We
had both had a good night’s sleep and apart from, my eyes which
still felt tired, I felt pretty much back to normal. Breakfast was a
tasty spread with no noodles, rice of roti in sight. Rather than
missing those flavours that had become so normal to us we both
relished ham, cheese and tasty (i.e. solid for Stef) bread. It was a
very Dutch/German breakfast and it made a welcome change.
What had surprised us when we arrived yesterday was Marita
saying that as it was the weekend everything would be closed. We are
so used to a 24x7 lifestyle at home, and it is one we have
experienced pretty much everywhere we have travelled to on this trip
that it still takes us by surprise to find places closed at the
weekend. In a way though it is nice to have an enforced down day. We
used the morning to just firm up our ideas for what we want to see
in Namibia and how we want to travel around. There is little in the
way of public transport so you either need to hire a car or join a
tour group. The latter doesn’t really appeal to either of us so,
depending on cost, we look set to hire a 4x4 camper truck.
At around noon we decided to go and amble around the centre of
Windhoek to get our bearings a little and to se what was there.
Marita had laughingly told us yesterday that about three hours was
more than enough time to see the sigh and she was right! The hotel
is a little way out of town, about a twenty minute walk to the
centre. Most of the places we had looked at to stay in Windhoek were
a similar distance out and there seem to be only one hotel, The
Kalahari Sands, in the centre of town.
Marita had told us yesterday that if we were in the centre of
town at night we should get a taxi back rather than walking. It made
me feel slightly uneasy because it creates an impression of
insecurity. In daylight the walk in seemed fine although I suspect
our route didn’t take us through the nicest parts of town. We headed
down Independence Avenue and past a large church with a very active
community. There was a steady flow of people coming in and out an
they just seemed to come and go as they pleased which made me think
there was no structured “service” like there is in Catholic
churches. Sure enough as we passed by again on our way back to the
hotel the congregation was still in full swing.
As Marita had predicated the centre of town was all shut up
except for a couple of shops geared to tourists. We saw a few
foreign tourists wandering about but not many. One thing most had in
common was their age, they were definitely all retired people on
holiday. The centre of Windhoek is very small with the usual
collection of shops and banks, although it was difficult to really
get a sense of them as they were shut.
We stopped for lunch at a place with a balcony looking down
and over the street and whiled away some time as we people watched.
It was a strange mix and contrast of people walking by. Even though
we have only been here a few hours we were both have a feeling that
a dual society still exists here with a large cultural divide
between the indigenous black people and the descendents of the white
European settlers. The settlers seem to own everything and the
indigenous people provide the workforce. Here the clientele were
also predominantly white and the common courtesies of “please” and
“thank you” and making eye contact with the staff did not seem to
form part of daily life. Their kids were running amok while the
parents just sat munching on chunks of steak and swigging beer. The
white people we saw out on the street also had an almost arrogant
swagger about them. It was as if they felt entitled to all the world
had to offer and were quietly letting everyone know they were going
to enjoy it.
We strolled along by the state house, current home of the
President, getting shooed to the other side of the street by the
security guards inside. At the top of the road the view is dominated
by the Christus Kirche, a small church with an odd mix of styles in
its construction and décor. Perched on top of a hill it offers fine
views down and across Windhoek which really reveal how small this
capital city is. Nestled in a valley you can see the outer extremes
of the city to your left, right and in front of you. It is really no
more than a smallish UK town.
German architecture in Windhoek
We wandered back to our hotel and as we sat cooling on our
balcony a few drops of rain started to fall, followed within minutes
by a torrential downpour. Had we been ten minutes later getting back
we would have been totally drenched. Apparently they have had a lot
more rain this year than normal in fact more than they have had for
the last 30 years. We’ve been told that the landscape is unusually
green and lush and that we will see Namibia in a very different
light to how most people get to see it.
In the evening we made our way to the Maerua Mall about ten
minutes walk the other way from the town centre. It looks pretty new
ad work is still going on to fit out many of the shops. It had an
eerie feeling to it being so quiet. We had gone there to see what
was on at the local cinema and, even though we have already seen the
film, we bought tickets for the Constant Gardener. The cinema had
just four screens and the one we were in was tiny, probably seating
only about 100 people.
After the film we stopped off at Mike’s Kitchen for a beer
before heading back to the hotel. This was a big diner style eatery
that would have been equally at home in Canada. Large lumps of meat
seemed to be the highlight of the menu as with the place we had
stopped at at lunchtime. It was strange to see a group of Chinese
people inside tucking into big steaks with a knife and fork rather
than slurping away at their noodles with chopsticks.
Our walk back to the hotel was a bit of a quick march. Even
though Marita had said this stretch was safe to walk at night we
didn’t hand around. Signs on the roadside declared how Windhoek
wanted its residents and guests to feel safe and it gave contact
numbers for you to call if that wasn’t the case. The very fact that
the sign was there made me feel uneasy. AS we reached a junction two
men outside the Nampharm building started to talk to us. I think
they were security guards but I wasn’t sure and couldn’t work out
whether they were friend or foe. I also couldn’t understand what
they were saying although Stef exchanged a few words with them as we
carried on walking by. Within minutes we were back behind the
security gates of the hotel and were soon tucked up in bed.
