Asia: Northern Namibia

Hello
We travelled from Etosha, which is the major highlight for Namibia to the Kavango area and Caprevi strip (a strip of land which stretches east, over the top of Botswana, bordering Angola, it also connects with Zambia.)
You pass through a veterinary stop where they check for uncooked meat and eggs, if you are Namibian or your drivers licence if you are not. The landscape changes immediately. Its lush with lots of little "villages" that have several round huts with thatched roofs called roundels. They have walls made of sticks with sticks wound around, mud or sometimes a tarp. There are also brick buildings, often made from mud bricks with corrugated steel roofs held down by rocks, no nails here. The "village" is surrounded by a fence made of sticks or reeds. They farm maize, sorghum, beans and sometimes pumpkins. They tend the fields by hand, using a hoe and their own power, you often see whole families out working in the fields. The bigger operations have oxen which pull a plow.
It has been difficult here in the past few years, as there has been a drought, so a lot of hardship. This year, the rains have come, but were heavy when they planted in November and washed their seeds away, so they had to start again. They live a very simple life here, farming and cattle if they are fortunate.
The government does have schools, but the parents have to pay $200 N per year (20 CDN), but that is a lot of money for some. Often, the kids have to walk many miles to school and leave before light. In the winter, it gets very cold and some of the children do not have shoes. Reminds you of your parents walking miles uphill! We stayed at a lodge where the owners and their friend work with the community and have set up a preschool. Many of the children are poor, so all the kids shower and put on school uniforms, including shoes, which many do not have, so they are all equal. They are then fed breakfast, have their lessons, have lunch and head home around 1 pm or so. In the higher grades they start at 7 am, end around 1pm, but stay for a couple of hours to do homework, Then walk home.
It is amazing how happy they are. Always smiling and say hello.
The area is very beautiful, very lush and green. The Okavango river runs from Angola into Namibia and then into Botswana. There are crocodiles and hippos in the river. The hippos are quite loud and snort and call out during the day, they even sound big! They are very dangerous and have been known to attack small boats, if they feel you are getting too close. There is an amazing variety of birdlife here. So many beautiful colours, shapes and sounds.
We took a 3 hour tour of the river with a very knowledgeable local, Mark, who has lived here of 35 years. It was like going out with a friend, but he knew all the birds, their calls, and habits. We went into small channels looking for birds and hippos. We even found traps the locals set for birds and fish (illegal), so we confiscated them as they could do some real damage.