My travels rarely go without adventure, and I am very conscious that I call most of it upon myself. I had had a very hectic month before my departure, having spent 2 weeks working in Mongolia, ill from the day one, then having spent two days on the floor of Brussels airport, where we were diverted to as an emergency landing due to snow in Heathrow. I finally got home 4 days before I was due to set off on my 6 week African adventure. I am using all of these as an excuse for turning up at the airport in Windhoek without a residence address to put down on the immigration form and any idea how I was going to get to the address in Windhoek, even if I got one! (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! or abroad....) Do not get me wrong, I have been provided with the contact person and details for the stay in Ongwediva (Faith, MLF Project coordinator), however as I was going to stay in Windhoek for the night before setting off on the journey up north to Ongwediva, it somehow did not pass my mind to book something in advance. It only dawned on me on the plane, by which time Internet access was somewhat limited...
Namibia is one of the few countries in the world, where us, lucky owners of red passports with Cyrillic font, are lucky enough to not require a visa. Even though this is the first thing I ever check before planning a trip abroad, every time I approach immigration desk, I get anxious that my sources may have failed me, and I indeed could not be so lucky as to just walk straight through. We landed at about midday and were welcomed by the blazing sunshine.
Welcome to Namibia!
So here I am at the immigration desk, preparing myself for frowny stares and formal questions aimed at catching me out on some sort of immigration fraud (UK Border Agency has prepared me well!). Instead, the officer kindly suggested that he sent a text message to Faith to ask for the address in Ongwediva where I would be staying!!! While he was awaiting for the response I was allowed into the country!! to collect my luggage. He then found me inside the arrival hall and returned my passport with a smile and a note with the address which Faith had provided to him, and wished me good luck with my stay! In which other country would this happen?
So once the first challenge was passed, I then had to figure out that all important issue of accommodation for the night. The plan was to stay in Windhoek, catch some breath from all the travelling, and then take a bus up north to Ongwediva, which as I had been advised might be quite an adventure lasting for about 8 hours. So I decided to just take one step at a time. Priorities! I headed to the phone shop to get a local sim card. While John, the shop assistant, was helping me through a very complicated (for me!) process of loading up credit onto my phone, I asked whether he knew where I could find out anything about accommodation options. John started naming some guest houses in Windhoek, and streets where they could be found, but from the expression on my face, he must have realised that I was hopeless, and called a driver, called Sewen (and no, not a number Seven, as I initially thought!) who after a brief discussion with John in Afrikaans, said he knows a few places. After quietly reconfirming with John whether this was a safe option, I handed my luggage to Sewen and obediently followed him to the car.
On the way to Windhoek, Sewen gave me a brief introduction to Namibia, Windhoek, and life there in general. While we were driving I could not get over how blue the sky was and how amazing the road was!
This was definitely a very nice welcome! While landing, I was amazed at the view from the window of the plane - completely flat land with small green dots and shadows from the clouds, and bright blue sky with fluffy white cotton-like clouds. And now we were driving past these vast lands with funny green blobs of trees and bushes which I saw from above and not a soul for miles...Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world with the total population of around 2m people (may need to google this one for accuracy), and as Sewen explained, Namibians are very private people and live quite far from one another. Ok then...
The lodge where Sewen brought me was a lovely place on a quiet street (in fact most streets are quiet in Windhoek!) We looked at the room, which must have been the size of my entire apartment back in London! I could manage for one night, I thought. I had talked to Sewen about my plans of movements for the next few days and so he said that he would find out for me when would be best to take a bus to Ongwediva and would give me a call later to tell me what I should do, and how to get to the bus station. As was explained to me earlier by previous volunteers, the buses leave from the central bus station and there is no fixed timetable - they leave when they are full! Later, Sewen called to inform that he had arranged for the bus to come and pick me up at my lodge the next night so I did not need to go anywhere to catch it. He gave me the phone number of the bus driver, so that I could text him my address. Thankfully, Sewen also told me the range of the price I should be paying for the journey, so when the bus driver confidently quoted me double of that, I was prepared! The only problem was that the bus was coming to get me at 4 am....well, it will be a long journey after all.
Once I settled in the b&b, I decided to venture out to check out the surroundings...It would be nice to know which direction to walk in once I get out of the gate! I found someone in the office behind the reception, and asked if he had a map I could use or could provide some directions to the town centre. When I told Tim, whose partner's sister owned the hotel, who I was and what I was doing there, gave me a puzzled look and told me I was mad. Thanks! However, he quickly made up for it by suggesting that he could take me around town as he had nothing to do anyway. He introduced me to his lovely other half, Giddy, who suggested that we all should go out for a drink later that night. Some people are just too nice!! Tim is from the UK, Durham, and Giddy is Austrian, and over the years they have spent a lot of time in Namibia, having chosen it as their new home/holiday destination.
Tim took me around Windhoek, showing me the local sightseeing spots, such as a beautiful Catholic church, green blossoming parks, and of course, the most important of all - a huge Russian embassy ( I am biased!). Not sure why Russians need such a big embassy there, but if that means I do not need a visa to enter the country, I do not want to know!.
Many people told me that when I get to Windhoek, I would find that it is a very European city which could be anywhere in the world. May be I have not seen enough of Europe (and admittedly I have not), but the wide roads, the vast space divided up in a grid, the malls and the traffic lights hung right above the road rather than on a side, made me think of North America, rather than Europe. But then it's just me... On the other hand, as stereotypical as it may sound, you would not think that this city is in Africa. There were only a few cars on the roads, and not too many people on the streets going about their business.
After the drive, and his view on the life in Namibia, Tim dropped me back at the B&B. Later than day, I decided to hunt for dinner, and went for a wander around. I have been given some instructions as to where I could go, so I headed towards the nearest somewhat busy looking corner. I had lost my sunglasses in Lagos, so now, in 35 degree heat and blazing sun, I thought that it might be a good idea to find a replacement. I found something more or less wearable in a Pharmacy, and went to pay. The girls working at the checkout started asking me what I was doing in Windhoek, and found it a bit difficult to get their heads around the fact that I was Russian, living in London who for some reason decided to come to Namibia. And yes, that I did not speak Afrikaans too! They were being really nice, took my phone number and said that when I am back in Windhoek, we must definitely go out! They also gave me a few survival tips for Windhoek, and to further make sure that I am safe one of them, Tatum, suggested that she shows me to town once she is done with work in half an hour. Well, it has been 5 hours in town and I already made some friends - not a bad start methinks =) Tatum and I later went to the main local site of attraction - the mall - where she introduced me to her friends where she used work before. We then went to a very Namibian (not!) steak house Spur! I am yet to find Namibian food in Namibia... One interesting thing about getting around in Namibia - taxi share! You literally flag down a taxi which may already carry three passengers, and join the party! The charge is per person, rather than per kilometer travelled. I am not sure I would be as comfortable to do this if I were not with Tatum.
When I eventually got back to the b&b, it turned out that Tim and Giddy had been waiting for me and already left to go out. Giddy's sister suggested that she calls a taxi for me to go and join them anyway... The place where they were having drinks was a small old German castle - very beautiful and cozy. However, the most amazing thing about it was the view! It had got dark by then, and the stunning panorama of the city opened up in front of us. This looked nothing like the city I saw during the day - lots of bunches of bright lights on the pitch black background, and lightning brightening up the sky every 3 mins (it is the rainy season here). [Insert photo] - to follow shortly... Tim, Giddy and I sat on the terrace of the castle for a few hours, chatting about Namibia, and how it has come to be what it is and what might potentially happen when they start getting serious about the oil that they have recently discovered there....But this is a very different story....
After a quick visit to the mall for a late pizza dinner for Tim and Giddy, we returned back to the lodge at about 11pm. This was a very long and eventful day, and I had to wake up at 3am to to get on the bus, to continue my journeys and go to Ongwediva to meet the MLF team and finally start my assignment. Windhoek, I shall be back!
Babe, love the blog. I feel like I'm there with you! Not at all surprised that you have made friends already or that you forgot to arrange a place to sleep before getting there ;-)
ReplyDeleteKeep writing. I cant wait to read more - Shruti