"The Rose Quarts Table". Elsie !Uxams’s roadside stall at Die Kruising (“The Crossing”), Tsiseb Conservancy, Namibia. August 2015
"Zebra". The drought in recent years as well as fencing between private farms and National Parks is causing hundreds of wild life deaths as they migrate in search of grazing and water. Namib Naukluft Park, Namibia. February 2016
"Hanging". C35: An isolated gravel road from Henties Bay to Uis. Roadkill? Hunting trophy? Roadside marker? Dorob National Park, Namibia. July 2014
"Taking Flight". Francois !Uri-Khob’s pigeons on Black Ranch Pos #3, Spitzkoppe, Namibia. December 2017
"The Caged Fowl of Alexandrine Hanabis aka Kuku". Kuku’s cockerel once saved the life of a Herero man who lost his whereabouts in a thick fog that had swept across from the coast. Without water or food he walked for five days and nights until he heard a cock crow – signalling the presence of humankind. Die Kruising (“The Crossing”), Tsiseb Conservancy, Namibia. December 2014
"I’ll get Rich". Francois !Uri-khob breeds pigeons to support his siblings after his family lost their goats and donkeys to drought and poaching. Black Ranch, Pos #3, Spitzkoppe, Namibia. August 2017
"The Caged Cats of Axab Pan". During the day Enkia Seonduru’s cats are a threat to her baby chickens. At night they are released to hunt mice. Axab Pan, Omaheke Region, Namibia. March 2019
"Xoagub’s Ducks". Kuiseb River Delta, Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia. March 2016
"Fish on a Line". Miriam Pokolo’s fish hang out to dry. DRC informal settlement, Swakopmund, Namibia. January 2015
"Power Entrance". Kudu horns adorn a shack in the DRC informal settlement, Swakopmund, Namibia. March 2014
"Horns and Hooves". A private farm gate on the D2329, Erongo Region, Namibia. February 2017
"Shadows and Things". Karibib District, Namibia. January 2017
"Crows Pickings". Picnic layby on the C35, Erongo Region, Namibia. January 2016
"Radio Antenna". Some 85% of Namibian land is locked in mining concessions where licensed and unlicensed people dig for semi-precious stones or traces of sought-after minerals. Basic structures shelter them from the midday sun and cold desert winds – sometimes for months at a time. Xoboxobos Small Miners’ Association site, Erongo Region, Namibia. 7 July 2014
"Entrapped". In an attempt to reach a water source, an Oryx’s hind legs get twisted in the fence wires bordering the Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia. December 2019
"My Friend Chicken". Kale Josefp (spelled by his mother), born deaf, blind and without joints in his ankles resides with his parents on a resettled farm called ‘Born to Suffer’. Uis District, Namibia. July 2017
"Hen House". Jan Titus’s kitchen on Sandput farm. Aroab District, Namibia. March 2019
"Susanna’s Guinea Fowl". Black Ranch Pos #3, Spitzkoppe, Namibia. April 2016
"Market Day". Every month a privately-owned security team, armed with machine guns and finger print detectors, delivers old age pensions and grants for the disabled to rural communities across the country. ‘Outsider’ hawkers wait under nearby trees to cash in. Corridor 17-B, Omaheke Region, Namibia. October 2019
"The Lamb". Talita Witbooi, shepherdess. From the safety of her ‘shelter’, Talita mourns the loss of her son weeks earlier by snakebite. Tsetsaub Farm beneath the Dâures, Namibia. November 2015
"Leopard Kill #3". Attacked by a leopard during the night, Evelyn Arises’s goat is slaughtered by Conservancy Officials and the mutilated leg taken as evidence for monetary compensation. Ganamab Farm, Tsiseb Conservancy, Namibia. June 2016
"Waiting for Scraps". Willemina Jakop draws on one of my cigarettes. Blouberg Resettlement Farm (ownership contested), Omaheke Region, Namibia. March 2019
"The Church Bell". The Rhenish Mission Station (1845) yard at Rooibank that serves the Topnaar (ǂAonin) communities along the Kuiseb River. Walvis Bay District, Namibia. February 2016
"Lizard View". Lauren Eises ‘upcycles’ scrap material. Sorris Sorris Conservancy, Kunene Region, Namibia. October 2017
"Cattle Country". A Brahman bull statue stands sentinel at the town of Gobabis, its gonads protected by razor wire after ‘molestation’ by school children. Omaheke Region, Namibia. March 2019
"Cemetery Totem". A cattle-horned totem at the Herero holy burial ground commemorating the victims of the genocide under German colonial rule (1904-1907). Swakopmund, Namibia. April 2015
"Shadow Rest". When Ouma Maletsky leaves home to dig for semi-precious stones, she leaves a scrapbook and pencil attached to a pole with a note that reads “Take orders”. An ‘honesty jar’ stands nearby for payment should a passer-by be interested in acquiring horns or tourmalines. D1918 #Gaingu Conservancy, Namibia. December 2019
"Reaching Out". Susanna blesses and guides a tortoise to safety across the gravel road. Katzies Pan on the C17, ǁKaras Region, Namibia. March 2019
"Entangled Bind". Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia. March 2018
Noah’s Ark in a Sandstorm - Part I
Tourists on so-called wildlife safaris in Namibia usually tick off the vast country (824,292 sq. kilometres) in ten days. The rich diversity of people and cultures in the sparsely populated landscapes that lie between luxury destinations is seldom observed or acknowledged. Along the dusty roads, signboards read ‘$20 a photograph. Help us!’ as communities try to capitalise on the ‘safari’ theme to lure potential buyers. The seller can sometimes be seen in the distance, running towards the stall to collect coins left in an ‘honesty’ tin. Perhaps.
Margaret Courtney-Clarke, February 2021