When I arrived in Botswana I had no idea I was going to Namibia, but plans seem to change without warning. Namibia is Botswana's neighbor to the west and their western border is the Atlantic ocean. Similar in population (about 2 million) and size I found Windnoek similar to Gaborone in many ways. These are "middle income" countries who seem to live in the shadow of South Africa are often unknown to the American northern hemisphere folks. The capital cities are actually rather modern and bustling but I found that many people who live in the cities still have ties to "the land" and traditions that go back centuries. They impressed me as more "rooted" than us urbanites. Their Namibian Dollar is pegged to the South African Rand which is also accepted as local currency (but they never give you change in Rand and Namibian dollars are only useful in Namibia). This contributes to the common misconception that they are a part of South Africa.
Petrus (the Information technology manager) took us (including my 3 Botswana colleagues) out for dinner after a full day of meetings to a cultural center named Xwama. He still maintains a homestead some 600 kilometers (375 miles) north from Windhoek and goes up whenever he can. He wants his children to have traditional roots in Namibia along with their modern urban experiences. Traditional meals are eaten with the fingers so the waiter came around with soap and water before and after eating. In addition to the goat and chicken we feasted on fried Photone worms (the bowl in front of me) and found out that in this culture there is no rush. A long laid back evening.
Before returning to our hotel Petrus drove out into the dirt paths and small buildings surrounding Windhoek to a local Pub. It was a corrugated hut with beer, foosball table and slot machines. These are truly "local" establishments not often experienced by tourists. Seems most of them are technically illegal since they do not meet government health standards for running water, sanitation, etc. But� since water and sewer services are not available in those parts of the city and they cannot possibly comply with regulations they seem to flourish. So we got to see the high tech and city center along with the back alleys and local hangouts in our 42 hours in Namibia.
Return to Tales from a Road Warrior Contents
© 2001-2013 Telchar Systems, Inc. • all rights reserved