Stofpad Namibia

‘Stof’ (Dust) is something all Namibians are familiar with and a journey on the gravel road - the ‘stofpad’ - is still the best way to travel.

We are fortunate in Namibia to have gravel roads that haven’t as yet been replaced by tar. The ‘stofpaaie’ allow us to feel part of the land and to keep it real. I came across the descriptive sign ‘Stofpad Namibia’ on the Remhoogte Pass and it aptly summarised our close relationship with the dust or gravel roads that radiate through Namibia. It put a smile on my face as I drove through our beautiful land, contemplating dust.

The word ‘stof’ has found its way into many Afrikaans expressions, like ‘Stof opskop’ (Kicking up dust) - creating a scene - and ‘Iemand in die stof laat’, leaving someone behind (literally ‘in the dust’). And I couldn’t help having a good laugh when I saw the license plate ‘Stoflap’ - Dust cloth - on a Duster I saw parked in central Windhoek and ‘The Best “Stofgogga” Ever’ emblazoned on the protective cover of someone’s spare-tyre. The name ‘Stofgat’ - referring to a place with a lot of dust - is often used to describe a place that is very dusty.

In English, the word ‘dust’ appears in common sayings like ‘Bite the dust’, ‘Eat my dust’, ‘Kiss the dust’ and ‘Reduce to dust’. ‘Diesel and Dust’ was even the name of Australian-rock-band Midnight Oil’s popular album in the 80s.

We know the word well, like an old friend. We feel it on our hair, in our teeth, on our clothes, in our eyes and up our noses.

And we know the freedom of being away from the towns and cities, driving happily along on the stofpad. There is nothing to compare.

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(If you know of any other names or sayings with the word ‘dust’, please share them with us, we’d love to hear them)