First Few Days in Namibia
We crossed the border two days ago into Namibia, and it has been more than a whirlwind of activity. The border crossing went really smoothly - no hang ups, no visas to purchase, and good attitudes from all. We even had a bit of an impromptu dance party in the parking lot while we were waiting for everyone to finish up getting their stamps because a trucker had left his music blaring. My passport is quickly filling up... I still have many years left on it, but hardly any space left. Luckily the U.S. allows its citizens to get extra pages added into their passports, whereas other countries make their citizens purchase completely new passports once the allotted visa space is filled.
Our first night was spent in the Ghanzi desert. I alluded to our campsite in my last blog post without mentioning that we had crossed the border. The food from the campsite staff was wonderful, the fire pleasant, the stars bright and the air crisp and cold. After waking up at 5:30 we made a long haul into Windhoek, the capital city of Namibia. I cannot explain how big of a shock it was for me when we rolled into the first real large city I have seen since leaving home. We made great time and arrived in the early afternoon so that by 3 p.m. after checking into our HOTEL rooms we were able to take taxis into the city square. Windhoek is home to a number of different malls, restaurants, coffee shops, exceptional and unique souvenir shops, parks, and government buildings. Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam had similar makings, but each seemed built around a haphazard grid without strong infrastructure for transportation or homogeny between buildings. Windhoek has smooth, wide roads, and strong city planning. Compared to a lot of what I've seen in the past 30 days the city was incredibly wealthy. When we went into town I was strangely surprised to find that almost every shop besides the very touristy souvenir shops were closed - including almost every restaurant and coffee shop. We found a small market that had some nice crafts, and went into one of the more touristy shops that was beautifully designed and structured. The shop sourced from local artists across the country and made a beautiful display of all of the crafts. Savannah and I explored the city a little longer before feeling a little uncomfortable at the emptiness of the town. We made our way back towards the meeting spot for our group and wandered through a park for a bit. I took a picture for a precious family, then we stopped at the park coffee shop for some hot chocolate. After meeting up with everyone else we returned to the hotel then quickly departed for a group dinner to celebrate the three members of our group who were leaving us. The dinner was held at Joe's Beerhouse, which was a German inspired restaurant that had an incredible selection of game meats and a decent draft list. Dinner was exceptional, but it lasted until past 10 p.m. so that everyone was about to drop over from fatigue having been awake since 5:30 that morning.
This morning Savannah, Matt and Ana said their final goodbyes after a great breakfast at the hotel. We drove for about 6 hours and are now in Waterburg, which is home to a beautiful plateau that we're going to hike this afternoon.
It's now evident that we're heading south, as almost all of the infrastructure has improved. The toilets are cleaner and almost always stocked with toilet paper (now considered a luxury after so much time without it), the camp showers have more water pressure and more hot water available, the bars have gotten nicer and the campsites now have clean pools, the roads are rarely bumpy and we can reach over 100 km whereas we hardly ever broke 80 in Kenya and Tanzania, and the number of supermarkets along our route are rapidly increasing. I do miss some of the local produce we had earlier in the trip, but its nice having the security of knowing that I can now get anything I need. Before Savannah came I had a list of things that I needed her to bring from the states since I couldn't find it anywhere, but now I can access all of those things. The people are more removed as well though. I met a great woman who is a shopkeeper of a small stall in a shanty market during one of our breaks today, but I was only able to gain access to her and her story by playing the role of a customer. She had a beautiful baby girl, and was extremely talented with her crafts. I'll cherish the bowl I purchased from her, but I enjoyed getting to hear about her life even more. There are many many more white people in Namibia than Botswana, and there had been more in Botswana than in Malawi or Tanzania (besides the tourists at the Serengeti). You can see the influence of South Africa much more - from the actual people to the presence of different South African restaurant and retail chains in all shopping centers. Most tour guides in the region seem to be South African as well. In about 7 days I will be crossing my last border in Africa to arrive in SA myself. That'll be fun, but it will also mean that my journey is coming to an end, and for the time being I'm rather happy to be here and among the other travelers. At the campsite that I'm writing this from there are meerkats running around everywhere, and daily I can see warthogs and baboons from the window of the truck. Most days I see more, and its just fascinating. I'm also pleased by the simplicity of life that I've been able to witness - I don't think mine will ever take such a path, but its nice to have the opportunity to appreciate the small things and the company of others.
