Short Trip to Namibia

So this last weekend (10/24-10/28) a couple of us international students decided to forget school for a little while (we missed class Monday and Friday) and see Nambia. We had heard that this weekend was “Ocktoberfest” in Windhoek Namibia, so we decided it was as good a time as any to check out the country.
Namibia is a small South-Western African Country with a population only slightly larger than Botswana. Namibia was a German colony and as such they still have significant lingering German flair from the Culture of Beer brewing with companies such as Windhoek and Hansa, to the large number of German tourists who still visit the country, so many in fact that everything is written in English and German.
We decided to rent a car in Gaborone (a 2008 Corolla that was much nicer than we expected) and drive to Windhoek overnight Thursday to Friday and then on to a small sea-side village called Swakopmund on Saturday to stay until Monday morning and then return to UB by the morning of Tuesday the 28th.

(Our car at sunset at the border crossing)

Thursday after my class I packed my things and we were on the road by about 6:30. There were four of us, Matt (American from Florida), Graham (American from Texas), Matthew (a Frenchmen), and me. The route was incredibly straight forward. Drive to Robatse (a village about an hour from Gaborone) then get on the Trans-Kalahari Expressway and take that all the way to Windhoek in Namibia. A total distance of about 1200 Kilometers (about 750 miles, about 12 hours). We had been warned before we left by our over worried roommates that we should be careful when driving at night because of animals, COOL! We decided we could take shifts and that way make it a straight shot with no one getting too fatigued. The drive overall was incredibly boring. The Kalahari however was interesting. We traveled most of the way through the desert in a huge, violent electrical storm which was amazing to watch, because the flat terrain allowed for a full 360 degree visual for miles, not to mention the fact that a thunderstorm in the desert is very cool. Mostly the animals we saw were domesticated cows and donkeys, however, we also say Kudu, Oryx, Wild Dogs, some birds, and other difficult to identify animals.

(Matt, Me and Matthew at a gas station in Kang)

Upon arrival at the border post at about 4 am we discovered, much to our surprise and chagrin, that the border post was closed. Very surprising given that we had investigated this possibility and had been assured it would be open. With no other options at hand we decided to sleep until the border opened at 7am. Unfortunately I had been preparing for my shift of driving and had enough caffeine in me to stay awake until 7am, when I should have finished my shift. That meant that I got no sleep.

(Graham slept outside on the ground out the border crossing)

When the border opened we got through without incident and were on our way again. As we approached Windhoek it became apparent to us that our fuel supply was quickly dwindling and the Kalahari desert didn’t offer many options in terms of fueling station. This provided for about an hour of very nervous traveling. Fortunately, we made it in to the Windhoek airport on fumes and Budget rental car (our car service) refueled us and we were back on our way. We arrived in Windhoek about 3 hours behind schedule, but none worse off. I didn’t actually have to drive at all because of the timing of our forced three hour nap Graham took my shift and drove all the way into Windhoek.

Upon arriving in Windhoek we immediately began searching for Ocktoberfest. As we walked around city center asking everyone we saw and receiving all manner of random and unintelligible or incorrect answers we realized that there was no “Ocktoberfest”. Either we missed it or it hadn’t happened yet but either way it just wasn’t happening. We were a little depressed for a little while until we found this little Biergarten (proof that it is a German place).
(The four of us at the gourmet)

We had a few beers, and a nice lunch. I for one ate the “Absalom’s Grilled Game ‘Sosatie’” consisting of Kudu, Oryx, Ostrich and crocidile and for desert Namibian strawberries with home made ice cream. It was a wonderful meal and we all decided that we didn’t need Ocktoberfest, we had fun ourselves.

(My game Kebab)

(Namibian Strawberries)

After dinner we wandered around Windhoek for a while. Matthew asked if we would be willing to go to the mass at the local church. We all agreed despite my anxiety over what I was wearing (for this I got called “waspy”). It was interesting. We walked in during the rosary. As the service began (the whole thing was in English) the Priest introduced an Australian man who claimed to be a healer. As the Australian began preaching I found myself caught up in his enthusiasm. He used the first person as God and began by saying that humans are made in God’s image and as such our wonderful creations and then launched into a long string of “you’re beautiful,” “you’re special” kind of stuff. It was interesting until the priest suggested that people simply go to God with their concerns and sins and they were forgiven. Now this seems fine and well until you consider the fact that this was a catholic church, they don’t do that! It became obvious quickly that this wasn’t our scene and the two Catholics (Graham and Matthew) suggested we leave. Matt and I agreed and we simply walked out. We discussed for a while how funny it was that the man and actually preached against confession. After that we returned to our hostel to go to bed early as we were getting up very early the next day.

(The beautiful church in Windhoek)

The next day began at 4am. We each got up and showered and got ready to leave. As each person showered it became clear that something was wrong with the shower, it was not draining. By the time I took my shower (last) the whole bathroom was flooded and the water was running out the door, down the hall and out the front door. We quickly packed up and left. It was my turn to drive to Swakopmund so I did. It was strange driving on the left side of the road and things like the blinker and the shifter being on the wrong side of the car gave me fits but we made it Swakopmund safe and sound.

(Me on a dune)

(Matt just goofing off on the dunes)

We got to Swakopmund at about 8am on Saturday. This was a beautiful place. It is a seaside town with giant sand dunes on the other side. We didn’t have plans for Saturday so we just enjoyed the town. We drove out to a nearby recent shipwreck and explored the dunes a little. We decided that for Sunday we would split up into two teams. Matt and Graham wanted to go Shark fishing and Matthew and I would go sand boarding.

(Matt, Mathew, and Graham in front of a recent shipwreck)

For sand boarding we woke up at 9:30 and were chauffeured to the dunes. We were handed gear and began our hike to the top. We were divided into two groups, those who had snowboarded and those who hadn’t. At the same time there were “lay down” sand boarders (basically sand sledding) on another part of the hill. Matthew is a dedicated skier and as such was with the beginners and I was with the more advanced group. The beginners got normal snowboards exactly the same as any other snowboard, the more advanced group had the same except ours had Formica sheets taped to the bottom to help us glide better and before every run we had to wax the board to keep it from sticking. I was expecting the sand to be very hard to slide in but really the sand preformed just like a nice snow, not heavy like deep powder but very even and clean riding. It was awesome.

(Sand boarding came pretty natural to me)

After a few runs they gave us the opportunity to try lay down sand boarding on the fastest run of the day. On the radar gun they had they told me my top speed was 68 kph (about 42 miles per hour). That was really cool. After the sand boarding was over they gave us sandwiches and drinks (all we wanted) and we sat around and chatted. It was great fun. While we were sand boarding Matt and Graham were shark fishing. Well Graham was and Matt just watched him. Apparently, they had a great time.

(Graham's huge shark)

The following day all of us planned to go quad biking (a quad bike is an ATV) on the dunes. Again they picked us up and took us right to where we were going to ride.

(Our quad bikes)
(The four of us during our quad biking)
(Me and my quad bike)

We got two hours of riding. Riding on the quad bikes was an awesome way to experience the dunes. We drove around for two hours and, according to the guide, covered about 50 kilometers. We drove up and down the sides of dunes at high speeds. At a couple points we stopped at on a particular occasion it hit me just how surreal these dunes are. I couldn’t even believe their size, shape, and beauty in stark contrast to the ocean right across the highway. The guide told us that the iron mixed with the sand worked together with the winds to form and hold the shapes of the dunes. The whole experience was amazing.
After the quadbiking we packed up and hit the road back to Windhoek. We stayed there a short time while Graham was giving a presentation to the rotary club in Namibia and then we headed home. We arrived in Gaborone at about 8:30 in the morning on Tuesday, totally exhausted. It was so worth it.
It was a great trip!
That’s all for now,
Love,
Tommy