What I call the north north

We got a couple of holiday days for Easter and the week after I was to attend a gardening workshop in Omaruru.  Since Omaruru is pretty far north I decided to take the holiday and visit some PCV friends in the north north.  I call it the north north because it is on the opposite side of the country from me, just near the border of Angola, and because I use the two words together basically to emphasize the single word.  If something is really far north it is “north north.”  If you want to know if something is here you say, “Is it here here?”  It came from me using the Namibian phrase “now now,” meaning right now.  Apparently my Namlish is improving quite well.

Anyways, I headed north on the B1 and traveled 1,340 Km to Ondangwa where my friend Ruth picked me up.  She had rented a car for the holiday to head over to Opuwo.  We stayed on her homestead the first night and I absolutely loved it.  I am very happy in my village, but I must say the homestead life is what I imagined and really wanted to have during my service.  The homestead consisted of several small cinderblock structures most with a thatched roof but her house had corrugated metal sheeting.  There is no indoor plumbing, so she collects her water from a tap in the center of the homestead and washes things in a bucket.  She has a pit latrine for a toilet and small open air structure for bucket bathing.  Many families in this area grow crops of mahangu which they store for consumption throughout the year.  The homesteads are spread out much more than the homes in my village where everyone lives in one concentrated area (similar to a neighborhood near downtown Raleigh, but not quite the same).  The north also has a much larger population, which I attribute to the sheer lack of resources in the south and the apartheid time when many of the Namibians were forced to move above what was called ‘The Red Line.’  I crossed the line in Oshivelo on my way there and back.

Crossing the red line in Oshivelo.

Walking through the mahangu to Ruth's homestead.

Ruth preparing something good!

The smaller structures in the middle are where the mahangu is stored.

Possibly way too excited about fetching water.

For some reason it rained a good bit which apparently wasn’t common, but for someone who can count the number of times it has rained in their village on one hand it was pretty awesome to see it rain three days in a row.  In Opuwo we went hiking, took a trip out to Ruacana Falls, and basically ate a lot of good food.  Ruth is an excellent cook!  The hiking was nice because they have actual mountains there.  I can see land for miles in and around Aroab, but the view doesn’t include mountains or anything green.  Ruacana was awesome!  I kept thinking… If we were in the states this definitely wouldn’t be allowed.  There were pretty much no railings or barriers.  You could go almost anywhere you wanted.  When we got there the falls were really low, but after about 20 minutes they opened the dam above and we got to see tons of water flowing down.  My favorite part was going to the bottom of the falls and getting soaking wet just watching the water come down.  Another interesting thing about Opuwo is diversity of the people.  You can see many traditional Himba people everywhere.  They’re a pretty interesting tribe.  They mostly live out in the bush herding cattle and the women rub a substance called otjize all over their body that gives their skin a burnt red coloring.  This otjize helps moisturize the skin, protects their skin from the sun, and I’ve heard (but haven’t found an official source yet) that it is also used to keep them clean.  If you’re interested in reading more check out this website. Also if you’ve seen the documentary, Babies, you’ve seen a year (his first year) in the life of a Himba baby.

Before the dam was opened...

After the dam was opened.

The Group after getting soaked at the bottom of the falls.

Himba ladies with babies in Opuwo

My biggest observation from the trip is that I’ve gotten so comfortable at site I forget sometimes that I’m in Africa, but being in the north definitely reminded me that I am and of fortunate I am to be able to have this experience.