My Last Post In Namibia: More to Continue

Greetings Friends, Family, and Readers:

There is some type of mysterious pull between Southern Africa and the Nebraska Sand Hills.

The beginning of my Namibian journey started on my family ranch, Gracie Creek Ranch. It took 7 miles of gravel road and 5 hours of driving to drop me off at the Omaha Airport. But this learning exchange program with WWF has been the continuation of a process that started with my granddad Jim Price and my father back in the 1970’s and recently my networks at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Our 30+ year rotational grazing plan was inspired by the South African natural scientist, Allan Savory, who had his critics here in the United States about rotational grazing, wildlife and cattle, and the “big picture” ideas. Our ranch is all the better now and we’re looking to the “next level” with our neighbors to build scale. Today, Savory’s Holistic Idea is a foundation in “sustainable” practices and my dad was one of the first practitioners of the idea in Nebraska with other neighbors.

And now, here I am, learning about farm management practices directly from the people on the ground in Namibia dealing with the various wildlife, agricultural, and development issues termed “the greatest untold African conservation story ever” with my neighbors the Switzers. The context of conservation here doesn’t necessarily mean the exclusion of all land use practices like cattle ranching for example. Things have a way of melding together in Namibia.

The wildlife population increases and benefits derived from sustainable natural resource use at the community levels through tourism, hunting and meat sales, speak volumes, and I have been so fortunate to live, work, and learn with people who made the previous statement possible.

Who would have guessed we’d find new inspiration in Namibia, Africa? Maybe it’s natural when it started in South Africa with Savory. Things have a way of coming around again.

Namibia has been an amazing experience for me –to say the least. Everyone told me before I left, “This is going to be a life changing experience for you.”
My Namibia experience definitely was more then anything I expected.

One expects things like this to happen if you’re open in the process, but you never can know how far things will go or how much you’ll grow as a person. This was the beauty of my 6 months living abroad in Namibia. I grabbed on tight and ran with everything coming my way and filled every single day and weekend with work/cultural/travel events. Luckily, WWF also works in some of the most beautiful areas in Namibia and these areas were part of my office!

I see all the 13,000 + photos I took as a responsibility to document an amazing community development practice that includes everything from cities, people, plants, animals, and landscapes. Many see it as art, which is humbling, but there is such an amazing story behind every one of these photos.

The most random people have contacted me because they saw a photo they liked on Flickr or Twitter, and for images to reach out to people and make them interested in WWF and the Great Plains work created a huge impact on me with what one can do with a camera and lots of access to natural areas.

My experiences, networking, and knowledge just kept snowballing and often I sat back and thought, “I am the luckiest guy from the states right now.” For me to be straight out of college and involved in CBNRM work with WWF in Namibia, conducting ground breaking commercial conservancy research near Etosha, seeing free roaming elephants, antelope species, and rhino, while helping to improve livelihoods using innovative conservation practices that is community driven, and being visionary with what I could do with my “lessons learned” back in the Great Plains is a true blessing or -possibly a calling.

Often I wondered when this crazy train would stop in Namibia with all my experiences, but I feel its only the beginning now. Every week something amazing, crazy, or possibly life threatening was happening. I hope my new experiences lead to good grad school programs focused on similar work, return trips to Southern Africa, and new adventures possibly elsewhere.

Maybe somewhere between……

visiting communal farms, informal settlements, and Katutura with Uapii and Larkin’s family, sitting on top of a mountain top overlooking an Uhab River early morning sunrise, being mocked charged 4 times by elephants and staring one down on the hood of my truck till he lost interest, hearing lions roar over a dead elephant calf carcass outside my Etosha camp in the middle of the night, or listening in on commercial and communal farmer’s meetings discussing farm management and environment policies, sleeping in only a sleeping bag in big 5 country with stars shining just like the ones over the prairie back home, meeting a pet leopard on a commercial farm, wrestling with Visa issues in the Ministry of Home Affairs for myself and other work colleagues giving me insight into another country’s system, petting three cheetahs, visiting Apartheid townships and piecing together the environmental and development challenges created by this history, a few black mamba encounters, exploring Katutura and Johannesburg, successfully spotting 4 out of the “Big 5” and countless other amazing species, the most random conversations about Obama, Namibia, and life stories with cab drivers, helping conduct the world’s largest ground wildlife count while assisting an ABC film crew to help tell a good story coming from Africa about MET’s community based natural resource development, seeing 5 cheetahs near their kill site on the largest private game reserve in Southern Africa, sitting in on a 10 year WWF project/vision meeting, mingling with the who’s who of conservation and ranch leaders in SD and NE on a WWF Namibia learning exchange program, 8 pages of passport stamps/visas and 5 countries later…

–something definitely changed in me. I'm all the better for it now.

International travel is so important. I cannot stress this enough after traveling abroad to several African countries.

I was unaware of the fact that this blog was being broadcasted on UNL’s SNR website for nearly my entire time over here, and for the students from UNL and other people under the age of 25 reading this blog please hear me when I say –get out there, and don’t just see places -visit places, and by this I mean not meeting/seeing a person or place but taking a closer look and know what you’re experiencing in a larger context.
Take the time to participate in more meaningful ways with your future foreign country travels. So many times I came across people who almost seemed to have blinders on during their Southern Africa travels. They would see an elephant, but would be innocently unaware of the management problems faced by communal and commercial farmers and the problems it creates for their future.

A big push here in Africa tourism with certain groups is not only to see cheetahs and elephants, but also to design experiences for one to participate in the species’ own conservation while understanding the cultures and livelihoods interacting with the animals and plants.

This will be a big step I feel for people to understand the beauty and significance of the Great Plains, while feeling connected, and seeing the bigger context of sustaining these working landscapes during challenging economic and environmental times. Maybe someday our ranches could help build a good context for others to also follow suit by passing on good stewardship practices and helping people reconnect to ag and environmental issues in their areas.

A future generation sure seems to depend on us doing so.

Also, take a stroll off the beaten path in developing areas a little bit too. That is where you find the good stuff.

We have huge environmental, agricultural, and energy issues to solve and it helps to see another country’s perspective on a problem too. The US is a great country, but we do act high and mighty and we’re not always right.

True innovation comes from the areas where people will face the greatest environmental and agricultural challenges. I encourage you all to travel to these places soon.
………………………..

It is never fun saying good-bye, but my experiences here in Namibia have been so great, there is no time to feel sad about leaving this wonderful place, because I’ll always have a piece of it with me in my heart, pictures, and new friendships.

I like to see this parting as coming home with new energy and perspective on farm management and international development, a new list of connections for future grad school and research programs, and memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.

I truly experienced Namibia to its fullest.
There is no room for me to be sad. I’m so thrilled to have crossed paths with so many wonderful individuals while coming out a better person.

I want to personally thank all of my WWF colleagues for making this Namibia experience for me one that was filled with many wonderful moments. I’ve learned so much from each and every one of you and I hope to prove your investment in bringing me over here as a good one back home. You all became like family for me and after our wonderful Thanksgiving party at Keith’s house, it hit me that I would soon be leaving this wonderful network of friends and it was tough.

There are many other countless people who supported me and I can’t begin to thank you all. Thank-you all for your insight and support! You know who you are and I sure thought about everyone a lot over here.

But Uapii, you definitely stand out and I appreciate your love and passion for Namibia and the effort you took to share your world with me. It forever changed me and I hope to do the same with you someday back in the states! Larkin and I are figuring out ways to bring you over already. I know there are many people from Nebraska and elsewhere who would like to meet the “great cattlemen from Kunene” in person someday.

And Chris, it was a true honor to work for you and WWF-Namibia. I can’t begin to thank-you enough for bringing me over and to learn from you and your staff and networks. It’s ignited so much passion inside me now, and for this I’m extremely grateful. I’m sure we’ll be able to find common ground again no matter what happens between my Cornhuskers and your Wildcats in the Holiday Bowl.

Last but not least, my family! You all have been such a great support for me and I can’t wait to sit down after a nice meal and share a little presentation and pictures of my Namibian experiences with you. Your enduring love and support made my Namibia experience possible.

…………………………

Well, I didn’t have to make any trips to the hospital. I traveled through some of the most dangerous cities in the world, did not become lion food, seem to be malaria free, was close to being mugged twice but strategically avoided the situations, and finally functioned as a competent driver on the left hand side of the road thus not being a threat to society.

I think its safe to say my time with the WWF Panda was a great success. And yes, this came from the mouth of a Nebraska rancher.

I like the idea of working with cattle groups, government organizations, and other NGO’s like WWF when working conservation into the working landscapes, because some I know perceive this association to be “radical” [whatever that term means to you], but this diverse interaction is where discussions and progress start. Diversity and cooperation between all these groups is dramatically needed. Its never easy in the real world, but necessary.

I can vouch for the success of WWF-Namibia being based on networking with government, NGO’s, Ag Unions, and communities on the ground and assisting and not dictating. If I can spread any immediate message about my experiences here –this is the greatest one of them all.

Truly it takes a diverse community to sustain itself. I look forward to the challenges in my own community when I return.

What a crazy mix of things brewing in the Sand Hills and Sand Dunes. Somewhere between this Nebraska and Southern Africa pulling forde is where innovative possibilities rest for good things to happen.

I will be one of the many leading this charge.

…………………………………….

This will not be the end of the blog or Namibia. Frankly, I still have a lot to say! lol

I worked with a traditional tribe in Northern Minnesota who do not believe in good-byes. We’ll definitely meet again.

I’ll continue with future coverage, conversation, and pictures of the topics already discussed in my Namibia experience side of the blog, and will start the future chapters when I return home to my beloved Northern Great Plains.
Thank-you again everyone for your support! Namibia I’m sure going to miss you and the wonderful weather, but its time to “cowboy up” and ride on home to the winter wonderland in the States.

This Sand Hiller is coming home.

Happy Holidays Everyone and wishing you all the best in the coming New Year.
Cheers,

A.E. Price