Namibia tour day 7

I remember nothing. A deep sleep in Amanpuri Lodge, Swakopmund. 8.30 breakfast included, I eat everything.

The girls have booked a scenic flight over the desert and skeleton coast. I opt for a visit to the local Township.

Nicholas and Rudolph collect me from the Lodge; A short drive and we are approaching the ‘official’ Township. Mostly brick or block built dwellings, these can be bought with the help of a government mortgage if you have enough income to make the interest and capital repayments. There are several schemes, including an option to build half your house and add the other half later when you can afford it. I see lots of half-houses. 28,000 people live in the official township. I meet a lady wearing her best outfit which she recently made for a family wedding.

 

We drive around the Township and see a well organised community, clean and tidy with all the basic facilities. Families have to squeeze into the small houses, but children are playing happily everywhere, there are some new school buildings, people seem relaxed going about their daily business. Education has recently been made free for primary schools. The problem, Nicholas tells me, is jobs and money, not enough of both. There is 50% unemployment. Those who live here with mortgages have to work many hours to scrape by. The loss of a job is a disaster, there is no social security. The same pressures the world over, but more extreme here I think.

So what of those who cannot afford to live in the official Township? They live in the unofficial Township. 7,000 of them.

 

 

 

Still an organised community, a family is allocated a space where they erect their own dwelling with whatever they can get hold of. Lots of wood structures with corrugated sheeting. I meet Auguste, a herbalist lady who shows me some of her preparations. She has something for everything. Here she is with one of her sons.

 

Moving on, there are some kids collecting water from a communal pump. The girl is pressing buttons, I am curious.

 

Rudolph, who lives in this unofficial Township, explains that she has a special computer chip device, as do all families here. Water is precious, so cannot be freely available. They can charge the chip with money in town then use it to draw water into their cans. I am impressed. The girl holds up her chip for me to see.

Next I meet a Grand Lady who came here in 1943 to accompany her sick Grandfather who had to go into hospital. While here she got a job as a domestic with a German family, and stayed.

 

She has experienced German colonisation, South African colonisation and now Independence. Which was the best? asks Nicholas. Without hesitation, the answer is the time the Germans were in charge. The South African period was the worst because of Apartheid. Independence is better than that but there are still many very poor people barely surviving while in Windhoek there is a huge fleet of Mercedes and BMWs. Apparently when a Minister or Senior Official is allocated a new car (every two years), he/she keeps the old one!  Hmmmm.

We pose again with her great-grandson, a very cheeky chappie. But she is clearly in charge here, I hope I am as switched on as she is when I reach her age whatever that is.

 

Nearby I am shown a traditional Namibian meal. Doesn’t look enough to feed a budgie to me. I like the cook though.

 

Lastly to the local bar. Basic but great atmosphere. Who needs carpets and posh furniture in a bar? I ask for beer and am given lager. Oh dear. Then I remember their German history and have to recognise that the Namibians were probably never given the chance to learn what real proper beer is. So not their fault. It is a sad state of affairs that most of the world is drinking lager thinking it is beer.

 

Whilst berating the Germans for the stuff they and other Europeans inexplicably drink thinking it is beer, I have to commend them on their legacy to Namibia. Everywhere is tidy and rubbish-free, people clearly take a pride in the place, including the unofficial Township. And they are organised, as exampled by the water chips. And (unlike in South Africa), I have never felt threatened or intimidated anywhere I have been in this country so far.

Now back to meet up with the others for Dinner. I hear mixed comments on the flight. The plane sounded to be ex-world war one (so it would have been German, built to last) and hot, no AC. But the views were amazing and they all survived.

Dinner is in a German restaurant. I have roast Oryx and spetzle. Spetzle has a dipstick over the e so you pronounce it ‘ae’ I am told by Larissa. It is thick noodles and the whole meal is delicious. As is the pudding, Malva Cake (a local recipe) and custard. Pudding at last. I am in heaven.

Sadly there are not so many animals in Namibia as there were.

We have eaten some of them.

Goodnight.