Oranjemund – it’s a “private town”

At the end of March I traveled to the small, PRIVATE (?!?) town of Oranjemund with some of my athletes. In true form, the Regional Athletics (track and field) competition was postponed twice, only to discover that “we need a track to hold the competition,” so then it was moved from our capital Keetmanshoop to Oranjemund. Although it’s only 400-500km away from Tses, it took us two days and more than 8 hours of travel on questionable roads to reach our destination.

But the view along the way was exquisite – not many people in Namibia get the chance to see the Orange River (marking the border between South Africa and Namibia), because it’s a private area. The entire area around Oranjemund (starting about 100km before it on the road leading there) is private-access. You need a permit to enter – thank goodness we were traveling with a Ministry or we would have had trouble! They gave me enough confused looks as it was – first because they thought I was a learner, then because I had a passport instead of a Namibian ID, then because they didn’t understand my accent…

The kids and I at the mouth of the Orange River

Oranjemund is private because the area is owned by a diamond company. Yep, that’s right, diamonds. There are signs everywhere stating, “Stealing diamonds hurts all of us.” Diamonds are a pretty big industry in Namibia and a huge source of national income, and it was cool to actually see where the mines are (even though I couldn’t tell you what any of those buildings are for).

Once we reached Oranjemund, the town, we realized that it is basically a little oasis! The water must cost a fortune, but every lawn is watered and has grass; the roads are well kept-up and everyone there is RICH. It was very strange. But we had a great time and met some really kind people there (one nurse who helped out one of my kids who cramped up in the COLD and misty weather asked about the school, and then proceeded to send me home with two huge trash bags of really nice clothes to distribute to the kids! Namibians helping Namibians, love it!!)