Day 43: Rupara Restcamp – Namwi Island Campsite

Today we drive directly to Katima Molilo and unfortunately miss a meeting with Vilho da Vida. Wolle and he have been friends on Facebook for years, and he's basically Becky's "godfather." His comment, "What a nice bakkie," was the inspiration for the name. But somehow we pass each other by on the Caprivi Strip.

The Namwi Camp is conveniently located and acceptable. We get a site by the water and spend the afternoon planning our trip to Zambia in detail. Where can we get a SIM card in the border region, where is there an ATM, how much Zambezi money do we have left from last time, etc.

And since there's nothing more to report today, there's time to jot down a few general thoughts.

We've driven the route between Rundu and Katima Molilo several times now. Always the same villages and impressions:

The Caprivi is densely populated. We've heard that the population doubles every 16 years. One family usually forms a settlement. Some settlements are tidy; you see very few people during the day, and they're busy. In other settlements, many sit around doing nothing even during the day – and it's often littered there.

We see many large herds of cattle, the animals with impressive horns. And there's a lot of agriculture, corn cultivation, and other things.

Actually, everything doesn't seem as poor as we often saw on the west coast. But it's not really that prosperous either. The houses seem simple; water is carried from wherever it can be. A lot of things are carried on people's heads, even by small children. Heavy objects are transported with a kind of sled, usually pulled by donkeys or cattle. A sled certainly works better on the sandy ground than something with wheels.

This morning, a young man came to our camp and wanted to sell some handicrafts. We really can't use them and we already have too much stuff. But it's always heartbreaking to turn them down, knowing that these young people don't have many options for career prospects. And even though you don't buy anything, people remain friendly and smile at you.

The discrepancy between our lives is so vast, we are so privileged. And yet we are so clueless about how things could be fundamentally changed.