Thursday, September 25, 2008

Namibia Recap!

So who knew Namibia was such a beautiful country?? Not me, I didn’t know anything about the country before this trip! Well, to give some information about it, it is on the western coast of Africa right next to South Africa and it is about the size of Texas. The population is 1.8 billion people, and 44% of the population is younger than 14 years old. Already, quite a drastic difference from Brazil, where the city of Salvador alone had more than 2 million people. The official language in Namibia is English, but it has very interesting demographics. It was a German colony and just gained its independence in 1990, so it is a very new country. They have quite the mix of native Namibians and Afrikaans (Dutch and other European settlers), and there are several hundred different languages spoken throughout the country, but almost everyone speaks English. So we ported in Walvis Bay on Friday September 19th and it was VERY foggy and overcast. Walvis Bay has a population of only 60,000 and I can honestly say that by 5pm on Friday, I had quite a handle on the city, which is saying something (many of you can vouch that my sense of direction isn’t the greatest…)
But we had some good German food and walked up the coast where we saw lots of jellyfish and oysters. We came back to the ship for dinner, and then headed out for the night to a local bar called the Raft. There are only two or three bars in Walvis Bay, so to say the least, it was PACKED. The bartenders and owner said it was the busiest they have EVER been (granted, it was a Friday night). Normally they close at midnight, but I think they stayed open until around 3am because they were just raking in the money. But to us, it was SO CHEAP! The conversion rate is 1 USD to 8 Namibia Dollars. So we could get a full meal for under 10 USD so all of the Americans were eating and drinking like crazy.
On Saturday we walked around a bit in the morning- went to the post office, the bank, did stuff like that and then got lunch at this really cute coffee shop, then we headed to DUNE 7 for the afternoon. We took a cap ride through the desert to what is supposedly the biggest sand dune in the area- we had no idea what to expect. Well, it was a big pile of sand. Everyone was talking about it like an attraction, so I was expecting there to be SOME civilization around- but no, nothing. So it took about 15 minutes to hike up- it is REALLY steep and the sad was SO HOT. Plus it is very difficult to hike in the sand. But once we got to the top it was amazing. For miles all you can see is sand dunes. I actually got a very similar feeling to one that I have felt a few times- when standing at the top of a huge snow mountain peak and it is just complete calmness and serenity all around. It was a really breathtaking feeling and I hope the pictures do some justice when I eventually get around to posting them…
That night we went back to the same bar, but it was much more fun because there weren’t nearly has many SAS kids (as they had dispersed to surrounding cities) so we got to meet more locals and we could actually hear each other which was nice. The locals were SO nice in Namibia and they were really interested in talking to Americans and we all have assignments to do for classes revolving getting information from locals, so it is always a cool experience making new friends!
On Sunday we slept in a little bit and then left for Swakopmund, another coastal city about a half hour away. We were able to catch a cheap cab ride and luckily stumbled upon a hostel that had some vacancy (there were 6 of us traveling together). So that was lucky and by then Swako was swarming with SAS kids, so we were everywhere. The hostel was really nice and clean and they offered breakfast in the morning! All shops/restaurants close on Sundays at 1pm, so there wasn’t much going on until the evening (well we found one open restaurant) but we just walked around the city and up the coast. It honestly felt more like Europe than Africa because the German influence there was so prominent. We had a fun night there at a local bar and then the next morning we got up early to head to the market before going quad biking!! We bargained for some fun and cool handmade crafts and artwork and then headed to the dunes for quadding! We each got an automatic 4 wheeler and our guide took us through the dunes for a total of about 2 hours. It was really neat and again, very beautiful. He took us to a view lookout points over the ocean which were just gorgeous and I’m not sure how fast the quads went, but we were booking. Of course, I got stuck a few times, but it was funny and no big deal. I’m really glad we did that- and then we shopped more around Swako and again had a really fabulous lunch at this tiny café that some locals from Walvis Bay had recommended.
We left that evening and came back to Walvis Bay for yet another crazy Namibian night (not really we were very tired but just couldn’t stay in our last night there!) and met some guys who had gone to Capetown University so they were giving us all of these tips and pointers and suggestions on where to go, how to be safe, etc. which was definitely very helpful! And before we left on Tuesday afternoon we just walked around the city some more, did some shopping, got some groceries, failed at using the internet café, got lunch, etc. And now we are back on the boat, but pulling into Capetown right now! (I’m writing this on Thursday evening.) We only had 2 days of classes, which was kind of a joke, because we had off for 5 days and now have off for 7 days, but hey, I guess we have to have class sometimes. By the way I am doing well in classes- I have had an exam and two quizzes- and so far so good! My sociology class is the only difficult one, but even that one I am doing well, it is just a lot of work and effort. It is very interesting information and completely applicable to all of the ports that we are going to though so I don’t mind doing the extra work because I actually feel like I am truly getting worthwhile and useful information out of the class. Other than that, nothing new on the ship- just very excited for South Africa! Hopefully there won’t be too many issues with theft or robbery or anything like that. I think there were only a handful of petty crimes in Namibia, but South Africa is much more dangerous so we have to be extra careful. And we are flying to Johannesburg for our safari which is an extremely dangerous city but luckily we will only be in that airport for a short period of time and it shouldn’t be a problem. Plus my good friend on the ship has a friend who is studying in Capetown for the semester so she is going to take us around for a few days which makes me more comfortable also! But some other plans besides the safari for South Africa include hiking Table Mountain, going Shark Diving!! I am so excited it should be a blast! I’ll try to write a few different times in South Africa since we are there for 7 days and that would be a huge and intense post after that!!! I’ll say hi to the great whites and black penguins (and Mogley)!

No comments: