So I have just been working and living here in Katima recently, but life here is always interesting.
Where am I? I know there are still some of you out there, wondering, where in the heck is Namibia? Well here it is. Katima Mulilo is in the guitar-top looking part that juts into the middle of Africa - the Caprivi Strip. It’s surrounded by national parks and it has the highest concentration of elephants in the world. The last of the great herds. Sweet.
What am I doing? (besides writing blogs and almost killing myself): It’s not just about solar, but a big part of it is access to energy. Most people in the villages surrounding this area don’t have access to electricity, so they rely mostly on candles for lighting in their mud huts and fires for cooking, heating and boiling water. We are also here to strengthen the conservancy system in the Caprivi. The conservancies were created after independence (from South Africa) to embrace community based conservation and democratize discriminatory aspects of conservation legislation. How it works in practice is the conservancies get money from lodges, which pays for the salaries of the conservancy leader and the rest of the money can go to a community project, or, as is more often the case, to a small cash distribution. The communities feel that – like most African governance – the benefits are going to a lucky few, and not to the communities.
Below - Sobbe conservancy office, and Sobbe focus group...
We did a focus group in the community where there was already a conservancy sale last week. The overwhelming message was: We love the torches! We want more torches! Now we don’t have to use candles in the home, which is bad for our lungs, we can see snakes, and we can scare away elephants. When are you coming back for more? When are you bringing us more products? Pretty cool.
We are doing another sale in another conservancy when the torches come in at the end of the month.
Here is some EE propaganda for your viewing pleasure. It's pretty sweet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_PehXS1KJk
What is it like there? Katima isn’t the prettiest town you have ever seen, but it’s got most things you need. We have two fantastic grocery stores, which is a lot like a western grocery store, with a much more limited selection (esp meat, fresh produce, etc). We have three whole restaurants in town – one serves chicken, one serves steak, and one is only open for breakfast and lunch. Otherwise, shops in town are a few gas stations and “Chinese shops,” which might have any random assortment of items. Oh, there is also a market with (great smelling) fish and some locally grown items, mostly tomatoes and onions and a few peanuts. The nice part is being surrounded by the rivers and the bush: we are surrounded by the Namibian national parks, and we’re only a few hours from Livingstone, Zambia (Vic Falls!) and a few hours from Chobe National Park in Botswana.
There are tons of great characters in town, including Henk, who swore to be the local croc hunter, and Lise, who has been living in the bush for two months tagging hyenas…for her own pleasure!
What can you do for fun? My weekends have been filled with pleasant quiet days at the Fish Farm, wandering among the horses, goats, chickens, dogs…down to the river and canopy birds, in the bush under many birds, and various excursions nearby and in the bush.
One weekend, we went kayaking on the Zambezi River. We stopped for a bit at a sand bank that made the funniest squeaking noise when you jump on it. Kayaking here is a bit sketchy…because of the hippos more than the crocs. They are quite territorial and have no problem turning over a kayak and chomping someone in half. There aren’t many hippos on the Zambezi where we kayaked… so I am told. (My friend Erica, who is working for WWF in Zambia, on the Zambezi.)
Last weekend, I was invited to go on a fishing trip with Wouter and his friends, Johan and Johan. When in Rome…The trip started with no less than two breaks in the 100K journey to the Kwandu River…for beer. The resort in Mudumu National Park was beautiful – small cabins over the water. They taught me how to braii (bbq), fish, and that I can't keep up beer for beer with Afrikaans. We did see some ellies right next to the river and a strange bat hanging from the ceiling!! There were dudes, sausages, and more dudes...total Afrikaans sausage fest :)
Kwandu River, ellie, Wouter with his big catch of the day
We had a little going away party for my friend Dan, who moved from the Fish Farm to work at a resort on the river. There is a nice little dock, called “the deck,” right over the Zambezi River, where it’s nice to have sundowners. There was probably a few too many of us on the old structure, and at one point, the whole thing started to tip pretty seriously towards the water. We all screamed and ran to the other side...it made for an exciting night out on the river.
I have started to meet people in town, which is nice. I attended a "kitten party" - dress up party for GIRLS ONLY! at a bar, which was a fantastic idea. I also spent a Sunday drinking beer and eating poike, Afrikaans style delicious stew. Lakka!! (Good!)
Unfortunately, I have been met with an uncommon amount of racism, almost all white on black. I thought about sharing some of the shocking things I have heard, but I decided that these things don't need to be repeated. It goes both ways though - the founding father of Namibia recently encouraged people to find Englishmen, and beat them up...with hammers. http://allafrica.com/stories/200909211118.html
Favorite frog story of the week: I noticed a frog hanging out on the toilet. Cool, whatever. Next thing I hear is a PLOP! …Mr. Froggie decided to go for a swim in the toilet bowl! A bit later Ryan went into the bathroom and started laughing pretty hard when he saw the little guy in his personal pool. He warned me to think before I flush.
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