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Sorry for not posting much the last couple of weeks. I've been traveling around so much and have had poor internet access. I've been all the way to the Caprivi Strip and the Northwest area of Namibia. There is so much to tell, but that will have to come later this week. But I'm looking forward to spending good time in the office and with my roommates and friends too the next couple of weeks.
I was able to travel to 6 communal conservancy quota setting meetings and saw how the quotas are set and the various roles of the committee members, ministry, and supporting NGO's play in the process. I learned so much by just sitting and listening -even if half the time only Afrikans was being spoken. Maybe I'm slowly learning Afrikans!?!
Each conservancy has its own unique issues that range from community involvement, legal agreements with professional hunters, problem animals, and ect. Lunch with my colleague Keith today relived more of the reasons behind some of the problems I heard about during my travels specific to the conservancies, but I can't talk about them here on the blog. There are still many positives occurring in the communities that will be worth mentioning in the future. There are always politics when you work in communities and various interests and power struggles you have to adapt for in the process.
As usual, I wasn't far away from my camera and took some of the best Damaraland pictures I've taken yet, and some pretty wild elephant ones too. Over the last few months, I've learned so much more about my camera and what it can and cannot do and traveling around with Helge was a crash course in nature photography that is priceless for me.
I've seen a lot of beautiful areas in Namibia and elsewhere, but there is something completely different about the Damaraland area of Namibia that just hits your senses deep. I've said this before, but if Darmaraland could be moved to the states, it would be our most cherished national park -hands down.
Each morning Helge and I woke up to the sun [About 5 AM], the best time for shooting photographs, and I would say I was somewhat hooked on photography, though after a couple of mornings doing some serious photography work I'm totally hooked on it now. The sights were so amazing and I'll never forget my mornings sitting on rocky outcrops/mountains and seeing such amazing colors before we'd pack up camp and head to conservancy meetings. We both commented about how we have such an amazing office to work in! You truly can't be the Northwest part of Namibia.
There was one rather traumatic elephant experience for me I'll share later, but everything turned out fine for both human and elephant in the end. But basically it does involve a close encounter, truck battery problems, and midnight visitors to give you all a taste of what's to come in my next blog. For a Great Plains kid, elephants are not your average threat you deal with on a daily basis. We have our own threats that are unique, but nothing close to the size and power of an African Elephant.
Needless to say, I'm experiencing a breath of healthy lifetime experiences that will be firewood for the old days.
I'm so busy with side projects and crunching survey data this week, but hopefully by Saturday I can post a nice recap of my recent travel experiences and especially talk more about the conservancy system and its application to the Great Plains. The last two weeks have been especially informative for me. I can't wait to share my experiences in a future blog.
I hope this message finds you all well!
Cheers,
Aaron
Here are the photos:
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