Namibia, So Far

Tired of always going over budget in South Africa we changed countries. We are now over budget in Namibia!

That “so far” in the title can be taken two ways – and you are welcome to both of them. We are still in the country and plan to be here for a while yet. As of this writing I am in Swakopmund, with the Namib Desert on one side and the cold Atlantic on the other. But the other meaning of “so far” refers to the great distances and difficulties that are involved in traveling here. But more of that later.

The view minutes before we land at the airport. Still a good distance from the city of Windhoek.

By the way, if you look carefully you can see a few farms and ranches. Many of these properties were “reapportioned” to others. A lot of single-family spreads were divvied up into much smaller allotments. This happened also with farms further east and south (in this country and neighboring ones). The farms were taken from experienced owners and then divided up and handed over to usually very inexperienced new owners. Many farms ceased to be productive.

The main post office. Independence Avenue, Windhoek.

The History Museum. Free admission. Very interesting and informative. And I am not saying that lightly. The displays here – especially on the first floor – were shocking. I had no idea that Germany (and to a lesser extent, South Africa) mistreated the original occupants of this land, the Herero and other groups.

“Their blood waters our freedom.” A dim, grim chapter in Germany’s history. One that is almost completely glossed over in history books.

A view of the city from the restaurant on the top floor of the History Museum.

The desert around the city used to have elephants, ostriches, and a lot of other animals. Leopards are still here, but very rare. Warthogs somewhat more common. Probably the most common mammal is the Rock Hyrax.

The second place we stayed at here was on the twelfth floor, so I had good occasion to use my telephoto lens on my camera. This city has very many gambling establishments.

Another view from our apartment. This is an unofficial-looking market near downtown.

Heading north on our way to Swakopmund. Actually, Swakopmund is due west but, the rugged terrain being what it is, we had to go north quite a ways, then west, then south west. A four hour trip.

A town in the Namib Desert.

Where are these guys going? I have no idea. Maybe there is a house or two around the hill.

A view of Germanesque downtown Swakopmund. This was our second impression of the town. The first impression is the photo just below.

When our van came into town in the evening this is what we saw. I’ll be frank, I had real concern about what we were getting into, what kind of guesthouse we had signed up for. But we ended up in a place that was more like what we were used to. Reading up more on the history of this town I learned that Apartheid certainly left its mark here as well, the city being divided into white, black, and “colored” districts. The lines have somewhat blurred in these recent decades.

German influence is still seen in the place names.

… and in some of the schools.

Herero woman selling crafts. She wears a hat that is designed like the horns of the cattle that are such an intrinsic part of Herero culture.

Two cemeteries side by side. Left: The unmarked graves of just some of the thousands of Hereros who died during the German occupancy of the country before World War 1. Most of these died of overwork and starvation. Center and Right: views of the Swakopmund Cemetery, the one that is actually on the map. The center photo is a memorial to a German military leader. The inscription in German says that he was “faithfully honored by his comrades and the townspeople of Swakopmund”. Considering what his position entailed we can assume that other townspeople, relatives of those unfortunates in the first picture did not feel the same. .

These horses in the corral were quite frisky and rambunctious. The Namib Desert is home to several hundred feral horses. Some of them were first brought to the area as draft animals for the diamond mines that were operating.

The dunes of the Namib Desert begin just south of the town. Several mornings we climbed these dunes, found a spot where we could not see the town, hear traffic or barking dogs, nor anything that wasn’t natural and just soaked up the silence.

Dunes held in place by Dollar Bushes and Wild Tamarisks.

Vocation and vacation in the same shot. The oil rig is fairly close to the protected wildlife area around Walvis Bay to the south.

Pointing out the dolphins he saw. There were quite a few. Very close to shore (see below).

Bottlenose Dolphins.

Grey Go-Away-Bird, Corythaixoides concolor. Windhoek.

Southern Cordonbleu, Uraeginthus angolensis. Windhoek. This is probably the most unusually-colored of the Waxbills.

Southern Masked Weaver, Ploceus velatus. Swakopmund. I probably take too many pictures of these beautiful, noisy birds. But they are really picturesque.

African Red-eyed Bulbul, Pycnonotus nigricans. Windhoek.

Speckled Pigeon, Columba guinea. Swakopmund. Surely they could have found a more fitting name for this spectacular bird. Sure, he is speckled, but so are half a dozen other pigeons. How about Red-masked pigeon? Or Grey-headed Dove? Gogglebird? I mean, c’mon, man.

A bird convention going on at the mouth of the Swakop River, here in Swakopmund, We saw lots of Flamingos, cormorants, teals, and shorebirds in this part of the river that actually was wet. On the left is the Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus, the same kind you can see in Europe and the smaller bird (right) with the more extensive black on the bill is a Lesser Flamingo, Phoeniconaias minor. We noticed a difference in feeding strategy between the two kinds of Flamingos. The Lesser Flamingos fed by sweeping the shallow river bottom back and forth with their beaks. The Greater Flamingos did the same but also something else; they did a sort of “moonwalk” in place, or like a cat “kneads” the same spot several times.

This time the birds were skittish because there was a lady at the river who, in spite of having a camera with a huge telephoto lens, insisted on walking really close to the birds, spooking most of them. So inconsiderate.

Kalahari Christmas Tree (Aroma) Dichrostachys cinerea. Windhoek.

Hairstreak Butterfly

Meet the Yellow-haired Sugar Ant ( AKA Karoo Balbyter Ant), Camponotus fulvopilosus. We saw these guys gingerly skittering over the hot desert floor near Swakopmund (though this photo was taken in Windhoek). The ants stand up high against the surface, darting quickly, to avoid the hot surface as much as possible. They are sometimes ambushed by trapdoor spiders. The spider waits for the ant to come near the hole and then grabs a leg, holding him down until the poor ant cooks to death. Then he pulls his meal down to his underground dining room. Neat, huh?

Namib Rock Agama, Agama planiceps, Windhoek. The male (above) is easily distinguished from the female, which has bright yellow spots on a dark body.

The Rock Hyrax keeps an eye on us. These pictures are all from the Botanical Garden which us surrounded by the city – which is surrounded by Kalahari Desert. Reminds me of Tucson, Arizona.

European Bee-Eater, Merops apiaster. Swakopmund, Namibia This bird is not often seen here. Namib desert dunes in the background. This photo was taken in the town’s southern edge.