Day 13. Windhoek
We called ahead to find out where we actually need to return the 4x4 and we were told to drive towards Klein Windhoek (Little Windhoek).
After breakfast on the terrace overlooking Windhoek, we checked
out and started to clean out the car before returning it. We
called ahead to find out where we actually need to return the 4x4
and we were told to drive towards Klein Windhoek (Little
Windhoek). After organizing some clothes and cleaning up a
little in the back we drove to find KEA Campers.
As it turned out KEA Campers was just around the corner,
actually I think everything is around the corner in Windhoek.
We drove past the security guard who opened the gates upon our
arrival and waved down one of the staff to deal with the return of
the car.
We started to clean up some of the mess, like empty out the
fridge and clean up in the back, but the guy who was helping us
just said "leave anything you don't want to take". Cool, we
thought, that's easy - nothing to clean up. Drop the car off
and walk away. We both liked the idea of not having to clean
up after ourselves. We did take some of the things in the
fridge as we both hate throwing out food - anyhow it would come in
handy in the next few days.
Once that was settled we decided to hire a small car for the
next few days, or at least until the 17th which is when
Ann-Marie flies back to Malta. In the end we settled on a
Nissan Tida, we'd had that before and it served us well.
Plenty of room and easy to drive.
Now that we're in Windhoek I had to call one of my colleagues,
Elke - who was going to show us to my employer's guesthouse.
Seeing that I'm supposed to be based here for a while it would
serve as a first introduction to Windhoek and life here in
general. I did have a problem in that I didn't know what
Elke's mobile number was, so we had to find an internet cafe so
that I could get the number from emails that she'd sent me.
Driving through Windhoek is super easy, traffic flows slowly,
the road rules are relatively relaxed and open to interpretation (I
think I'll love cycling here). We found the internet cafe and
called Elke. Within a few minutes she was outside the cafe to
take us to the office where we would be introduced to the rest of
the team.
The office is located in a small complex, all very secure and
surrounded by electric fences. The office is a bit of a
squeeze but I'm told that we'll be moving into newer and bigger
premises in the next few months. We both met the local staff
and afterwards Elke grabbed the keys to the guesthouse and
instructed us to follow her car.
As it turns out the guesthouse is in Klein Windhoek, if we'd
known earlier, we wouldn't have bothered traipsing across town,
still it was a good way to get our bearings around town.
The guesthouse is located on Nelson Mandela drive, just down the
road from Robert Mugabe drive, it seems they like to name their
streets after members of political parties in these parts,
irrespective of whether they are draconian dictators. I guess
it's good for novelty value. Not everyone can say they lived
on Nelson Mandela drive :)
Ann-Marie and I picked out a room and moved our luggage into
it. It's a nice complex, with self service facilities,
satellite TV and a fireplace outside the front door. One
thing drives me nuts about the guest house, there's not a single
room with a large bed for two. Every bedroom consists of two
single beds. We pushed them together trying to make the best
of a bad situation, but even this exposed a very uncomfortable
wooden beam which protruded into our backs whenever we ventured
closer together.
With all this settled and Elke getting ready to go back to the
office we decided to ask her if she knew anyone who could help us
organize a trip to Etosha. This trip has been great so far,
but we both felt as though we've missed out on the animal component
of the holiday. It just so happened that her brother in law
runs an animal friendly agency, Nature Friends Safari. We
noted down the number and said our goodbyes.
It was by now well past lunchtime, and we were still cruising on
breakfast. We drove back to Windhoek to see some of the city
as well as get a very late lunch. It's hard to get away from
Independence Avenue which runs the entire length of the CBD.
We parked the car and went for a stroll through the various streets
eventually finding a nice cafe where we ate greedily and followed
it with a huge vanilla milkshake.
We had hoped to perhaps checkout some local cultural activities,
a play in the local theatre but in the end it was all too much and
we settled on a final coffee overlooking Independence Avenue.
The sun was setting and slowly what used to be a bustling town shut
down for the night. Hardly anything stays open past 6pm and
even the previously packed Independence Avenue now lay empty.
By that stage our minds were thinking of our next meal but we
needed to do some shopping.
In Klein Windhoek we found a small shopping centre where we
bought all that we'd need for the next few days. All I wanted
to do was fall into bed and I found it hard concentrating on the
task at hand. Having spotted a huge vegetarian section in the
freezers, Ann-Marie was excited and we stocked up on veggie
sausages & crumbed schnitzel. As we were exiting the shop
we noticed a woman sitting against a wall with 5 young children;
obviously homeless and penniless. Even here, in the relative
affluence of Klein Windhoek we're reminded of poverty and injustice
that is Africa. We've already heard of the shanty towns
surrounding Windhoek, one in particular Katutura.
Back at the guesthouse, after dinner we both passed out without
a word while cuddling on the couch.