Folks,

Internet in Namibia is supplied from a number of sources, but king of the hill is Internet Africa - an offshoot of UUnet based out of Virginia. They are based in South Africa, and run one, maybe two, 128K lines from Capetown to Windhoek. I had a barbeque with Dr Lisse - a German at the Swapokmund medical center who administers name services for the country.

Performance sucks for interactive work - telnet to RMI was painfully slow. I imagine WWW services are the same. So, yes, I skimmed your mail, but no individual replies. An internet Cafe that set up in Windhoek went out of business. However, the backpackers lodge in Winhoek has it, the car hire place had it, my student friend of the bus had it at home. So Email is a reality, and within the country is fast.

Folks,

Swakopmund is a resort town on the Swakop river - with a heavy german influence. Where else could you buy German memorabilia from the last war ?

The landscape is remarkable for the desert sands that come fsright down to the sea.

I rode down on the minibuses that all the black folk use - 15 people squashed in for $10US to take you 200Km. there was an 18 year old University student on the bus, who could answer all my questions on Namibia. Very aware of the country’s strengths and limitations. One of a family of 6, with a computer, and Internet, at home. He was the only one in higher education.

Folks,

A group of us at the hostel banded together and rented a car to go down to see an Oasis in the middle of the Namibian desert.

There has been an uncommon amount of rain in Namibia this year - so much so that the usual sandy color of the landscape has been replaced by green.

Rain in the desert is an event that is waited for by an entire ecosystem - eggs that lie dormant in the hot, dry sand for decades before exploding in a frenzy of growth, reproduction, and quiescence again.

Folks,

Got into the Capital of Namibia Friday AM, and located a ‘Backpackers Lodge’ through someone else on the plane.

It is $8 / night, for a shared dorm room, Lounge, TV, kitchen - and excellent company of other people that have travelled through the continent - mostly Australians, New Zealanders (Kiwis) and Brits here, many of whom are on extended trips of six months or more.

I organised a trip down to some huge natural sand dunes, that have had an uncommonly large amount of rain this year. Water in the desert is unusual, and the fauna adapts to make best advantage of it for the short time it is around. Most years there is no rain at all in this place.