Coming to Africa for the right reasons

If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way.

--Mark Twain

Earlier this week, I was contacted by a person in my College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) back at UNL. She wanted to write a story about our trip and how it will influence my teaching back in Nebraska. She started with this question, "For what purpose did you go to Namibia?"

Funny, that's what our parents asked us last year. "Um, why are you going?"

I'm sure I wrote something back to my CASNR contact that was somewhat meaningful, but I've been thinking about it recently. Just why did we come? I'm not going to create a figure (!), but I'm guessing that as homesickness starts to increase, the need to justify your existence on the opposite side of the globe increases exponentially.

If you can't answer the question for yourself, sometimes it helps to look at other people. Why did they come to Namibia? To Africa? Namibia has lots of tourists, so an inquisitive person can build up quite a sample size while doing some people-watching.

I made a list of the people from outside Namibia that I enjoy meeting. Most student backpackers. Seedy characters who look like they live out of their LandRover. Ranchers from the States. Ladies from Sweden who stop every 5 km on the road to take photos.

Then, I made a list of the people who, uh, rub me the wrong way. Tourists outfitted with the latest LL Bean safari wear. Tourists who won't talk to Namibians on the street. Hunters who come only to put more mounts on their wall. Tourists who come to add one more country to their "Africa List". Some of the tourists who are here on mission trips. Mostly people who you would label as "Tourist" with a capital "T". People who come to Africa to change other people.

So, what is the difference between the two lists. Tourism isn't bad. Hunting isn't bad. And, mission trips don't have to be bad (although I think you have to work very hard to come on a mission trip that really helps people). But, I think it is the attitude with which one goes about those activities.

I think the right reason to come to Africa is not to learn about people and their cultures here. The right reason is not to come to Africa to learn about the animals over here. The right reason is not to come to Africa to help people. You can do all of these things along the way, but it is not the reason to come. Coming to change people is definitely not the reason to come.

The best reason to come, I think, is to learn about yourself.

My advice if you are coming to Africa: plan time for introspection or self-evaluation, or self-awareness. If you don't, you will have dogs looking at you, telling you to "Go Home."

Spend some time sitting on the beach. Spend some time sitting on top of a koppie as you are hunting. Spend some time talking to a farmer. Spend some time being uncomfortable on a city street. Spend some time looking at yourself in the mirror.

Think about your reactions to Africa. Because you will have reactions.

Africa is a great mirror for a person's soul. Maybe it is because humans evolved in Africa. Maybe it is because Africa has a way of making a person very uncomfortable and very comfortable very quickly and very simultaneously. Maybe it is because there are wide open spaces. Maybe it is because of crowded cities.

I guess if I really have to be honest, I came to Namibia to hold the cat by the tail.
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A bit about poaching in Namibia

I've been collecting photos relating to poaching of wildlife and livestock in Namibia. I'll let the photos do the talking for the most part. Although poaching has declined in Namibia over the last 20-30 years, with the establishment of communal conservancies (this trend according to publications released by WWF), it has not disappeared. Namibia has the highest rating (worst) as gauged by the Gini index, which measures economic disparity, or inequality, in countries. It measures the 'gap' between those who have wealth and those who are poor. As long as the gap remains in place, poaching will be a way for the have-not's to get what they need from the have's in Namibia.


Poaching of livestock is a problem near population centers in Namibia. Many commercial farmers hire anti-poaching units to patrol their lands. This is one potential benefit of commercial conservancies--collaboration on hiring and coordinating these units across several farms. Some farmers install anti-poaching watch towers like the one in the photo above (my photo, near Outjo). These are placed near roads, where people often stop and quickly take cattle or other livestock from farms in the night.


The Namibian newspaper reported, recently, on a wave of livestock thefts on commercial farms near the airport, east of Windhoek. We visited one of these farms for a meat hunt, and while we were on the farm, their radio network for the Namatanga Conservancy was ablaze with traffic regarding sightings of cars that were suspected in recent thefts.
It is hard to prosecute poaching. Our hosts during the meat hunt described a person caught standing over a warthog on their farm during the last year. He was arrested, but declared innocent during his trial, because he claimed he had found the animal dead.


The photo (from The Namibian), above shows a calf that was found wandering a farm with a spear still stuck in its head. It was the victim of an attempted poaching--the farmers in the article noted that spears were one of the most common weapons used to kill animals, which are usually butchered on the site. This calf survived, but lost an eye. An accompanying photo showed the spear removed; it had a 7-8-inch blade, and hard to imagine how it did not kill the animal.



From a wildlife perspective, I took the above photo with my mobile phone at Etosha National Park, in their research office. It is a display of confiscated weapons used to poach wildlife on Etosha--many very recently. A variety of native snares and bows-and-arrows are shown. But, the amazing parts of the exhibit, to me, were the two homemade guns. The gun at right looks like an AK47, but is actually just wood carved to look like the AK47. I guess if you are a poacher, you want to look like a credible poacher?! On the top of the wood is a small metal tube in which a 0.22-caliber bullet is inserted. I really couldn't tell what kept the casing in place when it was fired.

The gun in the middle is a shotgun, constructed in similar fashion. A tube on top of a wooden stock in which a shotgun shell is inserted. In this case, the tube was a made from the leg of a school desk. The display noted that the gun had worked at least once to kill an oryx at close range in the National Park.

Landscape economics and ecotourism

The most powerful argument of all for saving open space is economics; in most states, tourism is the number two industry.

--Jim Fowler (Wild Kingdom, Mutual of Omaha)

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Namibia is an interesting case study in tourism. Ecotourism, to be exact. One day in class, I used the word, "ecotourism." One of my students, Francois, asked me, "Prof, can you explain to me the difference between tourism and ecotourism?"

His was an interesting question. I realized, suddenly, that Namibia's tourism 'slate' is 99% filled by ecotourism activities (tourism to enjoy nature). My students were unaware that any other form of tourism existed. However, I shared with them that the FIFA World Cup in South Africa next year was an example of 'tourism'. That made sense.

I want be clear that I am in no fashion an expert in ecotourism. But because tourism in Namibia drives much of the conservation efforts in the country, I have been thinking about ecotourism a bit. The level of tourism here is really 'saturated' in terms of the landscape being filled with guest farms, lodges, tour activities and the like. One might wonder, "How do all of these tourism ventures stay viable?" Well, at least I wondered.

The more I thought, the more I realized the answer seems to be a function of the landscape. I consider myself a landscape ecologist--studying ecology at landscape-levels. I wondered if there was a field of 'landscape economics'? Turns out I didn't invent the phrase. There is a field. Although, it is very new. There was a conference in 2009--the first international conference in Landscape Economics. For a nice little paper that summarizes the challenges of thinking about economics of landscapes, you can go here.

So, I've been developing a conceptual model to explain why tourism ventures in Namibia are viable and why there are fewer tourism ventures in the Great Plains, compared to Namibia. My first attempt at it appears here in graphic form.

The basic idea of this graph is that a viable tourism attraction depends on two things: (1) having some inherent quality or "draw" to your attraction (cool stuff to see, quality lodging, etc.), and (2) being close to other tourism attractions. Tourists normally plan trips that combine stops at multiple sites. They look for places along their route where they can stop. If you want to have a lodge in the Great Plains, it helps to be close to the Black Hills. In Namibia, it helps to be close to Etosha National Park. Essentially, it helps to be close to anything (a lake, a historical site, etc.) that already draws people. But, if you are far from other attractions, you can still be viable--you just have to have a bigger draw. As an example, the sandhill cranes draw people to Nebraska ever year in high numbers; it's not close to other tourism destinations. But, it is a unique attraction.

And, my thought is that there are some thresholds in distance from other sites. If you are within an hour from another site, you can have a fairly benign attraction and still gather people who will be willing to drive. Beyond an hour, I think people start to demand higher quality to make the drive. And, at about 3 hours, the requirement really sky-rockets. People need a reason to make the trip to see your attraction. To the point where you have to have something that is a regional tourist attraction to attract people from 4-5 hours away. Sandhill cranes.

This all creates a need to think about tourism from a landscape level in the Great Plains. The landscape matters--from several perspectives. Where are places where tourism might be able to be used to sustain profits on ranches? I've got some ideas on that. More on that later...

You will notice there are two lines on the figure: one for the USA and one for Namibia. This is also a hypothesis on my part. When several ranchers from the Great Plains visited Namibia earlier this year, they made some interesting observations about the two countries and tourism. First, labor is much cheaper in Namibia. It is possible to employ farm workers or general laborers for about US$12-15/day with no requirements for workman's comp, health insurance, or fancy staff lounges. When you are building a lodge, or when you need to employ a staff to serve guests, it takes less output in Namibia. Couple that with the fact that Namibian ecotourism facilities do not pay much for liability insurance (if anything, in some cases), while their counterparts in the USA can pay up to 10% of their expenses for liability insurance. So, the end result is that it takes less income to be viable in Namibia as a tourism facility--because you have lower costs. So, the 'viability line' is lower for Namibia.

What does this all explain? Well, in Namibia, tourism has two things going for it at the moment. The relatively low output costs and interesting destinations have resulted in many viable tourism centers being established. And, that has created a landscape that now is ripe to support other tourism establishments--it is hard to find a place in Namibia that is more than 2 hours from another tourism location.

For Namibia, it also points a warning for the tourism industry. As human rights issues are dealt with, salaries of workers will rise. Eventually, I would guess that liability insurance costs will catch up with Namibian tourist facilities as well (sadly, perhaps). So, the tourism industry in Namibia (in my opinion) should brace itself to deal with these issues in coming years. My prediction would be that Namibia will not have the landscape dotted with small tourist facilities in 25 years that it has now. The facilities will be fewer and larger as the line on the graph creeps up to meet the USA's line.

And, I think this perhaps provides some guidelines for folks interested in ecotourism and conservation in the Great Plains. My prediction would be that successful ventures should initially be targeted towards areas that are close to existing tourism destinations.
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P.S. I never thought I would quote Jim Fowler. More later on the argument that he and Aldo Leopold might have if they ever met. This ecotourism/conservation thing is not simple. Some would argue that a landscape saturated with tourism is a landscape that is not 'wild'.

Sweet redemption

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It is his capacity for self-improvement* and self-redemption which most distinguishes man from the mere brute.

--AUNG SAN SUU KYI, Freedom from Fear

*Made lemon bars today. They were not burnt. Thanks for the oven thermometer, Mom. For previous failure, click here. Who needs that thermostat, anyway? Thanks for the recipe, Brenda V.
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Chilly, dry winter

The good news these days in Windhoek is that it appears to be getting warmer. In fact, we haven't used the space heater in our bedroom for almost 2 weeks, now. Spring is on the way!

During late July and early August, we definitely had some cold nights. Houses in Windhoek do not have central heating, and ours doesn't have a fireplace (some do). So, when it gets down in the high 30's or low 40's (F) at night, the house is pretty cold. Then, during the day, the house (made of cement) stays nice and cold. That works well in the summer, but it is a bad trait for a house in winter.

People planning trips to Namibia during the winter months (late May, June, July, August) should bring wool socks, sweaters, and slippers for those cold tile floors.

I thought some of you might be interested in a rainfall comparison between Nebraska and Namibia. Namibia actually has different types of seasons than Nebraska--it's not just opposite timing. There is dry summer, wet summer, and dry winter. Our skin has been cracking recently with the lack of humidity and cold temps that keep air moisture low. We haven't seen rain (or even clouds, really) since sometime in May. As the graph suggests, it will be a couple more months until real rain arrives.

I made this graph a few months ago to show colleagues at Polytechnic how Nebraska's rainfall compared to Namibia. For those unfamiliar with Nebraska geography, Chadron is out west with rainfall of about 250mm per year. Lincoln is in the east part of the state, with rainfall about 750mm per year. Windhoek gets 300-400mm per year (and all of that in about 3.5 months), and Namibia also has a gradient of rainfall--very similar to Nebraska in fact.

The Powell family is welcoming the sun as it starts making its daily rounds a bit closer to the south pole. Bring it on!

When you have time to think too much

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Short Timer

The dog

looks at me and wags its tail.

Ribs showing.

He lets me scratch between the ticks on his ears.

He leans on my knee.

Drooling.

His look seems to tell me:

Go Home.

--L. Powell, near Ervee, Namibia

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Babel Babble

The room echoes conversations,

and they pour into my corner of the lapa.

They are in love and on vacation.

He is alone and shouts at the football match on TV.

They are workers and have many stories.

She is cooking, and calls to her husband, the bar tender.

The words slide around chairs.

Behind the bar.

Under the stove.

Slippery words, like greased eels.

They are there and then quickly gone.

Disappearing beyond my reach.

Like trying to sort a pile of bolts into bins by size,

I struggle to find places to put the words.

My mind grasps at syllables.

Maybe the lovers need to find red shoes tomorrow? Probably not.

Perhaps Mr. Lonely thinks the goal tender is sick? I'm not sure.

The workers both hurt their thumbs today? My best guess.

Did she just run out of salt? Surely not.

I think of the story of the blind men and the elephant.

I'm only touching the tail of these conversations.

Does anyone speak English?

--L. Powell, near Kamanjab, Namibia

When I met his mother

I could guess

You do the work of two men.

I could guess
The cows come when you call them to milking.

I could guess

Bad years have outnumbered the good.

I could guess

You let your grandbabies eat first.

I could guess

Your door is always open.

I could guess

That you only cry at funerals.

I could guess

That you miss him.

I could guess.

But your hands told me.

--L. Powell, on the #Khoadi //Hoas conservancy

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Namibia: come apart at the seams

In today's Namibian newspaper, the Namibian Tourism Board placed a large advertisement to congratulate the Right Honourable Prime Minister Nahas Angula on his 66th birthday. It is very common for companies to place ads in the paper wishing "Happy Birthday" to politicians. I guess if you want to receive tenders (contracts) in the coming year from the government, it pays to grease their palms. When President Pohamba recently had his birthday, there was an entire separate 20-page section of the paper filled with ads and small articles about the President.

Many of the ads have misspellings, as English is the official language but only spoken at home by 2% of the population.

Anyway, the Namibian Tourism Board's ad has a wonderful photo of the Prime Minister, placed on a background of a red sand dune and a quiver tree--both symbols of Namibia tourism. It is a beautiful ad. But, the header of the ad, above the birthday wish, reads:

"Tourism unravels you [sic] spiritual wellbeing"

Unravels?! This now explains the reason for the poor service at Namibia Wildlife Resorts. And, it makes one think of other possible slogans for Namibia's tourist industry:

1. Namibia: for those who think they've got life by the tail
2. Namibia: come here to fall apart
3. Namibia: no better place for your nervous breakdown
4. Namibia: get lost in our deserts and you'll never find your way home
5. Namibia: we can destroy all of your self esteem
6. Namibia: a land of broken hearts
7. Namibia: you arrive whole and leave unravelled
8. Namibia: an insurmountable challenge around every corner
9. Namibia: come for the scenery, stay for the psychological treatment
10. Namibia: if France didn't break you, we can

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One smart criminal

The Namibian newspaper publishes good news, but often the stories are fun to read. Here's my account, paraphrasing from a story this past week.

A recent robbery went awry when police broke up the in-progress burglary. Six suspects fled, and one poor guy was easier to follow. The police chased him past several stores, where he stole a jacket to hide his identity. Unfortunately, he was seen and as it got dark, the jacket turned out to have reflective stripes which made it even easier to follow him.

He next ducked into a big pipe to hide from police, which turned out to be a sewer pipe. He crawled deep inside, and could go no further. He spent 2-3 hours sitting in human waste, until 3 poor policemen drew the short straws and went in after him. He was arrested without further incident. The newspaper reported, "On-lookers described a foul odor eminating from the suspect." I'll bet.

I wonder if Namibian jails have showers?

Dust and mud

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Dust covers Africa
until the rains come.
Men with white feet.
Ladies in blue dresses with a light hem.
Children run as the elephants cover shattered trees with a layer of grey.
A donkey shakes and sends clouds into a clear sky.
Rains wash the leaves, and the tree is green again.
White feet turn red.
The donkey's fur is caked near its tail.
The elephants leave and
the dresses are smeared with the past.

--L. Powell, in Kamanjab, Namibia

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I just returned from spending another week on a communal conservancy in northwest Namibia. More photos are on the Picasa site.

World peace...through 70 cups of chili

The Fulbright Commission aims to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby increase the chance that nations will learn at last to live in peace and friendship.

—Senator J. William Fulbright

I have to admit that when I heard I'd been granted a Fulbright Scholar fellowship, I was pretty happy. It is one of the foremost awards given to academic types; although, to be fair, I am guessing the competition was a little less fierce to come to Namibia. But, one never knows and the end result is the same, so I won't ask too many questions. Fulbright administrators are quick to point out that 48 former Fulbrighters are Nobel Prize winners--more than any other academic program. So, this is just the beginning, I am sure...!

My happy mental state was set back a bit when I attended the Fulbright orientation program in Washington DC in June 2008 (I applied in August 2007, was accepted in March 2008 for the award which is in place for the entirety of 2009...it's a long process). The orientation made it clear several times that the large-picture goal of the program was to effect world peace, as shown by the quote, above, from Senator Fulbright who started this taxpayer funded program after WWII. OK, so this isn't just a vacation....we have to bring peace to the world before we come home? Hmmm...

Perhaps it's appropriate--given the recent 64th anniversary of the bomb at Hiroshima--to be thankful our policy-makers still choose to spend our tax money on programs like Fulbright. But, that places a big burden on us Fulbright folks, right?

Well, I'm used to big burdens. I'm an ecologist and our environment is going to pot. That's on my shoulders, too. So, now I have world peace and climate change to fix? No problem--remember the adage, "Think globally and act locally"? I think that is still the answer.

This is all a long introduction to convince you, readers of NTN, that today's American Cowboy Chili booth at Polytechnic's International Cuisine Day was more than just a chili give-away. It was our first official act as ambassadors for the good ol' USA. The US Embassy does not host a booth at the Cuisine Day, which is dotted by booths from other Embassies in town. But, the US Cultural Center (part of the Embassy) was nice enough to provide us with a bunch of red-white-and-blue banners. We took it from there, with the help of our fellow Fulbrighters the Bates family, Polytechnic's English Language Fellow, Marsha, and our friend Uapii. We had to invite Uapii, because he's a nice guy and because he calls himself the "Kunene cattleman". We had to have one real cowboy at the booth...

We arrived early to set up and soon had the USA represented 'in the house'. Workers from other booths, who owned much more appropriate clothing to represent their country (what is the official uniform of the USA?) came by and were early samplers of our chili. Everyone loves a cowboy, we found out.



After the ceremony to start the Cuisine Day (Rector's speech, dance, karate demonstration, dance, speech), the flood gates opened and we were set upon by Polytechnic students looking for cheap food. We were providing a cup of chili, garnished with cheese and sour cream and 4-5 Doritos chips (cheese flavor--closest thing to tortilla chips we could find). Our price was initially N$10 (about US$1.20), but we quickly lowered it to N$5 to satisfy the students.

Then, the rush was on. We served over 4 gallons of chili in about 45 minutes--about 70 servings and were the first booth to run out of food. That either means we had the best food, or we were the least prepared with large quantities. Maybe a mixture of both.

We had several students, who we didn't know, come over and have their photo taken with us in front of the American flag. One lady brought her baby over for me to hold so she could take a photo of us. Turnabout is fair play, I suppose--we've been taking photos of Namibians all year. But, it felt good to hear good things said about our country.

One passerby, upon hearing we had sold out, commented that "I think it is ironic that the USA is a superpower, and yet today you have run out of chili."

Well, maybe the USA needs to run out of chili more often. Is that what Senator Fulbright meant?

Ecotourism makes you tired

In the past few months, I've had the opportunity to participate in the trophy hunting and meat hunting sides of ecotourism...in addition to all of the photo safaris one could possibly desire. Namibia is simply a great place to enjoy the outdoors in any fashion.

I cannot explain what it is like to be in a country where there is such a constant 'rate' of tourism (tourists/day). It really becomes part of the culture, part of the infrastructure, part of the reality of living in Namibia. You see tourist vehicles all of the time. You encounter tourists all of the time. You can't eat out without sitting next to tourists. You can't walk in the mall without bumping into tourists. You can't drive on the street without seeing tourists swerving over to the left side of the road.

It is sometimes hard to remember that, as mid-term visitors to Namibia, our family transitions in-and-out of the 'tourist' world during our adventure. Sometimes, a person just gets really tired of tourists. Then, you remember you are one...

My good friend and colleague, Dr. Mark Pegg, compiled a short video that documents the trophy hunting exploits of yours truly. Enjoy. You can find me asleep on the couch.

Cast your vote now!

This is Cultural Week at Polytechnic, with the theme, "Gather around the fire of culture." One highlight of the week will be the Fulbrighter's booth at International Cuisine Day, where we will be serving "American Cowboy Chili". There will be cultural dances and speeches; food will be served from about 15 cultural groups from Namibia and about 15 other nations. Today we raided the US Embassy's closet to find red-white-and-blue banners for our table.

There are no tests or assignments given this week to allow students to participate in the festival. The other main attraction of the week is the Mr. and Miss Polytechnic contest. The pageant concludes the week on Friday.

I thought you would like to see the contestants' photo as it was distributed to lecturers today, so that you can get in the queue to cast your vote!

March of the rhino

Here's a short video of a black rhino coming to drink and eat in front of our blind on the Waterberg Plateau. It's unusual to see one during the day--they normally come to drink right after dark. Its ear notches are used to identify it as #27. The curved notches indicate it is a male.

The charge of Don Quixote

Don Quixote: [about to attack the windmill] Ho, there, foul monster! Cease the knocking at thy craven knees and prepare to do battle!

Sancho Panza: [nearly simultaneously] Your Grace, I swear by my wife's little black moustache that's not a giant, it's only a... [with a yell, Don Quixote charges off]

--From the 1974 film version of Man of La Mancha

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Well, the giraffes look a bit like oblivious windmills, and this crazy roan looks a bit like Don Quixote. Mid-charge, he figures out he is tilting at something a bit bigger than he. This video is from our 48-hour waterhole count at Waterberg Plateau.

The parable of the python and the cigarette

Another campfire story from a student on our Polytechnic excursion. This is from Christopher, who was explaining how it is often hard to tell people why you are asking for help. It's actually a thought-provoking story about real life. It is hard for us to explain why we need help, sometimes, isn't it?

There was a man who needed to build a house. He was gathering reeds in the river in a wooden canoe. He was doing well until a python fell into his boat.

He couldn't jump into the river, because the crocodiles would get him. So, he was stuck out on the tip of his canoe as the python came closer and closer.

The man saw his friend in a canoe down the river. He knew that he couldn't ask him to come save him from the python, because his friend would be scared of the python. His friend would never come save him.

So, he asked his friend to come give him a light for his cigarette. The friend came, and he quickly jumped onto his boat and was saved from the python.

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Romance of language

There are several Namibian pronunciations of animal names that make the animal somehow more majestic or mysterious or just generally 'cooler' than our English pronunciation. Here are some examples:

Olifant: Afrikaans word for elephant. Comes from term used in middle ages
before Afrikaans was developed as a language.

lee'-0-pahrd: instead of our "leh-perhd." You have to imagine someone softly telling a story about a leopard..."Then, I saw the lee-o-pahrd sneaking through the bush!"

boof'-a-loh: instead of our "buhf-a-loh."

rrrrhino: rolling r's in the Afrikaans language makes it really sound like a nasty beast.

orrryx: again, rolling the r's really makes the 'oryx' announcement get your heart pumping when the hunter's assistant calls out that he has spotted one.

li'on: not a change in pronunciation, but how the word is spoken. Pretend you have just spotted a lion under a tree. Use a hushed tone, draw the word out slowly, and say it like Harry Potter characters refer to "he who must not be named."

Oh-ster-ich: instead of "ah-ster-ich"

ay-land: instead of "eee-land" for eland.

The gospel according to Peter, Chapter II

To follow up on the previous post (Chapter I), here is a longer story from our bus driver, Peter, to show the influence of the beliefs of ghosts in the Caprivi culture.

The story features the Tokoloshi, which is a dwarfish, mean spirit that is always out to do harm to people. Some of the group explained to me, later, that if you go into homes in northern Namibia, you will find the beds up on bricks. The purpose is to keep the Tokoloshi from getting into the bed and doing foul deeds.

Here is Peter's story, which he told as if it had happened to him [slight parental warning regarding a bit of violence toward the end of the story]:

I wanted to marry a girl, by my parents did not approve of her. They told me I should not marry her. Regardless, I decided to work up the courage to ask her parents if I could marry her. According to our tradition, I went to live with the girl and her parents for one year. I made houses of reeds for them, and I planted and harvested a mahangu [corn] field.

After the year was over, I decided to take the girl to be my wife, and her parents approved of me. We left to go to our new home. Her parents gave us a basket of mahangu and a goat.

The first day after we were at our new home, I was out in the woods with my brother-in-law. We found a hole in the ground, and there was a very short man standing next to it. My brother-in-law was scared and said it was the Tokoloshi, and he ran away. I was not scared, but soon I also decided he was the Tokoloshi, and I also ran. He followed me back to my house.

I went inside my house and realized that my wife could not see the Tokoloshi. I tried to explain what had happened, but she could not see. The short man grabbed a cup and plate from the table and dropped it on the floor. My wife thought I had thrown them on the floor. "No," I said. "It is the short man who followed me home."

The next day dawned, and my wife also saw the short man. She was frightened, and we decided to go to her parents house. As we left, the short man followed us.

"Take me with you," he demanded.

"No," we responded. "You cannot come."

"Well, at least take me back to the hole in the ground where you found me," he said. We agreed, and we took him to his hole on our donkey cart.

When we reached his hole, he demanded his share of our basket of mahangu. We were scared of him, so we gave him half of the mahangu.

"What about the goat?" the short man asked. So, we gave him the goat. He took his knife and killed it and cut it in half.

"Let's go," I told my wife.

"Wait," said the short man. "What about your wife?"

"You cannot have my wife," I replied. But, the short man grabbed my wife, took his knife, killed her and cut her in half.

I ran screaming through the woods to my parents house. When I got there I told my parents the story.

My parents led me to the next room. There was my wife, alive and whole. Also, the goat and the full basket of mahangu.

"We told you we did not approve of this woman," my parents told me. "Now, look what the ghosts are telling you. Take her home to her parents and leave her."

And, I did.

After the story, most of the students were aghast and Peter had to quickly explain the story didn't actually happen to him, but that the story had been told in his village. Several of the students were visibly shaken to be talking about the topic, and suggested we talk about something else. Others offered their support for the story, saying that they had also seen the Tokoloshi do mean things in their villages.

The gospel according to Peter, Chapter I

During our recent excursion with Polytechnic students, we had several campfires. Several stories were shared, including some stories from our excitable bus driver, Peter. He is from northern portion of Namibia where cultures have a history of beliefs in spirits, use of witch doctors, and are fairly superstitious. The students refer to this area, laughingly, as "Kuvukiland." If someone expresses a superstition, another student might respond, "Well, yes, you are from Kuvukiland." Upon googling this term, I see it was used in the Mr. Bones movies (South African productions).

I should note that although many people in this region have become Christian, their beliefs are now a mix of theologies. My observation is that when push comes to shove, the majority tend to fall back to their traditional beliefs to make sense of life's happenings.

So, Peter started by sharing how people from northern Namibia do not steal (which is generally true). The reason relates not to their general good will towards their neighbor, but because of an intense belief that stealing will cause bad things to happen.

Accept these three stories from Peter:

1. We do not steal. If you steal a goat, and the guy comes to
ask you if you have seen the goat, you should just tell him, "I took your
goat." Because if you lie to him, he can witch you and that night the goat
(which you have eaten) inside of you will start talking. And you will
start to talk like a goat. Baaaaa-aaaaa!

2. If you steal a goat and want to go home by going around the
mountain, you will instead always come back to where you started. You
cannot go home.

3. If you are sick and a witch doctor comes, he will ask you for
money. He will witch the money and tell you to throw it away. So, if
someone finds the money on the ground and takes it, they will also take your
sickness away. Because of this, everyone* knows not to take money they find
lying on the ground!

*which of course makes me wonder if this cure ever works?! Maybe they depend on tourists to pick up the money?!

Thoughts from the blind

During the recent excursion with Polytechnic students, we spent 48 hours in hides (blinds) counting wildlife. It was a great 48 hours, and we saw some neat sites (click here to go to Picasa photo site). But, we had 48 hours to sit and ponder the world as we waited for animals to come to the waterhole. Here are some thoughts that went through my mind:

• Why is everything wrapped in noisy plastic?


• What is it going to be like to be back in a place where you can't see giraffes?


• I need a blind on a pond for my own use back home. Time to move to the country!


• There is no substitute for a good chair.


• I am fairly certain that I have never before looked into a buffalo's eyes at 25 m.


• Giraffes are just odd animals.


• I wonder if General Pershing ever contemplated using rhinos as a tactical weapon?


• Is it possible that the moon is closer to the earth in Africa?


• Duikers are the Rodney Dangerfield of the animal kingdom.


• I would eat some ice cream if an ice cream truck came by.


• If sand could be inexpensively shipped, Namibia would be a wealthy country.


• Forty-eight hours is about as long as 2 days. Maybe longer. I don't have a calculator.


• I would have to estimate that only 60% of elands that we are seeing have a well-balanced, matched set of horns. The rest seem to have odd pitched or twisted horns. Is there something in the water I'm drinking?


• I would not have guessed that buffalo would be so skittish.


• Large mammals are interesting. Why do I study birds?!


• If an eland ever gets a mutation that keeps it from clicking when it walks, that trait should remain in the gene pool.


• Maybe I should try not showering and wearing the same clothes for 2 days more often?

You know you're getting old when...

This past week, I went on a week-long excursion with first-year Ecology II students at Polytechnic. We went to Etosha to watch animal behavior and conduct a road game count. Then, we went to the Waterberg Plateau for a 48-hour waterhole count from blinds (hides). We camped and students cooked the meals.

This morning, I was standing in line to wash my plate and cup before we left for Windhoek. One of the students, Cecilia, took them from me. I protested, asserting that I was capable of washing my own dishes.

"Prof, you are elderly and a man," she said. "You shouldn't be washing dishes."

"You'll have to tell my wife that," I replied.

"You wash dishes at home?"

"Well, when she cooks, I wash dishes, and when I cook she washes dishes," I explained.

"Good," she said. "I was afraid you were washing dishes all the time."

The ironic fact is that in a culture with fairly well-defined roles for men and women, Namibia appears to be advancing quickly to include women in positions in government. Our students in Nature Conservation are about 60-40 men/women, in what has been a traditionally male-dominated field. Many recently-hired Ministry of Environment and Tourism employees are women.

Now, about this 'elderly' thing...