Mainly Namibia

[RooFlyer]

Some views around the Weinberg






Ground floor terrace with 'Cape Town Catch' seafood restaurant on the right.



Same at night


Rooftop bar. Bizarrely, no booze served after 9:30 anywhere in the hotel (they did offer me a bottle to take to my room)







Went to the Cape Town Catch for dinner - everything fresh from the Namibian Atlantic coast. Packed over 2 levels and a number of glam couples there. 200 Namibian dollars is A$15, so its cheap! This is only part of the menu (and a pic in the menu, not what I had). Glass of wine is about A$4.50



Fishcakes (well, half of it anyway)



West coast potjie - a very hot bowl of essentially fish stew, with rice. All fantastic.




I think it was about A$33 all up.

 

[RooFlyer]

The next morning I took a walk around the city centre. A$3 'local taxi' there (no Uber); fixed prices.



the main things to see are the Parliament, the National Museum and the 'Christuskirche', all clustered together on a small hill.

Museum. More on it later.



Christuskirche, a Lutheran church completed in 1910.



And the Parliament building, the Tintenpalast (German for 'Ink Palace' ). Wikipedia tells:
It was built between 1912 and 1913 from regional materials as an administration building for the German government, which colonised Namibia at the time. The building project used forced labour by Herero and Nama people who, having survived the Herero and Namaqua genocide, had been placed in concentration camps. More on that later too.



I lost a bit of respect for the Namibians when i saw that Parliament was on Robert Magabe Avenue, but a visit to the museum soon clarified why.



Parliament gardens



Nearby, a game of rugby was on

 

[RooFlyer]

So to the museum. An idea of what's in store is at the elevator



but first to the rooftop where are views over the city



I then walked through the museum top to bottom. It was a revelation! One of the reasons for visiting new counties is to learn about them and its history an this was a revelation. I vaguely knew.. Namibia, cough German colonisers. Worth a long extract from Wikipedia on Namibia

In 1884, the German Empire established rule over most of the territory, forming a colony known as German South West Africa. Between 1904 and 1908, German troops waged a punitive campaign against the Herero and Nama which escalated into the first genocide of the 20th century. German rule ended during the First World War with a 1915 defeat by South African forces. In 1920, after the end of the war, the League of Nations mandated administration of the colony to South Africa. From 1948, with the National Party elected to power, this included South Africa applying apartheid to what was then known as South West Africa. In the later 20th century, uprisings and demands for political representation resulted in the United Nations assuming direct responsibility over the territory in 1966, but South Africa maintained de facto rule until 1973, when the UN recognized the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) as the official representative of the Namibian people. Namibia gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. However, Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands remained under South African control until 1994.

I'll let a bunch of pictures speak as to how the Namibians see things. It was a bit of a shock, thinking how nice the Namibians are today.
















SWAPO - South West Africa Peoples organisation. PLAN - Peoples Liberation Army of Namibia.

I recalled SWAPO vaguely but was surprised to learn that it was still in power. Wikipedia:
The South West Africa People's Organisation (/ˈswɑːpoʊ/, SWAPO; Afrikaans: Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; German: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been the governing party in Namibia since the country achieved independence in 1990. The party continues to be dominated in number and influence by the Ovambo ethnic group.



Namibia is a stable parliamentary democracy. Agriculture, tourism and the mining industry – including mining for gem diamonds, uranium, gold, silver and base metals – form the basis of its economy, while the manufacturing sector is comparatively small. Despite significant GDP growth since its independence, poverty and inequality remain significant in the country. 40.9% of the population is affected by multidimensional poverty, and more than 400,000 people continue to live in informal housing. Income disparity in the country is one of the world's highest with a Gini coefficient of 59.1 in 2015.

 

[RooFlyer]

More of the story.








At last there was some natural history - but not much





Outside



From there I got a taxi to a mall - A$1.30 . I found an ATM where I could use contactless & Apple watch to get money from my Wise card. No more swallowed cards! Do we have them in Australia?



Then walked back to the hotel, a couple of km in rising heat. Houses, I think this is a 'good' area', all with high gates and electric fences



And just before the hotel, the South African High Commission

 

[RooFlyer]

I've been here a day now. Impressions of Windhoek

* Very tidy, virtually no litter
* Footpaths and roads in good nick; traffic signals obeyed
* Safe to walk around a least during the day
* Cheap! and friendly
* English is the national language, but the locals can also be heard speaking either Afrikaans or the local indigenous language(s)

 

[RooFlyer]

Just had the first tour meeting and dinner. Just 5 of us (max would have been 14); me and a family group of 4 - mum & dad from Barcelona, their son and his girlfriend (from Nice). Tour leader has quite a heavy accent, but understanding will improve as the tour goes on.

Just had good steak dinner in the hotel complex - again, very popular.

@JohnM , ballooning at the dunes is offered, but timing with the rest of group may be an issue. It's a bit vague at the moment. I think I'll take a scenic flight out of Swakopmund over the Namib desert.

 

[Quickstatus]

Was German Namibia involved in the Slave trade like their neighbours the Portugese run Angola

 

[drron]

Was German Namibia involved in the Slave trade like their neighbours the Portugese run Angola

having visited Angola we found out a bit about the slave trade there. After 1850 the slave trade in west Africa moved to Ovamboland which is shared by Angola and Namibia. The main leaders of the slave trade where the leaders of the Ovambo tribe. So it did include Namibia. Germany Officially did not take part.
Then again the Germans only recognised the massacre in 1904 as Genocide in 2015 but refused to consider reparations. That finally happened in 2021 with an official apology.
Sorry for the hijack.

 

[Seat0B]

Love your new profile pic @RooFlyer. Makes me notice how visual I am because it took me a while to realise it was you!

 

[RooFlyer]

departure this morning at 7:30 am heading for the edge of the Namib desert near Sesriem. First 90 minutes on a good bitumen road heading south and then gravel Road for the rest of the day. Total 321 km, probably three hours on gravel. It wasn’t too bad.

The van - 9 seats for 5 pax. Driver and guide in the front


The motley crew, out guide in front. He’s Zimbabwean and which is a bit of surprise you would’ve expected a Namibian guide.



Scenery on the drive down








petrol stations is pretty much like you’d find st home







A little hotel as a pitstop



A Palisade fence of natural stones

 

[RooFlyer]

More of the drive down. Scenery was pretty monotonous and we could’ve been in the Territory north of Alice Springs or parts of the Kimberley eerily the same.



Approaching our accommodation for the next two nights the Desert Hills Lodge

Desert Hills Lodge | Daosa Africa Lodges - Your Gateway to Adventure

Desert Hills Lodge is our flagship venue. As the name implies, the lodge gracefully perch on a natural stone outcrop, generously spoiling its guests to

daosa.com.na

Around the public areas

Main building












Sustenance offered on arrival

 

[RooFlyer]

My situation as I write this; we are waiting for our rooms to be ready and then lunch.

It would be about 30° and perfectly still.



My.place, room #1









The bathroom has a great view.





View from my deck



Adjacent rooms

 

[JohnM]

Namibia is the place that I've found driving is most like Australia: driving on the left, generally wide and good dirt roads with narrow stock grids, 4WDs everywhere, long distances, but cruisy driving.

Of course, all that brings a lot of the European (especially German, given the colonial heritage) tourists undone. Rollovers at stock grids are common as those dopes, unaccustomed to driving on the left and on dirt roads, nervously slam on the brakes...

I cranked it in the Ranger that I rented!

 

[Quickstatus]

rooms to be ready

Q if you have time...
Tank water?
Climate control?
Humidity?
Guest laundry?

Cash vs CC in Namibia?
Is the Rand commonly used?

Why would they drive on the left?, the British were not there unless it was via South African occupation of Namibia???

 

[JohnM]

Why would they drive on the left?, the British were not there unless it was via South African occupation of Namibia???

Who cares? They just do.

When renting a vehicle at WDH, they direct you to a 'required' video before handing over the keys. I refused: In a nutshell (and nicely): "Listen mate, I'm Australian; we drive on the left, I have heaps of experience of driving on dirt roads and driving 4WDs; I refuse." "Oh, OK, sir. Here are the keys; your vehicle is just out there."

I did encounter a rollover at a stock grid just as the medivac helo was hauling the victims out. Their fourby was an upside down mess.

The driveway into one place that I stayed was only a couple of clicks from a stock grid. The owner told me that they were constantly being called out to rollovers there.

 

[RooFlyer]

Q if you have time...
Tank water?
Climate control?
Humidity?
Guest laundry?

Cash vs CC in Namibia?
Is the Rand commonly used?

Why would they drive on the left?, the British were not there unless it was via South African occupation of Namibia???

I have all the time in the world at the moment. Relaxing on the deck with a gin and tonic looking out to the desert, until we go for sundowners up the hill at 5:30 pm.

Out in the boonies where we are now it would almost certainly be bore water as long as it’s fresh enough.

Everything is air-conditioned, however in the central part of the lodge where we are now it’s not it will be too expensive. It’s too big an area.

Very dry. I’m getting nosebleeds because of that.

Haven' t enquired about guest laundry I guess they will if you ask them.

The Namibian dollar is pegged 1:1 to the South African rand. Rand currency can be freely used everywhere in Namibia and I’m told there are no plans to try and phase that out. In fact the ATMs at Windhoek airport dispense rand not Namibian dollars. Everywhere else they yield Namibian currency.

And @JohnM of course is perfectly correct. Today’s drive I could’ve been in the Northern Territory or in parts of W.A. for both the road conditions, the terrain and even getting petrol.

 

[RooFlyer]

Lunch at the lodge then relaxing in the afternoon - very hot and still. Bockwurst



Then went for a four-wheel-drive round the hills behind the lodge; saw this Oryx very close to our lodge.



Sociable Weaver bird builds this nest which houses a whole colony - it might have 50 or more individuals mostly related.



Views for that from the top of the hill where we had sundowners and snacks



The canned G&T was a big no.



A lodge around the corner from ours

 

[RooFlyer]

Interesting geological texture







Dinner menu



Soup



Spinach quiche



Oryx steak, medium rare - perfect



A South African Chenin blanc ( winery of Ernie Els, AKA the ‘Big Easy’)



Lodge in a full moon

 

[Pushka]

Your moon view reminded me. Tonight is the super full moon, and for SA anyway, best viewing time is dusk when it's low to horizon. Your view might be spectacular.

 

[Seat0B]

Have you done an Intrepid tour before @RooFlyer? What’s it really like?

We have considered but not done yet as we are not really into group tours. However Seat Friend (solo traveller) swears by them.