Swakopmund

 We are on the road to the seaside town of Swakopmund by 8am and travelling through more spectacular but, once again, very different scenery. We spot a few animals along the way, including the solitary and handsome oryx, Namibia's national animal. We stop to have our photos taken at The Tropic of Capricorn and  pass through vast mountainous ranges of striated rock.   Way out in the middle of nowhere in a lonely and desolate canyon a couple of Germans hid out during the second world war to avoid internment by the British.  I have no idea how they survived in this arid and hostile landscape but survive they did and wrote of their experiences in a book called "The Sheltering Desert" a fascinating account of endurance and self sufficiency. Until I came here I did not know that Namibia was so scenically stunning, so vast, so empty.

 



  After several hours we arrive at Walvis Bay, south of Swakopmund.  This is the site of a large flamingo colony and we walk along the coastline to admire them as they fossick for food along the edges of the sea and occasionally take flight in great swirling clouds of pink.  Lavish homes line the foreshore, several of them have gardeners working in their lush grounds. 



  The landscape between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund is just mile after mile of flat, golden sand,  whirled up into a sand storm by the wind.  I am fascinated to see houses built right into the sand along the shore and wonder how secure they are. Our hotel, Swakop Lodge, is right in the middle of town and it is a real luxury to have a proper hotel room and beds and showers, and....well, you get the picture! After showers and a rest we are met by our guide for the "township tour".  He tells us his name is Castro, "as in Fidel" he proudly states. The "township" is a shanty town on the outskirts of Swakopmund and it is a sobering sight.  Many of the houses are made from card board scraps and pieces of plastic, however, I am struck  by how  tidy the streets and alleyways are. It is sad to see people live this way but they have no choice.  Namibia currently has an unemployment rate of 51%. and it is impossible for many to afford a house.  The Government is, however,  trying to address the problem and there are small, new houses being built on the edge of the shanty town which will be available on very generous terms and low deposits to some of the shanty town dwellers. Our guide also points out the Aids/HIV Centre and proudly tells us that 95% of Namibians are now well aware of the dangers of contracting the disease and how to avoid it, nevertheless AIDS is a huge problem here, they currently have the highest rate of the disease in the world. 

  

We stop at a neat 2 roomed concrete house where we are met outside by a woman from the Damara tribe. She is dressed in the rather quaint costume Damara women have adopted based on 19th century German dress with a hat shaped like cow horns in deference to the Damara's great respect for their cattle. It is a cultural requirement that  Damara women speak softly so she answers our questions in a soft low voice then her answers are repeated to us by our guide. When volunteers are called for Judy, Maria and I volunteer and are taken into the little house and outfitted in Damara costumes. It is a surprise for our group when we reappear. We  move  on to the home of the Damara chief, a tiny, wizened, gracious old lady of 85.  She sits in her roomy, neat but humble living room and answers our questions through her nephew, Beadle, while her children and grandchildren saunter backwards and forwards through the house. Beadle is a large, beaming young man with an impressive head of plaits. We are all transfixed by their unique clicking language.



 Next we go on a walking tour of the township.  We are warmly greeted by everyone we pass and the children run around us playing tag and rolling around like puppies.  They are adorable.  Gary gives a boy some pencils and he is as delighted as if it were a million dollars. We visit a craft shop and then a neighbourhood bar where we are given drinks and sit on plastic stools while the locals come and go.  I love the African music they are playing and enjoy watching a loose limbed young man, in his own little world,  dancing to the beat. In a small thatched hut beside the bar we are served a traditional meal of cold maize porridge, beans, chicken, spinach and roasted caterpillars, yes, roast caterpillars!!  Not nice! ...all washed down with a sour fermented drink.  "Oh well," we tell ourselves, "this is all part of the African experience."  Finally, some of the local children put on a short but enthusiastic dance display for us in a narrow, dusty alleyway.  It has been a brilliant tour, so informative. sobering and humbling.  At around 7.30 we arrive back at our hotel and go straight out again to dinner.  We are eating at the Lighthouse Restaurant, very popular with tourists and right beside the fine, handsome, red and white striped lighthouse, a special landmark in Swakopmund. Ronnie comes with us and we are grateful for his help in  deflecting beggars along the way.  I enjoy my meal of local fish, prawns and mussels and the good company of the evening.  As we walk home I tell Ronney that we had eaten caterpillars and he laughs and says that he has never eaten them because they sound nasty!!




 






Photos: (1) Oryx, national animal of Namibia, (2) Hilary, Gary and me, (3) Two Germans hid out here during World War 2, (4) Sandstorm between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, (5) With Judy and Maria in Damara costume, (6)  Shanty town on the outskirts of Swakopmund, (7) Humble houses and neat, tidy street, (8) A very cool local dancing in the bar, (9) So proud of the pencil Gary gave him