Why Did the Warthog Cross the Road?

by Beth Alexis

I don’t have an answer for that joke yet, but I thought it would make a catchy title. If you have a good punch line, please leave a comment.

Being in Namibia is a bit like being behind the scenes of a wildlife documentary, or it feels like you’ve hopped into the movie the Lion King.

Thursday’s tour of a game farm was one of those standout moments where I was able to appreciate the unique and diverse wildlife that Namibia has to offer.

The game farm is connected with the University of Namibia Neudamm Campus. The cattle for the university graze on this land, and there are options to camp on the game reserve for the chance to view wildlife.

We rode through the reserve in trucks and saw so many different animals. There was a family of warthogs that we kept coming across; they were fast runners and had no problem sliding under fences.

It was fun to see some of the animals run on the road in front of us and hop over fences. I think that the waterbucks (a type of antelope) we saw should be heading to the Olympics because they were certainly proficient in the high jump. Another group of animals that crossed our path was a congress (group) of baboons!

While touring the game farm we had a chance to learn about the crop science department and visit the greenhouse-like huts where some crops are grown. Since it is winter in Namibia there wasn’t too much growing, but we did see carrots, spinach, and onions. The particular onion variety was called Texas Giant. The crops manager explained to us the rotational planting practices between tomatoes and legumes.

Near the end of the tour we were surprised by a special lunch. We got to experience a braai which is a Namibian barbecue. The staff made us Namibian beef steaks, mutton, and pork sausage.

Keep following us (granted that we have Internet access) as our adventures take us to Gobabeb!