An email I received recently. Someone managed to collect photos of the various bars in the Oshakati area. You may remember me commenting on these bars when I was up north in February. Here is some proof of their existence.

Awe-inspiring monuments, great centers of learning and culture, masterworks of art, music and literature that have transcended time and space and touched the hearts of millions around the world - these are not what you think of when you think of Ovamboland. Goats, sand, a dry, flat, unremarkable landscape - it's more like that, really. If you've been there, you know.

The people of this region have however made one contribution to world culture that is remarked upon and fondly remembered by all who visit: the Bottle Store.

I hereby humbly present one man's tribute to this little-known and under-appreciated institution of north-central south-west African culture.





This one technically isn't a Bottle Store, it's a vegetable store. I include it because I can't resist the irony. You don't normally think of potatoes and onions as "green vegetables"? Then you've never lived in Ovamboland!