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By Pat Graham
July 7, 2009
At long last my work visa arrived. I’m now in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, with a population near that of Scottsdale, Arizona.
Clear blue skies give no hint of the cold, crisp night ahead. It’s winter here. Well before daybreak, distant roosters signal a new day. Rural life and a mix of traditions, European and African, are woven through the city.
My first challenge was to relearn everything I knew about driving, as I got in the wrong side of the car and drove down the wrong side of the road. I’m more comfortable wandering the surrounding hills on foot.
Evolution in the Desert
One would think you were in Arizona’s chaparral except for the occasional African hornbill floating from a tree.
While walking in a dry river bed east of the city, I heard something talking to me from high in a “kopje” or rocky outcrop. I spotted an animal I had never seen before. Was it a small bear sunning itself on a rock? No, it had a face like a rodent. It was a rock hyrax (pictured above).
A what?
The rock hyrax is a noisy and social critter that has no known living relative, though it’s thought to be a distant relative of an elephant. Very distant. Fossil records indicate hyraxes were once the size of oxen.
The rock hyrax is a survivor, evolving over thousands of years to persevere when others have not.
For People and Nature
Namibia, like Arizona, is an uncommon land. It is arid, yet surprisingly rich in natural diversity of both wildlife and people. Interestingly, Namibians have done what few other countries have — they’ve called out this unique relationship in their founding legislation. They recognized the need to protect ecological systems and to use them in a sustainable way that benefits all Namibians, both present and future.
Over the next few months I look forward to exploring the unique people and wildlife that make this land home and sharing their stories with you.
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Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Anand Mishra/TNC (Namib Desert); Photo © Bill Waldman (rock hyrax); Photo © Kenneth K. Coe (elephant).
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