Day 3-049
4 hrs, 1 .9 kms
Day Totals: 16 hrs, 7.9 kms

As we ride across the vast open country of Northwest South Africa, I see hundreds of miles of fences... privately owned land. Massive farms and long stretches of game land where tourists can come and hunt for a hefty fee. Enormous mines transforming the landscape. This is worlds away from the Africa that I'm used to, where villagers till small plots of land, and solitary men herd goats and cattle...

I ask myself the rhetorical question: how did these people obtain this massive wealth? Did they "buy" it from whoever lived here before? Did they negotiate for mining rights with the previous inhabitants?

The answer is pretty obvious. No. They just took it.

Then I ask myself another question: OK, now that technically everyone is "equal"... what chance does a black South African ever have of owning a vast estate ... or a mine? Can this economic inequality ever be fixed?

In neighboring Zimbabwe, the government "fixed" this by simply taking land from the whites and giving it to others... and the results have been utterly disasterous. Giving resources and wealth to those who don't know how to manage it simply doesn't work.

But does this mean that things should just stay as they are?

I'm suddenly reminded that the United States isn't much different. There also whites came and essentially stole the land from its native inhabitants. I guess, since most of us don't encounter the descendants of those native inhabitants, it's easy for us to forget that injustice and assume things are "how they are supposed to be". Here in South Africa, the consequences of past injustices are very vivid in front of you every day.

I guess you could say that black South Africans are "better off" than subsistence farmers and herdsmen of other African countries . At least they never go hungry, enjoy free medical care, and can usually find jobs that pay OK. But does that really make them "better off"?

The more I think about it, the more complicated and confusing it gets. Something tells me though that there are more conflicts up ahead for this country...

Finally we reach Upington, and I go straight to the Intercape bus station to see if I can book an overnight bus to Namibia. I'm in luck. One is leaving in just a couple of hours.

One intriguing observation: the well dressed manager at the bus station is black. The security guard is an old white guy... hmmm...

I take a quite tour around downtown Upington. It's a bit more upscale than other towns, but with dusk approaching and the streets getting empty, I need to make this quick. The Orange River runs beside the city, but unfortunately I can't find a way to get down there.

I haven't eaten much all day, so I rush into the supermarket for some ready-made food... No park for my Parkbench Concert... so once again a KFC will have to do.

Once on the bus I enjoy one last interesting encounter: a young Japanese fellow who is starting his journey from South Africa to Japan... overland! He has no guidebook or clear plan, but a lot of guts....

We take our picture together, and I wonder if we'll meet again at some point further in his global oddyssey.