Africa for Kids: Living Next to the Namib Desert

One of Clive’s favorite traditional foods is sorghum porridge with sour milk. Sorghum is a grain that’s drought and heat-resistant, and thus very popular in arid countries, such as Namibia. Clive also likes dried beans with corn, which in Yeyi is called tsoli. Another favorite traditional food of his is wild spinach, which is called mundambi. Because Clive’s family lives by the ocean, they also have access to fresh seafood. Some of the fish they eat are hake and angelfish, also called brama brama, which are indigenous to Namibia. And, of course, they also have dessert in Namibia. Clive’s favorite is homemade ice cream with frozen bananas, soy milk and cocoa powder. His mother also bakes a traditional cake from pearl millet that Clive loves to eat. In Clive’s native language, this grain is called mahangu, and it’s another grain that grows well in dry regions. Scientists have found that mahangu (pearl millet) has been grown in parts of Africa since at least 2000 BC. 

The Namib Desert is often considered one of the oldest deserts in the world and it’s an iconic landmark of Namibia. Scientists believe the desert has existed for at least 55 million years. Today, it stretches for over 1,200 miles (2,000 km) along the Atlantic Ocean and is home to a surprising number of desert-adapted animals, such as springboks, oryx, ostriches, snakes, lizards and the endemic “fog beetles.” These beetles are able to collect water on their backs from the coastal fog and let it drip into their mouths. Because the Namib Desert is near the ocean, its coastal regions benefit from a thick fog that covers the area for an average of 180 days a year. The fog is created by the cool Benguela Current, which flows in the Atlantic Ocean along the African continent. The current cools the air above the water, which then moves inland and creates fog underneath a layer of warmer and drier desert air.