I’m back from my final travel seminar for the semester! We spent four days near Mariental and Berseba, about 3 hours

The view from the top of Hardapdam, the largest dam in Namibia.

south of Windhoek. The main goal of the trip was to experience the differences between government-, privately-, and community-run organizations and how they relate to sustainability. We stayed in different campsites each night run by each of the different types of organizations.

Some of the highlights included visiting Hardapdam (the largest dam in Namibia),

Planting trees with primary school children in Berseba to beautify their churchyard.

planting trees with primary school students, and Brukkaros Mountain.

Brukkaros Mountain was formed by an explosion when rising magma met

groundwater and superheated it. The campsite at Brukkaros Mountain was run by the community and was very rudimentary because the community refused to sellout to private investors who wanted to build guesthouses on the property. When we stayed there, we got the chance to hike up the mountain early in the morning to see a crater created during the explosion that created the mountain. It was a beautiful hike!

We climbed up the mountain as far as we dared. You can see the crater behind me. Beautiful view!

The final night we were in the south, we stayed at a campsite (complete with shower and toilet!) that has branches all over Namibia. It had a 3-legged philosophy on sustainability that is very unique. It is based on financial stability, conservation, and economic responsibility.

Overall, we had a great weekend and learned a lot. I’m excited to round out the rest of the semester in Windhoek!