Bum bum bee dum bum Namibia!

All of the days here seem to mesh together into one long memory.

Southern Africa is nothing like you would expect it to be.  Although it is spring here the weather is cold, you end up wearing a sweatshirt more often then not. I definitely felt safer here than I did in Brazil. People are not begging for money at every turn and the population is not as dense. There are only two million people in the entire country of Namibia. Walvis Bay is very small and there isn’t a whole lot of activity to be quite honest. The local people are extremely hospitable, everyone says hello as they walk down the street and consider it rude if you do not do the same.

American sentiment has been surprising. During our first jaunt into town, we were stopped by some of the dockworkers to ask us where we were from. Once they heard all of us shout the U.S. their faces lit up. Again, surprising.

I had not planned anything while in this specific port.  I figured that I would just go where the wind took me and hopefully it would be blowing in the right direction.

The first day was spent meandering around the town looking for grocery stores and such. It is always nice to have a chance to get your bearings in the first few hours of the day...especially if there is a language barrier.  Luckily, there was none to really speak of. The national language of Namibia is English, but Afrikaans is spoken throughout most of the population along with the other 22 plus languages spoken around the country. 

That night, 13 of us went up to the next town about 30 minutes away. Swakopmund was an interesting experience. I stayed in my first hostel for $3 USD a night. When I walked in I felt like breaking into song and singing the score from Annie. Let me tell you it was a “hard knock life”. 

I was one of the late groups into town, as the first group went up earlier that day to figure out a place to stay.  The first group ended up meeting a school choir that was singing at a local competition and invited us to come along. They even set up transportation free of charge.  I have never seen so much talent before. There were choirs from all over the country that sang and danced but I believe the liveliest person in the group was the host school’s principal. He shook all of our hands and introduced himself and began conversations of various topics with us.

Naturally, American politics came up in the conversation. When all of the sudden the principal turns to us and says, “and then George Bush ‘messed’ up your country.”  You can imagine that he might have used a more colorful word there. All of us looked at one another and couldn’t help but laugh from the shock of the punch line. The rest of the night was spent at one of the local German restaurant’s, Kuckies, and later on at a pub. I had an ostrich steak for dinner and I think that I’ve been converted. It is leaner than beef, but has an incredible flavor. 

We shopped all of the next day and spent some time walking around the town. We had breakfast/lunch at a local spot. I cannot express how much I truly enjoyed the food. All of us were exhausted from the sleepless night in the hostel, so after a bit of meandering we went back to the boat.

My friend Marissa and I went sand boarding the next day on Dune 7 with a group of girls. It made me miss the snow. Sand boarding is basically snow boarding...on sand. Instead of taking a lift, you hopped onto the back of quads. We got in five or six runs. I can’t say that it was all that easy even for the most experienced boarders because the sand was so fine. If you didn’t wax the board enough you just sank. Pretty incredible views from the top of the dunes though, I have to keep reminding myself that this is my life and it is all about living for the moment.

The last few days flew past me, we partied and ate and had a blast just being with one another.  I bought quite a few mementos from a lady named Kathy right outside the port gate. She drove a hard bargain and I think that I totally got ripped off, but I just didn’t have the heart to haggle with her anymore. What she was selling was her livelihood. I would rather give my money to someone that it directly affects than a commercial business.

My scariest story so far on this trip occurred here. I was going to the bank with friends and there was a guy that had just used the ATM. He came out of the vestibule and I proceeded to the machine. Before I even took out my card my friend Juliana yelled at me to not do it. I hadn’t realized that the same guy was right behind me in the vestibule. It scared me so much that I almost swung at the guy. Luckily, everything turned out all right and I walked away.  Another one of our friends broke the tension afterward by stating that if a New Yorker, Juliana, got scared about a situation then you know it’s not good.  We all laughed, but I am defiantly counting my blessings.

Namibia was an extraordinary place that will always have a place in my heart. The people were beautiful, the country was beautiful and the experiences are things that I will never forget.