‘How about’ is the African way of asking what you think of something… so what do I think of the Namibian capital?
Well… it’s not the most impressive place to be honest. If I didn’t know I was in Africa it could be any city in the world really. Doesn’t really look like Africa…
And initially it didn’t feel like Africa either but that was until I started meeting the people… they are of course super lovely and friendly like everywhere else on this continent.
Yesterday (Sunday) was just dead in the city, though. It felt a bit like a ghost town – seems that nobody leaves their houses or maybe they are at church…and all shops are either closed all day or close at midday. So I just went for a wander and all of a sudden I was walking down Robert Mugabe Avenue! How the hell has he deserved a road being named after him?!?!!? (turns out that he and the previous president of Namibia were ‘buddies’ and there’s a street named after Samuel Nujoma in Zimbabwe! 🙄)
Today was a lot busier, and more interesting, but as there are not really any sights or attractions in the city as such, I decided on a visit to the national museum which was opened three years ago and is supposed to tell about Namibia’s history and it’s way to independence. But sadly they have not done a brilliant job of it. I actually got more out of the three pages in my Lonely Planet guide – although some of the pictures were quite good…it just didn’t grab me as a story. One thing that did surprise me was how recent Namibia achieved its independence – 1990! I just don’t remember hearing or reading anything about it so just assumed it was longer ago.
After the museum I went to Joe’s Beer House – recommended by pretty much everyone I encountered. And it didn’t disappoint – I had a wonderful evening chatting to a few Namibians (two Man U fans and a Chelsea fan of course!), drinking Namibian beer and having the most delicious dinner I have had for a long time (excluding xmas dinner) – oryx fillets. So tasty – better than beef fillet in my opinion. If you don’t know what an oryx is, see pic below…
It was really insightful to talk to the locals about the Namibian culture e.g. opinions around eating dogs, donkeys and zebras, about homosexuality which is legal here and they seemed to be OK with same sex couples as long as they were female 🤔, about religion and current politics…seems that there’s still high levels of corruption here…but that does actually not surprise me considering that the country is so young.
So definitely a great day… now ready for a good sleep as well! Night night!
BETINA IN AFRICA 