workings of the dam but it was cool. The dam was only second to the falls which were amazing. They were the biggest waterfalls ive ever seen. Apparently we were lucky that its been raining so much because the falls can often be dry. I say the word lucky very carefully because although the rain provided us with a picturesque seen it has also caused massive flooding in the north creating all sorts of issues for the local people.
The Edufano Women's Coopeartive a was another cool visit. Here the work with women to harvest oil from Marula trees on their property. The work is voluntary and the women earn a proportion equal to the amount of seeds they provide. It seems like a good system where people are treated fairly. The problem I see with it is that i wonder if economically is it really worth the money for the women to spend their time and effort harvesting the fruit for the money they make? The money helps but its not a great deal. Would they be better off doing something else where they could be possibly making more? And if so what? 33% of the country is not employed.
The last interesting visit we had was to the Ongwediva Rural Development Center. The lady showed around to the different projects they provide training for so people can sustain themselves. Things like hydroponic tables which are quite cool. From these tables the people who are trained can make a number of different things with the plants etc they grow. They can make jams, dyes, soups, and on and on. They can then use what they make and sell. These things all looked and sounded really great but I had soem issues here as well. Is it efficient for farmers and people who live in rural areas to use these tables. Is it efficient for the time and effort they put in? Is it worth the start up cost (which can be a lot) for the people to start these tables? Will they be able to cover the start-up costs? Is there a demandfor the products they will produce? How willl they get the products to the market? These were all things I was wondering. I often think that my western capitalist influenced mindset leads me to find ways to make everything efficient (economically and timewise). But the real question is does everything need to be efficient? We does the western way of doing thing need to be implemented in a non-western world?
So that about finishes up the north. Spring break is coming soon.
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