Me, with the Himba women.
Himba mom with her baby.
All the ladies on quads.
The wall hanging I bought at Karakulia Weavers.
One of the ladies weaving at Karakulia Weavers.
Swakopmund with the ocean and the dunes.Hello everyone,
I just got back from a trip to Namibia, a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic coast. It borders Botswana, Angola, Zambia, and South Africa. I went with a group of expat women. There were no men, and no children—just ladies! Last year, this same group of women (minus me) went to Tanzania and Zanzibar. The main purpose of this trip was shopping, but we did other fun things as well.
The first day, we had to start off in South Africa, as pretty much all vacations start off from there. We can’t fly direct to anywhere from the Congo. I bought a new camera while there, so now I’m all set! We also went to this cool African restaurant where they play drums and paint your face. We ate an African buffet dinner with all sorts of interesting foods. Everything tasted delicious!
The next day we took off for Windhoek (the capital of Namibia), where we spent our first couple of days. We rented a car, and drove around looking at sites and shopping. One of the gals on the trip has been to Namibia many times, so she knew her way around. There isn’t much to see in Windhoek, so we focused on shopping. We found lots of interesting things at the markets, things that we can’t find in the Congo.
After 2 days in Windhoek, we drove to another city in Namibia called Swakopmund. This is a cute little German town by the beach. The drive took us about 3.5 hours. We left early to get there because most of the shops closed at 1:00. Unfortunately for us, we ended up coming to Namibia during several African/Namibian holidays, so a lot of stores were closed, or had minimal operating hours from Friday all the way through Monday. We still managed to get plenty of shopping in though!
When we first arrived in Swakopmund, we drove directly to a store called Karakulia Weavers. Here, they weave beautiful rugs and wall hangings, mostly of African landscapes and animals, but they can do most anything. If you bring them (or email) a picture, they can turn it into a wall hanging or rug for you. The people doing the weaving are right there on the premises, so we were able to walk through the whole building and watch them as they weaved, as well as take their pictures.
In Swakopmund, they have incredible sand dunes, so one day we went driving around the dunes on quads. It was really beautiful. When we were in the dunes, all you could see was sand and sky. But then, when we got up on top of the dunes, you could also see the ocean. It was very cool.
We walked along the beach and out on a pier. It was just so neat to be walking along the pier over the ocean, but then in the distance, staring at these incredible sand dunes.
I just got back from a trip to Namibia, a country in southern Africa on the Atlantic coast. It borders Botswana, Angola, Zambia, and South Africa. I went with a group of expat women. There were no men, and no children—just ladies! Last year, this same group of women (minus me) went to Tanzania and Zanzibar. The main purpose of this trip was shopping, but we did other fun things as well.
The first day, we had to start off in South Africa, as pretty much all vacations start off from there. We can’t fly direct to anywhere from the Congo. I bought a new camera while there, so now I’m all set! We also went to this cool African restaurant where they play drums and paint your face. We ate an African buffet dinner with all sorts of interesting foods. Everything tasted delicious!
The next day we took off for Windhoek (the capital of Namibia), where we spent our first couple of days. We rented a car, and drove around looking at sites and shopping. One of the gals on the trip has been to Namibia many times, so she knew her way around. There isn’t much to see in Windhoek, so we focused on shopping. We found lots of interesting things at the markets, things that we can’t find in the Congo.
After 2 days in Windhoek, we drove to another city in Namibia called Swakopmund. This is a cute little German town by the beach. The drive took us about 3.5 hours. We left early to get there because most of the shops closed at 1:00. Unfortunately for us, we ended up coming to Namibia during several African/Namibian holidays, so a lot of stores were closed, or had minimal operating hours from Friday all the way through Monday. We still managed to get plenty of shopping in though!
When we first arrived in Swakopmund, we drove directly to a store called Karakulia Weavers. Here, they weave beautiful rugs and wall hangings, mostly of African landscapes and animals, but they can do most anything. If you bring them (or email) a picture, they can turn it into a wall hanging or rug for you. The people doing the weaving are right there on the premises, so we were able to walk through the whole building and watch them as they weaved, as well as take their pictures.
In Swakopmund, they have incredible sand dunes, so one day we went driving around the dunes on quads. It was really beautiful. When we were in the dunes, all you could see was sand and sky. But then, when we got up on top of the dunes, you could also see the ocean. It was very cool.
We walked along the beach and out on a pier. It was just so neat to be walking along the pier over the ocean, but then in the distance, staring at these incredible sand dunes.
One of the most interesting things we saw on this trip was the Himba people. They are an ethnic group of people living in Northern Namibia. They are a nomadic people that breed cattle and goats. The Himba wear very little clothing. Traditionally men and women go topless. They wear skirts or loincloths made of animal skins. They cover themselves with a mixture of butter fat, ochre, and herbs to protect themselves from the sun. This mixture gives their skin a reddish tinge and is their idea of beauty. The women braid each other’s hair, and cover it with the ochre mixture. The women wear beaded anklets that protect their legs from poisonous animal bites. They are also worn by married women, as the ankles are considered the most sexual part of the body, and need to be covered if you are married. Marriages are typically arranged at birth, and take place when the girl is between 14 and 17. Both boys and girls are circumcised. How’s that for a little history lesson!!
In the evenings, after the shops closed, we ate out at restaurants, saw movies, and did some gambling in the casinos (blackjack). I only played one hand because the smoke was too much for me, but at least I won that one hand! We typically ended up in the hotel bar, where I drank tea, but most of the other ladies had real drinks. One night, a couple of them got a bit out of control, so it made for an interesting evening, but it added to the fun of the trip.
We had to drive back to Windhoek from Swakopmund in order to catch our plane back to South Africa. We decided to take a different route, and according to the map, this looked like a regular road. Well, we found out that it wasn’t. It was basically a dirt road through the desert, all the way from Swakopmund to Windhoek. We really should have had a 4 wheel drive vehicle, but we didn’t. Instead, we had a small SUV, packed with 5 women, and lots of luggage. There were some very steep hills, and one time it took us 3 tries to get up the hill. We thought the road would never end. We honestly thought we were going to end up in Angola! Instead of taking 3.5 hours to get back to Windhoek, it took us 5! But, we did see lots of animals on the way, sort of like a mini safari. We saw ostriches, springbok (a type of antelope), impala (antelope), and baboons, so at least there was something to make the drive interesting. I learned that no rain falls in this part of the Namibian desert. The only moisture that this area receives comes from fog. I was very surprised to see any animals at all, as this looked to be a very inhospitable area. This desert made AZ look like a tropical paradise!
Our trip back to the Congo was typical. The only bad thing that happened was that my Webkinz alligator got stolen out of my suitcase. I was very sad. They could have taken anything (all the souvenirs I had bought), but instead, they take a stuffed animal. Go figure!
The other interesting thing that I found out when I got home was that even though our rainy season is over, we have continued to have storms here. Typically, the last rains we get end about the end of March, sometimes the first week in April. But here it is mid-May, and we are still getting storms, which means my house is still flooding fairly frequently. Aside from the flooding, I like the storms and am glad to have rain this late in the season. It is highly unusual though!
Well, I had a nice trip, and it was a good break away from the kids. Bill and the kids cleaned up the house and did laundry while I was away, so I didn’t come home to a disaster, which was especially nice.
We come back to AZ in 7 weeks! We are all excited! Can’t wait to see everyone!
Cheers!
Laurie
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