Namibia notes

For you map and geology fans, I've gone ahead and added links to google maps to most of the Namibia trip postings (see "Map" on the posting). Or you can start on the map and follow around clockwise, from Windhoek then to the south and around, click on the locations to see the posts. Hope I got all the links right, it's a bit of a struggle on a slow link and with the power going out all the time. I commend google for having built in saving in blogspot and their maps. Haven't really lost anything except reboot time. Please zoom in on the satellite images to checkout the desert features, especially the dunes.

Thunder booming in the distance off over the lagoon. Bright here but ominous. Outside flap on the kitchen fan vent banging. Wind is not howling, but making a low roar. Squall approaching across the lagoon. Sky turned flat gray. Wow! Big thunder. This should be quite a show.

How it works

A few weeks ago, a truck arrived at our compound carrying a large shipping container that had been fitted out with a pitched roof, windows, a door and a frame where an A/C unit could be mounted. Containers like this are all over the place, as shops, construction offices and the like. Storage for bags of cement seems an especially popular use. It was placed onto the concrete pad near the dock where the float plane lands.

The nearest neighbor asked around as to the purpose of this and was told it was to be an office/dorm for up to 10 police officers that were being stationed here to beef up security. This information came from who knows where, but it seems to have come with some credibility. These neighbors were not happy with this arrangement.

The first problem was that the roof had been damaged during the unloading and was now banging in the wind and pieces were in danger of blowing off. Since there were children living downwind they might be cut in half by a flying piece of sheet metal. Assurances were made that this would be fixed and it was.

A couple days later there was a barbecue party with the facilities manager's boss in attendance. I wasn't there, but what I heard was that he got an earful from the residents expressing displeasure at so many people to be living in the container especially since there wasn't any toilet. This guy whipped out his cell phone and got the facilities guy to promise that it would be removed post haste. Residents were suitably impressed.

Well, it didn't get removed. There were more promises and increasingly strident email was exchanged. Righteous indignation ensued. A plan was then forthcoming that involved a concrete pad that was being poured in another location that needed to cure and then the container would be removed for sure.

It still wasn't removed, more deadlines were set and missed. The whole issue was a fertile topic for poolside discussions amongst the residents. The descriptions of the increased security measures became more and more elaborate, and in hindsight, less plausible. Then last saturday a truck and a forklift arrived and I figured something would happen for sure.

The truck and forklift left and the container remained.

This wahala eventually drew the attention of the managing director. He set us all straight (or at least changed the story). According to him, the container was to be used as a storeroom for the aviation department. They felt it would be useful to have some things stored near where the plane tied up and needed a place that could be locked up. There was never any intention to station policemen there or anyone else. The original story may have been launched by someone who didn't know what was going on and needed a plausible explanation so it didn't look so obvious that they didn't know what was going on. Successive retelling added more and more layers to the story. Did you hear they are getting an armored car to patrol at night?

At least that's today's version. The new story is now embellished to include that the container will be painted some pleasing colour to mollify us residents. How about pink?

Giraffe in the haze

The trip had to come to an end and so it did. Tar road back to Windhoek, straight shot, except we did stop and see the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Well worth the 40 km of gravel road as a side trip. They work to preserve cheetahs in the wild as well as take care of animals that can't be released. Feeding time is 14:00 on weekdays. They have a very pleasant place where you can enjoy a cup of tea or a sandwich while you are waiting.

I took the picture of the giraffes just because they are so prehistoric looking. Especially in silhouette with the dry lake beyond. They don't make a lot of sense here though, the trees are too short.

Flight back to JNB without incident. Came in for landing with the sun glinting off a sea of tin roofs. Informal housing. Got my daughter off on her flight back to the states, we back to LOS.

Todays note: Feels like home. Picked up the toaster to clean underneath. Sitting there was the fattest gecko I've ever seen. It moved pretty slow, but I was slower and it got away under the bookcase. Probably see it again later.

Etosha National Park

Back on the tar road and north to Etosha . This really was the highlight of the trip, at least in terms of animal viewing. One benefit of that last lodge was that it was close to the park entrance so we arrived around 10:00. Since check in time wasn't until 12:00 we went for a drive, didn't really see much but got acquainted with the area. The main feature is a large (most) dry lake bed and the area around it. Sort of like Salt Lake city with elephants. We were booked to stay two nights at Okaukuejo, the park headquarters and main lodge.

The main attraction is the watering hole, floodlit at night, right in front of your room, that is if you book a "premier waterhole chalet" (see web site for details). We had number 33W and it was a real treat. From the upstairs balcony you can see all the action or even laying in bed, well, you do have to sit up a bit. Or, if you need to be a few feet closer you can walk out to the sit on one of the benches. The picture is of my daughter sitting on the bench with an elephant behind. The animals were doing something interesting all day and night. Sometimes, like in the picture there was a lone elephant contemplating his existence and whether to have a mud or dust bath. Other times a whole heard of elephants with babies stirring up a huge cloud of dust. It was sort of like the SuperBowl where you didn't dare not watch every second from fear of missing something.

It is amazing how the animals didn't care about us humans at all. Even after dark with flashes going off they didn't seem to notice or care. And it wasn't just elephants, there were zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, springbok, impala, oryx et.al. With a pair of jackals hanging around just for atmosphere. At one point in the afternoon, I could see a whole line up of different groups of animals working their way towards the water. They took their turns just like on National Geographic.

Later in the night the lions came. Too bad I had fallen asleep, but their roars were incorporated into my dreams.

The next day we were able to go out for a drive earlier than the first day so we spotted quite a few more animals. My favorite was the diminutive dik-dik, an antelope about the size of a large house cat. Saw some lions lazying around in the shade, a big male elephant near the road and several giraffe. That night again we were treated to an unforgettable show.

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Towards Etosha

Heading north and towards the famous National Park we stopped at the Epacha Lodge. Onto tarred road for a welcome relief we zipped along. Mostly passing private game parks, you can tell by the high wire fencing. Places you can go and pay your money to shoot the animal of your choice. Not real sporting that I can tell, but very profitable for the farmers. There was a long line at the Windhoek airport at the gun pickup window. (can't just check them you know).

Quite possibly the most over priced, pretentious and generally stupid place I have ever stayed. I took that purposely bad picture from the balcony of our "chalet" just out of spite. A less inspiring view one will rarely find. Despite the advertising there's no game about and the staff are not likely to arrange anything anyway. Plus, like most over priced lodging, they charge for internet access. (why is that?) Only thing of note was the drunk Russian guests screaming anglo saxon curses at each other between the buildings.

Let me think of something positive... Oh, the porters did wash quite a bit of the dust off the car so it looked relatively presentable. I gave them a pretty generous tip.

Map

Palmwag Lodge

Continuing Namibia coverage continues... After leaving the skeleton coast at the north end we headed inland back into the desert. Excitement building as we moved closer to the animals. My companions were more more focused on animals than I was, I was quite enchanted to just be here.

We stayed the night at Palmwag Lodge (and as seen in my picture taken during a morning hike). A welcome bit of greenery amongst the sun blasted hills. That's pronounced "pal em whah" so they don't think you're just another clueless tourist.

We had a really nice (and long, more than 12 km) hike in the morning and a game drive in the evening. (meaning driving around in a land rover looking for game). On the hike the guide got us quite close to a herd of zebras much to the delight of the avid photographers. In the evening we saw a giraffe, at first from a far distance and then quite close up. Giraffe's are graceful and gangly at the same time and one wonders what they're thinking . Another day we watched one contemplate bending down for a drink for what seemed to be hours, weighing the need for a drink against the defenseless position that is required to reach down to the water.

Although it wasn't really on our way, we had made a detour to Twyfelfontein to see the rock art. Quite inspiring. If I was a bushman I would like nothing better than to hang around that lovely valley, with a spring, and tell tales and chisel some pictures into the rocks. In the visitor center there was interesting interpretive information regarding the pictures origins and meanings.

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Olympic update: Sunday I caught the last part of the final sailing race in the 49er class. I'm not sure when sailing became a demolition derby but the action was really over the top. The wind and waves were really heavy and that boat is just not able to handle that weather. Teams were capsizing right and left, mostly to windward after weathering a puff and then being unable to keep the boat upright. Time to ask that age old question: when a boat is upside down (like the Americans were) when it is blown across the finish line, does it count?

Cape cross and the skeleton coast

After a pleasant sojourn in Swakopmund we headed north up the coast to Cape Cross and then the skeleton coast. Note the weather, as soon as we set off we were into dense fog and cold wind blowing off the Atlantic. Quite a shock after the sunny desert, now were were in a foggy desert. There is almost no rainfall along the coastal strip, what water the plants and animals get is caught from the fog. The land looks completely barren and it is except for lichen clinging to the rocks.

The road is smooth, paved with a combination of salt (which they have a lot of) and cement. We passed a whole series of campgrounds that are full in the summer months with families escaping the heat and surf fishing. Nobody home this time of year, just beach and ocean on the left side of the road, bare grey gravel desert on the right.

We stayed the night at Cape Cross Lodge watching the waves and fog and thinking about a San Francisco summer at Ocean Beach. I went out for a short walk before dinner and was amazed at the amount of bones amongst the sand. I was puzzling over this when I noticed what looked like bones from a human hand, except with unusually long fingers. Really creepy. Then I realized they were seal bones, seal flippers have bones internally similar to a hand. There is a seal colony nearby which explained part of the puzzle. On the way back I saw two jackals which filled in the rest.

Jackals get a bad rap I think, but they are really graceful and stylish animals. Trotting along like some purebred dog, decorated with a dark colored back. The black back jackal (BBJ). They prey on the seals which explains the bones. We didn't actually go to see the seal colony. It was described as noisy and smelly ("the smelliest place in Namibia" was one description) and didn't open in the morning until 10:00 so we passed and hit the road instead.

Just up the road are the gates to Skeleton Coast Park. Note the skulls on the gate, quite a nice touch. Used to be in the days before GPS and radar and all that a lot of ships ran aground here. And when they did the crews were in big trouble. With no water and miles and miles to go to get some, if you knew which way to go. The picture is of the wreck of the Benguela Eagle which has some story that you can look up. There is getting to be a real problem maintaining the Skeleton Coast image since ship wrecks are getting less frequent and the few remaining wrecks are deteriorating fast. There is a Russian trawler on the beach between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund but I suspect that was planted. There is another abandoned trawler anchored in the harbor that looked to be in line for the next needed shipwreck.

Then out the north end of the park and into Damaraland. More on that next time.

Map

Soccer update: Nigeria whupped Belgium 4-1 in today's semi. Final against Argentina on Saturday the 23rd.

Welwitschia

The desert surrounding Swakopmund is really barren. Here grows the welwitschia plant, one of the specialized forms of life that can survive here. The summer ocean fogs formed from the cold Atlantic are the main source of water for this and other denizens of this area.

Summer here starts in December and the school year ends in December. So the students get a gift of vacation as well as Christmas. Namibians love to come to the coast in their summer to avoid the really hot weather inland. A guide told us that there is a belief that during foggy weather one can drink as much as you like and still remain functional. So the vacationers really cut loose based on that theory. I wonder if the cold weather just drives them home before things get too out of control.

Local news: Nigeria won their quarter final Olympic football match against Cote D'Ivoire (2-0). They will play Belgium in the semis tomorrow. Should exciting.

Swakopmund Laundry

After the long dusty drive west and north to the coast at Walvis Bay and then to our lodging at Swakopmund (ignore that sunny beach picture, it was breezy and foggy on our visit) there was some laundry to do. Despite being a cutesy little German seaside holiday town, Swakopmund includes a full featured laundrette. Including bar, pool tables, slot machines and video games along with the coin operated washers and dryers. While my wife perused the nearby antique store I was left to slave away over a cold beer and watch the wash go around.

The girl that made change also sold drinks and washing powder. One unique feature was the lack of a bottle opener, she opened the beer bottle with her teeth. Another was a vintage Ms. Pac-Man video game. Copyright 1980-81. The vertical on the joystick was a bit sticky but for one Namibian dollar per play it was very entertaining. Other customers came and went but I was the only one playing any of the games.

When my wife game back, I talked her into putting a couple N$ into a coin pusher, but alas no payout. They always look like a whole pile of coins is about to fall, but I guess that's how they rope you in. A most enjoyable trip to the laundrette.

Map to Walvis Bay
Map to Swakopmund

Visit to the Railway

We went on a trip saturday, sponsored by the NFS to the main Nigeria Railways shops and yards at Ebute-Metta. (unfortunately there is cloud cover over the railway yards in this image)

Suffice it to say that the railways are currently neglected and in very poor condition. The equipment is mostly old and maintenance is spotty. One of our group termed the situation "shameful".

The shops were very interesting in a ghoulish sort of way. Acres of rusty parts and broken machines. There is work going on, in fact since a similar trip last year things had apparently improved. But the last entry on the chalkboard that listed locomotives being overhauled was dated 1997. The local historical society has three steam locomotives under shelter, one of which that ran as recently as 2003. But they are now being stripped of any salvageable metal pieces for scrap value.

There have been attempts at improving things. But since independence in 1960 and then civil war from 1967 to 1970 other priorities have taken over. And billions in whatever currency you're using to measure have been pissed away.

Some further reading about the railways. Although some of these are blatant propaganda they are still informative.

NRC Official site
N500 billion over 10 year period
Previous regime's view
China's recent activity
Some steam trains we saw.

As I've heard from several sources, "Not one of Nigeria's 39 indigenous languages have a word for Maintenance".

Road sign

Got to be one of the all time great road signs. Not particularly specific but lets you know something is up ahead. In this case it is a dip through one of the numerous dry creek/river beds. Since there is rarely any water they don't bother with a bridge. These dips can be sandy and slowing down is definitely a good idea.

Duwisib Castle

If California's Death Valley can have a castle then the Namib desert should have one too and it does. The pictured Duwisib Castle was built by a German baron. Something about the desert does that to certain people. My daughter is seen here enjoying the view out across the desert. There isn't a stairway to get up there, the guy had a ladder setup and one could climb up if desired. I stayed down and took the picture. Felt like it would be pretty cool in the shady courtyard even in the summer. As a plus there is a nice little cafe out back with a pleasant patio that serves a good chocolate cake. (German don't you know)

Map

African football (soccer)

In the car today, going shopping, everywhere we stopped the driver disappeared. Then he would come hurrying back when he saw me coming out of the store. Very unusual, normally he sits with the other drivers, they all seem to know each other, and talk about whatever drivers talk about.

When I came out of the New Market with some bags of vegetables the secret was revealed. He rushed up to open the trunk exclaiming something like: "We got a second one!".

Huh? Then I remembered, Nigeria was playing the U.S. in soccer at the olympics. In fact I had earlier seen the first Nigerian goal while walking through the TV department in Mega Plaza. I mentioned to the clerk that I was American with the implication that I might not be as pleased as he was. His response, to shake may hand and say with a large smile: "Maybe next time". This group B game could clinch the Nigerians getting into the knockout round. Now Nigeria had scored a second goal and if they could hold on, they were in.

Very nice to have some positive news, something to celebrate. On the drive home we listened to the rest of the match on the car radio. Sure enough Nigeria was in. When we got home the driver disappeared in a flash, I suppose to go and celebrate and to see the match replay since he had only caught bits and pieces while driving around.

Other African nations are doing well too. Cameroon made it in from group D. Cote d'Ivoire just needed a tie with Australia to make it from group A. Kalou scored a late goal for CIV to put them through.

The level of football has been improving in Africa for a while as evidenced by the number of players that are in the European leagues. The above mentioned Salomon Kalou is a fixture with Chelsea in England. It's great to see these national teams doing so well. Brazil, Italy and Argentina are going through too so there's some great soccer ahead.

Maybe having all the Olympic games on TV is not such a bad thing after all.

p.s. More Namibia travelogue to come after recovery from current football fever.

Sesriem

Late afternoon in the Namib desert near Sesriem. There is one pixel of light in the lower center, possibly a vehicle hurrying home before dark.

Map

Sossusvlei

Since we stayed two nights at Le Mirage, we were able to take a tour of the area. Besides the sand dunes we also visited a couple of these "vleis". Meaning a pocket amongst the dunes that gets water every few years. Sossusvlei (I think) means big vlei and it is. That's my wife and daughter hamming it up on the mineral pan. They had climbed up that dune in the background while I enjoyed the shade of that tree on the far shore of the vlei above my daughter's left shoulder. Despite the barren aspect I saw an amazing amount of life going on. A couple of field mice were scurrying around, several birds in the tree and some big black scary insects. I was started from my reverie by the whoops and hollers of some folks running/sliding down the face of that dune behind my tree. These included my pals who stopped to dump the sand out of their shoes and enjoy the shade of my tree.

Africa rule number 1. Be in the shade. Although here the sun wasn't that strong, being winter and all, but still a good idea.

Map

Note on the Olympics: I have finally gotten what I thought I always wanted. Lots of Olympic events televised in full without back stories and America first boosterism. Have you actually seen a game of team handball? Possibly the stupidest most boring game ever invented. A bunch of yahoos run around with a ball until one player throws it into the other teams goal. Then they go do it at the other end. Archery is actually more exciting.

The satellite network DStv (out of RSA) is broadcasting 6 channels of Olympic events of which we are getting 2. So I'm seeing lots of events I never saw before and maybe never want to see again. Have you ever watched a complete field hockey game? Now I have.

Well sorted

One of my few postcard shots. I just can't bring myself to do it, there are so many bad photographs gracing our internet already. A real photog would bump up the red to make it more spectacular, is that any more real? The red color being from the prevalent iron oxide.

The dunes are amazing. Very fine sand that can blow around in the lightest wind. That's why it's all been stripped off the flats and piled up in these enormous dunes. A geologist would call the sand "well sorted" as in all the grains are the same size after being carried by the wind. Those grains that are bigger don't move, those smaller ones are blown away, the right sized grains pile up.

Some folks had to climb up of course, that dune on the right is known as Dune 45 and features a car park right in front. After realizing that walking up a dune means literally two steps up and one step back, I decided to bag it and look for diamonds. Well, why not? That's how diamonds were originally found here, by walking around in the moonlight looking for something bright. Didn't find any diamonds but did appreciate the solitude for at least a few minutes.

We had started to see quite a few springboks, that most stylish of antelopes. The white belly and the black stripe on the side would make any car designer envious. They just look fast. They were to become more and more common as we went north but I never got tired of seeing them.

Map

Into the Namib desert

Continuing Namibia reprise. Continued west from Mariental into the blank part of the map. Really empty desert country. Last year rainy season (Jan-Feb) was one of the heaviest in years so the luxuriant dry grass we were seeing was really lush in comparison to normal. All gravel roads from here on as we drove into the Namib-Naukluft National Park. Car rental agency had a sticker on the speedometer that said 60 km/hr limit for gravel (120 km/hr paved). That was a bit conservative, but when the gravel was like marbles and the car was going who knows where it seemed a good idea to slow down.

In the miniscule town of Stampriet we stopped for gas and the ladies went looking for a toilet. I wandered into the "takeway" shop next door. I had started to always buy a soft drink at these places as a way of getting to talk to people, and as a way to simply slow down to match the local velocity. While I was debating the merits of diet coke with the white guy behind the counter we got around to the fact that last night he had had a grand daughter born. Seemed he had grown up in that town, moved away and later retired and came back. Bought the banker's house, since the bank was long gone, opened the shop and settled in.

Turned out the women folk had been invited into that house to use the facilities. The place was in quite a turmoil with guests arriving and celebrations getting prepared but the people were kind enough to invite in some strangers. Couldn't have captured the Namibian spirit any better.

Map

Our stay that night was at the Le Mirage Desert Lodge. I swear we were all laughing out load when we saw this moorish fantasy appear (picture). It's actually very nice, if quirky. The local attractions are the red dunes and the vlei's and the endless desert in between. Vlei's are small dry lakes trapped by the dunes that get water every few years and erupt with life. No water now. Signed up for the morning tour to see the sites.

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Anib lodge, near Mariental

Take Sam Nujoma Road west from the hotel and get on the B1 highway south. Remember to stay on the left side of the road. Never hard to find Nujoma Road, every town's got one, usually the main street. Named after Namibia's first president after independence in 1990.

At Mariental, turn east for 45 km of gravel road. Our first of many more km's of gravel to come. Got to the lodge about 15:30, just as the afternoon game drive was leaving. My companions were set on seeing lots of animals but we were too late so they had to be content with the springboks, warthogs and ostriches we had seen along the road. The lodge is not much to look at, a motel looking place with a few trees and grass. But that bit of green is a welcome relief from the parched surroundings of dry grass and a few scattered bushes. That's the swimming pool where the lounge chairs are. Really cold water. View is from our room. This is winter in the desert and nights were cool to quite chilly. Afternoon temps in the mid 20's C. Very pleasant.

If you want to look at a map you can click that link. Not very detailed but may be helpful. We had brought two paper maps. They both had mistakes so it was useful to cross check. Only once did we take a major wrong turn. After that at every intersection I would just stop in the middle of the road and we would look at the map. After Mariental we were seeing only a few cars a day so no need to worry about stopping, but then no one to ask either. Not much good asking at the gas stations either, I got the feeling the attendants had never left home, and they probably hadn't.

Map

Note to self: If you want good roads be sure to be a German colony. But the names are unpronounceable and have you seen the similarity between German tourists at the buffet and the elephants and the watering hole? Something to see.

Note from "home": Pouring rain since 06:00 this morning. Seems kind of cozy to sleep in with the rain, but gets less enjoyable by 13:00 when it's still pouring. Suspect flooding will make it sensible to stay at home. Probably no friday fat boy run today. That beach bar is going to go broke without us obruni beer drinkers.

Meteorites, at the mall in Windhoek

Or as I half heard my daughter say. "Once they hit the earth they're meteors, right?"

A collection of meteorites is on display at the mall. They are part of a larger group known as the Gibeon Meteorites after the town near which they were discovered. Estimated to have fallen to earth around 200 million years ago.

I swear this city is the least African place you can imagine. There are some black people about but when the restaurant advertises "traditional cuisine" they mean German. Windhoek

The government run craft center on Tal street is very good and has a pleasant cafe where I could sit while the professional shoppers took over. Enjoying Windhoek lager don't you know.

Shopping for souvenirs in Windhoek

Wooden carvings anyone? Fake antique masks? These sellers have the prime spots outside the mall in downtown Windhoek. Early morning. Local office worker more interested in her cell phone.

JNB to Windhoek

For some reason that I supposed seemed reasonable at the time, we left the hotel at 04:00 for the JNB airport and flight to Namibia. The driver really seemed to enjoy careening through the empty streets. At the airport the South African Airways counter was empty, in fact all the counters were empty, the entire place was empty. Well, at least we were first in line.

One and a half hour flight to WDH. Spotted a herd of something as we landed. Had a ride into town by the rental car company and picked up a Nissan X-trail. Not a model sold in the states as far as I know. X-trail A small SUV with plenty of room for us three and luggage. Right hand drive to match the left hand roads. I was pretty confident until the first shift when I grabbed for the shifter with my right hand and my daughter yelled "You're on the wrong side of the road!". She was good at that and generally kept us on the proper side of the road.

Windhoek is a pretty organized small city and after wandering around some residential areas managed to find downtown and our hotel. Kalahari Sands

The guidebook mentions a gem shop so with the car safely parked we walked over there. The whole downtown is small enough to walk around in about a half hour so not much point in driving. The shop was getting towards the (relatively) seedy side of town and I just had to pose next to the sign in the picture. I was too timid to snap the sign in the doorway of this fine establishment that proclaimed that if you weren't drinking or gambling then you weren't welcome.

While the owner of the gem shop regaled me with tales of nude trips into the desert on his quad bike, the girls looked at the stones. The first of innumerable German (although in this case Austrian) refugees we met that had found a home in that desert land. Namibia had been a German colony and maintains close ties to the homeland as well as to South Africa which ran the place.

Before bed, I studied the city map to convince myself I could make it to the highway. I was actually most worried about backing out of the parking space without hitting anything. The car featured a backup alert system but it wasn't very useful. It seemed to only know the number six. So it would always say "zero point six meters" as the distance behind. Maybe the sensor was pointing at the ground.

Map

Back in JNB and Soweto

We got back to JNB in the morning and had to wait for Mom to arrive that evening. So the Soweto tour it was. I was really reluctant, I mean what's so fun about seeing poor people living in shacks?

There's a lot of history and heroism and shame there.

Originally set up as a place to put black plague victims and later mine workers, Soweto (short for South Western Township) became a focus for the struggle against apartheid. In 1976 the students protested against the introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. On June 16th the student protest was met by police dogs and bullets. Hector Pieterson (12) was not the only student killed that day, but because of the iconic image of him being carried away critically wounded he became a symbol of the cause. (picture from the museum in Soweto).

Yes, visiting the poor people in the shacks and getting shaken down for a "donation" was uncomfortable. But the museum is a powerful place.

It was Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday while we were there and the celebrations were everywhere. We saw his Soweto house and his current house. Not protected by electric fences like most of affluent JNB, but with laser beams and armed guards. Irony abounds.

BTW, South African sites are .za because that's how you say south in Afrikaans. Which also BTW seems like an ideal language for cursing or at least muttering curses under you breath.

I'm back and CPT etc

When we last saw our intrepid traveler he was going back to the JNB airport to meet his daughter and fly off to Cape Town. The idea was to spend a couple days there while Mom was in Angola then meet up again in JNB and off to WDH.

(Editor: Here might be a good time to comment on my use of jargon, slang, town names, airport codes and other unfamiliar terms. I'm not going to explain everything, you have to do some work too. If something is puzzling, then look it up. I suspect you will learn something along the way. )

I'm back "home" now so these travelogue posts are after the fact. I was only able to get internet access twice in the three weeks. Mostly because I didn't want to get it. So we need to cover South Africa and Namibia and travels therein. Why is it that the more expensive the hotel, the more lame the internet? I've been sleeping in my bed for a few days now and it finally feels like mine. The first couple days I was totally disoriented. We had been moving to a different hotel/lodge most everyday and I couldn't deal with sleeping in the same place twice. I swear the first night I woke up and was convinced that the new hotel I was in had been fixed up to look exactly like my house except if I went down the hallway there would be the rest of the hotel. I really was confused. The bathroom was in the same place as home, the view out the window was the same but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was somewhere else.

The picture is of the lovely coast east of CPT proper. Million dollar houses with a view to match. And a beautiful morning it was too, the locals were complaining that it had been raining so much.
We were staying right in the waterfront. The Victoria and Alfred (not Albert) hotel. We awoke to find ourselves among street performers, tour boats, fishing boats and a historic harbour. Took a really nice ride that morning down to the Cape of Good Hope which really isn't the southernmost point of Africa but should be since it is so spectacular.

Saw the penguins on the way. Used to be known as "Jackass penguins" from their calls but now a more PC name is given. About 15 years ago they came ashore on these rich folk's beach and took up residence. Sort of like the sea lions in San Francisco, if you can't get rid of them, make them a tourist attraction. They are pretty cute the way they walk and don't seem to give a damn about the tourists.

Down at the cape we had to be careful about the baboons. They hang around the car park and know how to open unlocked doors and can break windows too. The answer to this problem? The baboon chaser. A guy with a slingshot whose duty it is to keep them away.

The next day the wind was blowing so our trip to Robben island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for so may years, was canceled. Had to make do with walking around town. Like we were to see in the rest of South Africa, Cape Town is a mix of good freeways, shanty towns (officially known as informal housing), modern buildings, squalid markets, expensive shops, cheap trinkets, rich and poor. A history of Portugese, then Dutch, then British, then Dutch again and finally British rule before independence. A fascinating mix and dangerous to be in the wrong place at night.

We did get to see the building where the prisoners were put on the boats for the island. And where relatives waited to see their kin. One tradition was that if a free woman was to marry a prisoner she could go the the island for the brief ceremony then return with half the wedding cake as a momento. What a heartbreak!