Windhoek - Capitol of Namibia

An excellent few days in Windhoek and a great introduction to urban life in Namibia. With the wrong power adapter for my computer (Namibia uses a different adapter than South Africa) and tough competition for internet access, I've been delayed with blog updates. Also, I'm having trouble distilling all the new experiences down to a post.

In general, things have gone very very well so far and I'm extremely happy with my situation here. I spent 3 nights in Windhoek - two in a tent and one in a bed. In short, I bought a train ticket to the coast, lost the ticket, took a bus instead, and now write to you from Swakopmund.

I had my headlamp stolen from an outside pocket of my pack during the flight from Johannesburg to Windhoek, so I gave credibility to the stories I had heard about crime in the area. I was really quite intimidated by the idea of walking around Windhoek alone, so I welcomed a German chaperone who was also new to the city. There were security guards many with guns every 150m and at every ATMs - needless to say I felt pretty safe. The second day I happily walked alone.

Some highlights

1) The garden outside of Namibian parlament (aside).
2) The grocery store. I bought some Oyrx paste (like Spam in a tube made from Oryx instead of ham. Sprym?), "Breezes of Summer" fruit juice, some Yum Yum peanut butter labeled with familiar north american ebonic slang, some bread straight out of the oven, delicios cashews, and plums + peaches.
3) The Cardboard Box Hostel (above) a cool cheap spot with a pool. Locals came to the in-house bar for the evenings which makes for some great conversations. My favourites were with a Namibian risk management consultant and centered on Zimbabwe's politics and history.
4) There are many KFCs, but no McDonalds.
5) First mosquito bites.
6) African Football Cup gets everybody riled up. Especially the Angolans. From last night, check this out.
7) Rain. It came nearly every day, super intense, but lasts less than two minutes. You can see it coming for miles, and then it's like somebody dumping a bucket of water on you. Everything is dry again in 30 minutes.

Much more, but that's all I can think of.


The drive to Swakopmund is 3 hours. The train to Swakopmund is 11 hours. The train is a more direct route - it's just that slow. The passenger trains are from the 1920s, and look super sweet (no photo)! I bought a ticket despite the obviuos inefficiency of this route. When I was getting ready to go to the station, I couldn't find the ticket. Strange and totally unlike me. Looks like $8 worth of transportation subsidies. Quite likely a blessing since I got to Swakopmund before sun down.

I was thinking Swakopmund would be a short stop enroute up the coast. But it's on the ocean, a gateway to the Namib desert, and an incredibly German center in Africa. Just got back from some authentic Shnitzel.

Sandboarding tomorrow!