Siama Crossing Borders

We're happy to have found an interesting development project in Namibia thanks to "Siama Crossing Borders"

Mariette put a lot of effort into informing us and arranging our airplane tickets (thank you! : )

You can find the website of the local project here:
http://www.childrennamibie.com/nl/

More once we get there ... we're looking forward to it!

Practical things to know when you travel to Namibia

Food & drinks

German food such as "Wurst mit Sauerkraut" & "Schwarzwaldkuche mit Sahne" is available in every town, and they even have Oktoberfest over there! But if you want to discover the real Namibian gastronomy: try a refreshing "Sundowner" at sunset or a Nara melon! Also popular: oshifima (dough-like past served with a stem of vegetables & meat) oshiwambo (spinach & meat) mealie pap (some sort of porridge) oshikundu (beer brewed from mahango) mataku (watermelon wine). They're is no camping without a BBQ and wild meat & fish are often on the menu.

The big five

The big five don't refer to the 5 biggest mammals, but to the animals that are most dangerous to hunt. The lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant are notorious for turning to their hunter once attacked.

Snakes

Namibia is the African country with the biggest snake population. Although 50% of those bitten by venomous snakes aren't actually injected with poison (envenomed), still better don't stick your hand in dark holes or between rocks and always wear closed shoes ; )

Scorpions

Always tap out your shoes every morning: scorpions love dark & warm spaces, even if they are smelly! Most stings aren't life-threatening, but however quite painful. As a general rule: the bigger the scissorhands, the less poisonous (however there aren some rare exceptions). Only 1% of the stings of the most dangerous scorpions results in the death of adults. Scorpions sometimes make a tjilping-sound as a warning before attack.

Other bugs...

Put away you sleeping bag when not in use and shake out your clothing before you put them on. All sorts of bugs & small reptiles like those hideaways.

Malaria

Malaria-mosquitos are only a big risk in the north & east of the country, in other parts the cold desert nights keep them out.

Female travellers

Although Namibia is fairly save, it's generally is a conservative society. Accepting a drink from a male companion in a bar is apparently viewed as a come-on. In rural areas, sleeveless clothing can be less appreciated.

Highest cause of tourist injuries: car accidents!

Night-drives are known for collisions with animals, four-wheel-drives aren't designed to drive 100km/h over sandy bumpy roads, dust clouds hinder your sight while taking over and... they drive at the left hand side of the road!!!

Ivory

Although you can legally buy ivory in Namibia, you might still get arrested at the airport at home. It is still illegal to import ivory into the European Union. But if you care about endangered species: don't buy it at all!!!

Palm-ivory nut sellers scam

It's not the crime of the century, but it pays to be aware: a guy might come up to you at the petrol station and ask for your name. Without you seeing it, another guy carves your name into a palm-ivory nut shell, hoping you'll feel obligated to buy the personalised item.

Car Hire

Get a damage insurance - roads are not that great once you're off the highway. When you visit a big city, the locals might offer their services as a security guard for your parked vehicle. Although crime in Namibia is low to African standards, get a theft insurance just in case ...

Tips.

You normally tip 5-10% in Namibia. Wages aren't always enough to survive.

Sperrgebiet

The Sperrgebiet or diamond area around Lüderitz is off limits! And even if you're curious: there are enough armed guards patrolling around to make you change your mind!

Drugs & diamonds

First of all: don't do drugs. Second of all: don't buy drugs. The Namibian police is allowed to trick you into buying drugs & diamonds of the streets, so never even be tempted!

Namibia

I could tell you a thousand things about Namibia, but why bother if others have done it before me? Find out everything you need to know on wikipedia-namibia or wikipedia-omaruru!

Off course I'll give you the highlights: Namibia has 2 million inhabitants or 2,5 inhabitants/km2 (for comparison: Belgium 340inhabitants/km2; Germany 231inhabitants/km2 and the USA 31 inhabitants/km2) which makes it the least densely populated country in the world after Mongolia. 50% of the population lives up north, where the ground is more fertile.

It's comparable in size to Pakistan, and you are advised to fill up the car each time you see a gas station, because it might take a while before you encounter the next one...

The climate is generally hot and dry (so luckily we'll be there in the Winter, when it still should be around 15°C-20°C. Not surprisingly the landscape ranges from desert (with huge sanddunes) to steppe, and a small subtropical part (primarily north & around the Caprivi strip). The dry climate is caused by a cold water current before the coast. It makes rain sporadic, on the other hand: the coastal waters are excellent for fishing!

Namibia is one of the youngest states in the world, since it only became independent in 1990. Before that it was occupied by South-Africa that unrightfully annexed it as a province, after the international community had briefly granted them a mandate after World War I. Earlier it was a German colony (except for Walvis Bay), but when they were defeated in World War I, they were forced to give away their overseas territories.

35% of the population is unemployed, 40% is illiterate in English and HIV-infection is 21%. Child mortality raises to 7% and life expectancy is 42 (man) & 39 (women). Nevertheless the income per capita is 5x bigger than the poorest African country.

The economy depends largely on mining (diamonds, uranium, copper, zinc, ... ) accounting for a substantial part of the GDP, but creates only little employment. Due to the dry climate, agriculture is difficult and cattle requiers a lot of grazing grounds. Lots of food still need to be imported from South-Africa.. Since the '90 Namibian Tourism accounts for a steady growth, due the stable political situation and diverse nature & wildlife sceneries.

The Namibian Dollar is coupled to the South-African Rand, which both have the same value. (1 USdollar = 7,5 Namibian Dollar, 1 Euro = 10 Namibian Dollar)

The original population descends from various tribes (Ovambo, Herero, Himba, Kavango, Nama, Damara, San, Caprivi-people,...). About 5% is white, and another 5% are half bloods with European roots.

The German colonists massacered a big part of the Herero & Nama population in 1904 after an uprising. Most of them fled into the desert and died from exhaustion. This is stille remembered every year on Hero's Day.
It also causes some frictions amongst tribes, since demograhic simulations show that without that massacre, the Herero would be the biggest tribe, instead of the Ovambo who now dominate politics through the governing SWAPO-party.

In the Ovambo-tribe, the uncle is the head of the family! Children inherit from the brother of their mother. And the Herero (who also live in the neigbourhood of Omaruru), have some clacking & smacking sounds in their language (how's that for communication at the table! ; ). The most well-known tribe abroad are the Himba: they cover themselves with a special red-brown mixture to protect the skin.

The most widely understood languages are Afrikaans (affined to Dutch!) and English, although both normally as a second language. Only English was chosen as the official language in 1990. Afrikaans still was a bit of a sensitive issue right after the indepence from South-Africa, and the government considered that all tribes would be treated equally since everybody spoke English equally bad. People normally have their tribe-dialect as their first language.

You can find Omaruru Northwest of Windhoek along the Transnamib-railway. Is has about 15.000 inhabitants and is known for the only winery in Namibia! (I already know how to support the local economy ; ) Nevertheless: Namibia also has several beer-breweries (a German inheritance) and some are even brewed according to the standards of the German Reinheitsgebot.