Daugavpils: Latvian City Near Russia

There is something mentally massaging about a train ride. It is not hurried. You are not driving. You are simply watching the scenery scrolling by, a leisurely left-to-right change of view, often very interesting. We left busy, crowded Riga for the much more laid-back Daugavpils. It was a nice change of place. This city is the penultimate one we visited, Vilnius, Lithuania being the last.

Walking through the train station we continued straight down this pedestrian way that traverses the center of the town. On this street were two decent-sized malls with good grocery stores, marketplace, restaurants, an old, apparently no longer used church, and restaurants. It was pretty convenient that our apartment we were to stay at was just a block off this walkway.

Another view of the well laid-out pedestrian walkway, with the train station on on end and the shopping district on the other.

Also along the pedestrian way (behind the building) is this disused church.

Not as picturesque as Riga, but the old town still had some architectural beauties.

Daugavpils Fortress: The (Military) Glory Has Departed. The six photos below were all taken at this fortress.

This sprawling, star-shaped fortress (the last of its kind) was built in nervous anticipation of Napoleon’s sweep eastward. Construction began in 1810 but was only fully completed in 1878. But long before this time it was already obsolete; cannons were soon able to fire from much further away and thus arc easily over the walls causing many casualties and much damage, just like Lieutenant (later General Stonewall) Jackson demonstrated in the 1847 siege of the similarly-walled city of Veracruz, Mexico.

I tried to research what this is a picture is of. There were several of these openings. It would have been helpful if there had been information here or a military museum. But there is only, strangely enough, an art museum!

My first impression as we entered the fortress and climbed up the grassy ramparts, was of a ghost town. But there are actually over a thousand residents within these walls. And a hotel and restaurants and stores also. A town within a town. A town ssurrounded by a ghost-fortress greatly in need of careful renovation.

A good part of the fortress walls and some of the buildings within (photo **above** and **below**) are dilapidated, giving the impression that the fort had once seen serious battles. *But not a single battle happened here.* The decay was entirely caused by neglect over the years. Also, the Soviets tore down at least one of the gateways to make room for their tanks.

Eroded ramparts, horse stables, and (I think) an armory.

The Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella, sings from the ruined ramparts, “A little bit of butter and no cheese!” At least that is how my bird field guide puts their song.

Back in town, these Eurasian Jackdaws, there were two of them, were shamelessly stealing from the dog’s dish.

Above and **the two photos** Below: Wooden houses make sense where wood is plentiful.

One of the main attractions of Daugavpils, located on **Varsavas Iela (Warsaw Street)**, is the **Shot** **Tower**, the oldest one in all of Europe. The shot (lead balls) is made by melting the metal on the top of the tower, passing it through the sieve (usually made of copper). The balls thus formed are dropped down into a water-filled tub. The result is perfectly round lead balls. Once a year the tower makes these balls by this traditional method.

**Above** and **Below**: Two views of the neighborhood (formerly *town*) of **Griva**, which is just across the **Daugava River** from the main town. Walking over the bridge seemed also like walking a few decades back in time to a more relaxed and bucolic Latvian town.

Also in Griva: A colorful Orthodox Church. From what I read, a friendly and “comfortable” place of worship.

Back in the city: Orthodox Cathedral of Saints Boris and Gleb.

A most inhospitable church, the **Pomors Church of Latvian Veterans**. My wife and I wanted to see this church. Before entering she was sure to have her scarf on and we were both modestly dressed.
But we couldn’t even get close to the door. This old woman with fierce-looking eyes shooed us away like we were dogs! How bizarrre! The congregation is part of that staunch Russian sect called the “Old Believers”. Reading the reviews of this church on different sites I find that our experience was not unique.

**Our apartment was quite comfortable.** We wished to stay longer but were told that the apartment would not be available in the next days. I wonder sometimes if they maybe were balking at letting us have the booking at our “genius rate” that Booking.com gave us. So we gathered our belongings and walked the three blocks to the bus station.

… and, for a while, puzzled over our options. We knew we wanted to go to Vilnius but didn’t know *when* or *how*. But finally, with my Russian and appropriate gestures we were able to conjure up the needed tickets.

But events often do not pan out as planned. The bus was over two hours late. By the way, according to the yellow sign, buses or vans left from here to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Minsk. At least they did at one time.

As the minutes turned to two hours I went back and forth outside and inside, trying to get updates on just what happened to our bus. The interior of the us station was decent enough. Snacks, Soft drinks, tea were available at the far end. As we waited those two hours, I noticed that the usual hubbub in the station was getting louder and louder. A couple of men were being quite boisterous, alternately singing and shouting, obviously drunk.

Eventually the bus came. And, even with the occasional inconveniences here, I mentally added Daugavpils to the list of places that I wouldn’t mind visiting again.

But we probably won’t.

Next: Vilnius.

Five Countries in Five Weeks – Cold Northern Europe: Talinn, Estonia

Taking the ferry from Helsinki to Talinn, Estonia was, of course, much shorter than the hours-long one from Stockholm to Turku, Finland, so we didn’t even bother with a room. We just sat at a table by one of the windows.

We entered this gate to the old town. Our hotel was fairly close. This was once the main entrance into town but now it is relatively quiet.

Our first view of the city from our ferry. The **upper town** is visible in the center of the photo.

The ferry trip was short and pleasant – except for the music, which was quite loud and grating. A Finnish rock group was making a train wreck of **Hotel California**. Added to that the vocalist and instrumentalists apparently couldn’t agree on a key.

Looking like so many stubby pencils, these towers guard west-facing old Town Wal

Supposedly the tallest building in the world from 1549 to 1625 the 12th-century St. Olaf’s Church, named after King Olaf II of Norway, is now a Baptist church.

Jeweled figurines in a Lower Town shop window

**Town Hall Square**. Town Hall on the right. Normally there would be a lot more tourists here, but it was still pretty cold this morning.

Colorful wooden door to the House of the Brotherhood of the Black Heads, also in the Lower Town. The Brotherhood of Black Heads was originally a military unit that helped in the defense of the city. It was also an association of **Hanseatic** guilds of various trades and crafts. Later the military aspect faded into the background, especially after the Soviets overran the city. But it is still an important social organization.

The door was painted in the early 1640’s but the building itself is much older.

Who are the Black Heads? They are named after their patron saint, the Egyptian **Saint Maurice**. You can see his portrait over the door. This is not the only Black Heads building. We later came across an even more impressive building of that name in Riga, Latvia. (More on that in a later article).

The imposing **Toompea Castle** protected the upper town for many centuries. The tower to the right is **Pikk Hermann.** Danes, Germans, Swedes, and Russians all had the eyes on this important trade crossroad of Talinn. The Estonians (then called Livonians, along with a good part of what is now Latvia) won many defensive battles against the Russians and others. But they were finally overcome in 1721 by the Russians. Livonia then became part of the burgeoning Russian Empire. The castle grounds now includes the Estonian Parliament.

Across the road from the Parliament is the Russian Orthodox **St. Nevsky Church**. It has a beautiful interior of gold paintings and and intricate woodwork. Like in many orthodox churches, they must be admired standing up, seats being scarce.

Looking northward at the Lower Town from the **Patkuli** viewing platform.

My impression is that there are three parts to this city: the tourist-friendly Old Town, Upper and Lower. Then there is the modern high-tech business district (pictures below). And lastly, pictured here, is the “normal” city of middle to low income people. Neither touristy nor glistening. In fact, in many places, somewhat run down.

But the people are interesting. I am always interested in the ethnicities of a place. The three largest groups in Talinn are:
Estonians 233,518 53.34%
Russians 149,878 34.23%
Ukrainians 15,449 3.53%
(From 2022, Wikipedia)

Walking on our way to the bus station on our last morning we went through a very modern section of the city

“Tallinn has the highest number of startup companies per person among all capitals and larger cities in Europe and is the birthplace of many international high-technology companies, including Skype, Wise and Bolt.” – from Wikipedia

Seegi Church, now closed. One Estonian local spoke of this church being in a neighborhood of “*cloud climbers*” (Google translate from the Estonian. Apparently their word for *skyscraper*!)

On our way down to Riga, Latvia. Once again I get to take a few pictures of the local countryside.

Before we leave this article I should mention a favorite candy of ours – **Marzipan**. We found this in all three of the Baltic countries. This photo is actually from Riga but it should be here since Talinn, along with Lubeck, Germany, has a longstanding connection with this candy. Both Hanseatic cities had their own version of the candy at about the same time.
Did I say “*candy*“? Marzipan (“*March Bread*“) was first considered a medicine, known as “*Panis Martius*“. It also appeared in **Shakespeare’s** “*Romeo and Juliet*“. A servant at work in Capulet’s house says:

“Away with the joint-stools, remove the
court-cupboard, look to the plate. Good thou, save
me a piece of marchpane;”

Next: Riga, Latvia

Five Countries in Five Weeks – Cold Northern Europe: Finland

Even though Northern Europe was expensive it was a nice change from the places we usually visit. This is the second article of the Northern Europe series. Having left Stockholm via the Viking Ferry, we arrived that same evening in Turku, Finland. And after a few days we took the bus down to Helsinki. Here are some of the highlights.

We saw several homesteads like this that were alone on their own island.

We made a stop at Mariehamn, Aland Islands. On the cliffside path facing the sea there were several residents watching the ferries pass by. Mariehamn and the Alan Islands are an autonomous region of Finland where the residents speak Swedish. Mariehamn (“Marie’s Port”) was named after the 19th century Russian Empress Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse).

Stenkrossen, an abandoned quarry by Mariehamn’s Western Harbor.

Turku Castle, built in the 1280’s, greets us shortly after we disembarked from the ferry. A fire in 1614 destroyed most of the castle and after it was rebuilt and made into a warehouse.

Even though the walk to the apartment was cold and we had several blocks to go I just had to stop and take a photo of this building.

Market Square with the Orthodox Church of Saint Alexandra on the right.

Läntinen Pitkäkatu. We trudged through snow and more snow on our way to the bus station and back.

**Left**: Läntinen Pitkäkatu. Kauppiaskatu 20. The house was designed by Robert Lyly and was completed in 1926. **Right**: Detail of the Woman & Girl statue gracing the corner. I’m not sure who did the artwork. It dates to the same time as the building.

They really love licorice in these northern countries. I do too …. but a whole tupperware-type container of it? And of course there is also Fudge. Licorice flavored!

**Left**: “Turku Cathedral is a medieval basilica located in Turku, Finland. It was originally built out of wood in the late 13th century and dedicated as the main cathedral of Finland in 1300.” – Wiki
The main cathedral was in Turku (earlier called Abo) because it was the capital of the country.
**Right**: I wanted to get a closer photo of the facade and interior but it was just too cold to go over the bridge in my decidedly unwinterly clothes so I had to settle for this shot from the bus as we were leaving town.

Finally heading south to Helsinki. We could enjoy the scenery … or decide just who to vote for in the upcoming elections, each candidate conveniently also given a number.

Three photos of the landscape as we went in and out of snow flurries.

Red seems to be the preferred color of Finnish barns.

I can almost hear one of Sibelius’s symphonies to accompany these vistas.

We really wanted to spend more time in Helsinki but it was just too cold and budget-breaking.

A telephoto of the Helsinki Train Station, taken as we were walking down to our next hotel. I was hoping to get a closer look the next day but getting ferry tickets for Estonia was a higher priority. Can’t see everything.

I wasn’t able to find out what this building was. I had seen another one almost identical to this one.

The bitter cold walk to the ferry dock still had some pretty interesting sites. Halfway to the ferry we ducked into a nice hotel lobby to warm up.

**Next**: Estonia.

Five Countries in Five Weeks – Cold Northern Europe: Sweden

Our travels in Africa having come to a sudden end, we decided to go someplace totally different. Northern Europe was indeed just that: more expensive (which is why we didn’t stay too long), modern, but much safer than South Africa. And much colder. And we still had our sandals from Africa!

This is the first of several articles of our journey through five countries: Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Most of this article has to do with Stockholm. A very interesting city. Even though we were not dressed for the freezing temperatures we forced ourselves to make the most of it.

To the right is the Skinnarviksberget. Cold morning, bracing gusts of wind near the water. But beautiful architecture. Our hotel is just beyond the rocky outcrop.

A view of the Ryddarfjarden. One cold morning we decided to do the whole circuit around it. Quite a walk!

A Fieldfare, a common thrush, faring pretty well in a frozen field.

Unlike money in many other countries, Sweden’s currency has artists, filmmakers, and novelists. The actress Greta Garbo graces this 100 Kronor note.

**Above** and **below**: glimpses of a more countrified part of the city, the island of Langholmen, the eastern half of which is mostly parkland. Notice the sod and thatched roof. This was more commonly done earlier. And a lot of 19th century Swedish immigrants to the US took this practice with them.

Picturesque long building facing the South Malarstrand Avenue

We are back in the land of articulated buses! Behind it is the Riddarhuset (House of Nobility).

Ridderholman Church. It started to really snow on the morning that we walked around the harbor.

The Sofia Church, sitting like a squat rocket on the hilltop, was more impressive on the outside.

Sofia Church interior. There used to be beautiful ornate art on the wall you see there but it was replaced by this modern mural. It “improved the acoustics” is what one brochure claimed. Hmm.

Stockholms Tingsrätt (City Courthouse) behind an iconic line of harbor-fronting Hanseatic buildings.

Thanks to Voi, Lime, Bolt, and about six other electric scooter rental services, you are never far from convenient wheels to take you from A to B. Prices vary between 2 or 3 SEK per minute. No wonder they are always speeding!

The Guardian of Valhalla getting ready to whack the sacred pinatas. I know my Norse mythology!

This morning we left Stockholm for Turku, Finland. On a viking ship! Well, the company is Viking Line.

Escorting our ferry through the Stockholm Archipelago is one of Odin’s ravens. Hmm. I’m not sure if this dapper fellow is **Huginn** or **Muninn**. Actually this isn’t even a raven, but a Hooded Crow.

Slowly snaking our way through the suburbs east of Stockholm.

Oskar-Fredriksborg Fort, a defensive redoubt on the island of Rindö. Built 1877. It was still used during WW2. The casemate facing the water was connected to the command structure uphill by hallways well-protected with reinforced concrete. But I don’t think this fort was ever really put to the test.

Have sandals, will travel. Relaxing as we ease our way out of the Stockholm archipelago.

Next: Finland

Katima Mulilo: Wild Fingertip of Namibia

And this article, for the most part, focuses on the “wild” part, not so much the nondescript town. I went through my pictures just now and I found very few of the town itself, the buildings and almost invariably sandy streets, that were interesting.

More comments coming soon.

This road parallels the main highway into town, a road only slightly less dusty. The contrast between these two roads is striking. Just out of sight of this photo above is a jumble of brick and corrugated dwellings. We didn’t feel especially safe walking down here after being somewhat aggressively importuned for money by a women with an axe in her hand. I know. Sometimes perceptions are just that. But there is also touristic “spider sense”.

We were quite happy staying at the Kololo Guesthouse, a collection of buildings that included a restaurant that made some pretty good pizza! Because our particular place was all metal the wifi reception was not great, but was decent when I sat outside by the table.

**Smith’s Bush Squirrel**, *Paraxerus cepapi*

**Left: Tawny-flanked Prinia**, *Prinia subflava*. **Center: Little Bee-Eater**, *Merops pusillus*. **Right: Black-collared Barbet**, *Lybius torquatus*

The best time to see this **White-browed Coucal**, *Centropus superciliosus*, or perhaps any Coucal or Cuckoo, is after a good rain, when they are often more exposed on treetops, drying off their feathers.

I had to venture through a lot of tangly brush to get this photo of the **Rufous-bellied Heron**, *Ardeola rufiventris*.

A green-feathered beauty on the muddy path. The **Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove**, *Turtur chalcospilos*

**African Openbill**, *Anastomus lamelligerus*, a stork that posed conveniently atop a tree.

**Schalow’s Turaco**, *Tauraco schalowi*, a bird that looks like he was designed by Dr. Seuss! Our first Turaco we saw was in George, South Africa, but this species is even more exotic-looking.

**Top row**: **Prosmidia conifera** and **Forest Elfin** (I think)
**Middle**: Unknown Beetle and **Citrus Swallowtail**
**Bottom**: **Lucia Widow** and **Eastern Dotted Border**

Selling eggs near the vans and taxis that lead south to Botswana.

The future of Katima Mulilo walking slowly to school.

This is the last of my Numibia posts, at least for now. Maybe my next article will be a totally different part of the world. We have been blessed to have been able to travel to many more places than I have time and energy to write about.

Colorful Divundu

“Colorful” is a good name for it, starting with the Elegant Grasshopper shown below, but also the various birds and, most of all, the people and culture in general. This is National Geographic Africa, quite off the tourist trail. However, enough tourists come through that it did not make us such an oddity, but most of them did not stay more than a day – if that. We stayed for a whole week. For many, I noticed, it was a place to fill up the gas tank, get more groceries and hard -nose it on to Katima Mulilo at the end of the Caprivi Strip. Or take the spur south to the more famous Maun, Botswana.

(BTW, currently we are in Malaysia, flying out to Borneo on Saturday!)

**Elegant Grasshopper**, *Zonocerus elegans*

**Meves’s Starling**, *Lamprotornis mevesii*. There are three or four shiny black birds in Divundu, not always easy to tell apart, but they are all striking.

**Above** and **Below**: Downtown Divundu. This is where a lot of Mom and Pop stores are, believe it or not.

We called this the “Business District”. Later in the day it is more alive with foot traffic. The metal building to the right is a “shebeen”, basically a bar.

Cows and people – and the occasional dust-blasting car – on the road in front of our guesthouse.

This was our digs. Notice the Springbok pelt on the wall. Not really the Radisson! But good enough for our tastes.

**Fish trap** on the Okavango River. This is actually a small-scale fishing weir. Bream, tilapia and tiger fish are caught in these waters.

Traveling the Okavango in traditional style. The makoros canoe – hollowed out in one piece from the African Ebony tree. This boat is not kind to sudden movements! Because there is no keel it is easy to tip over. Not a good idea for this crocodile-crowded river. Maybe “crowded” is too strong a word, but I did see them the last two times I crossed over on the bridge.

I would have to think that a sudden, loud splash might sound like a dinner bell to them.

**Nile Crocodile**. I was glad to spot this lazy lurker from the bridge spanning the Okovango River, and not in the canoe shown above.

I hurried across to the other side of the bridge to see this fellow floating downriver like a lazy log.
The next day we took a taxi out of town. The driver told us about a crocodile that almost pulled him in the river. He still had the scar.

**Crested Barbet**, *Trachyphonus vaillantii*. Taken at the Checkpoint where we waited for a ride on down the Caprivi strip

A bucket on her head, baby on her back, and phone in her hand. Triple-tasking.

**White-crested Helmetshrike**, *Prionops plumatus*. This was a flock of maybe ten birds, which strikes me as unusual for shrikes. Shrikes usually are just in ones or twos since they have to hunt for prey. These are definitely forest birds. We only saw them after quite a walk into the Kobe National Park.

**Lilac-breasted Roller**, *Coracias caudatus*

The **White-fronted Bee-Eater**, *Merops bullockoides*, was one of four different Bee-Eaters I saw in Divundu.

The tree that Zaccheus climbed, the “Sycamore” of the King James Bible is a fig tree with fruits growing from the trunk

On the way to fieldwork, some of them, others seem to be returning from the grocery store across the river.

These last four photos are from a private vehicle we were finally able to hitch. The guard at the checkpoint kindly did the “hitching” for us, asking driver after driver if they would take us. After an hour we succeeded. They called it “hiking”, meaning “hitch-hiking”!

Beautiful **Ostriches** showing off by the roadside.

This road had much more foot and donkey traffic than cars.

Next: Katima Mulilo

Traveling across Namibia’s “Finger”: Caprivi Strip

We have been slowly venturing like ants along the eastward-pointing finger of Namibia, spending time in Tsumeb, Grootfontein, Rundu, Divundu, and lastly in the town of Katima, in the region’s “fingernail”. A dirty fingernail that city was too, dusty or muddy streets and poor infrastructure. But a lot of friendly people. And some not-so-friendly animals.

This was going to be a one-off but, once again, the sheer number of pictures I pored over – and the associated memories – will make this a two or three-parter.

**Tsumeb** is the first of two towns where we spent less time than anticipated, the other being Rundu. We could not find a place that was both suitable to our budget and near to nature. Also in Tsumeb, on our first morning nature walk, we were warned by a passing local not to continue in our direction, saying that she was robbed at knifepoint. After that we thought twice about going venturing to far from town.

**Above** **Left**: **Jeremia Evangelical Lutheran Church** with separate services in German and English. **Center**: Flamboyant Tree, *Delonix regia*. **Right**: Abandoned shaft tower. Gold, silver, lead, and other minerals were once mined here in great quantities. The discovery to a rich mineral-producing geological pipe gave rise to the founding of the city by Germans over a hundred years ago.

**Left**: Photo taken from a **Grootfontein** gas station where we waited almost two hours to get enough riders to go on to Rundu. It took two taxis to come up to Rundu. The driver in Tsumeb gave me the impression that he would take us all the way. But instead he did a “Guatemala Handoff”. **Right**: After a while I noticed there were at least some interesting birds to be seen. Above were several rare **White-backed Vultures** gyring far overhead, too distant for clear shots. Luckily there were birds much closer to the station like this gorgeous **Long-tailed Paradise Whydah**, *Vidua paradisaea*

**Above**: Hobnobbing with friends while at work. I would think the girls would not be so relaxed with the loads balanced on their heads. **Below**: These beasts of burden often had their own contrary agenda. It took four or five of the boys to ease them backwards into the holding area. (“Ease” maybe the wrong word!)

All four photos above were taken from our shared taxi van, waiting almost an hour for enough passengers wanting to go eastward. (We call this “achieving valence”). We made the mistake of paying the driver at first. We have since learned to try to pay on arrival. As it is, the driver made himself hard to find, in effect making us captive passengers.

Unlike in Tsumeb we did have a good nature walk in Rundu, and having a conversation of sorts with the border guards at this water crossing, just a hop, skip, and splash from Angola (the far shore seen here). After talking with them we walked a ways along the river’s edge, seeing Hornbills, Weavers, and a good variety of shorebirds.

After we were leaving a man, supposedly an official, yelled at us to come back. It seems we were not allowed to go where we went without permission (although the border guards knew where we were going and said nothing). We ignored this man, pretty sure that he was trying to soak money from some foreigners.

And this is the main reason we did not stay long here. The main nature area was ruined for us.

**Left**: Meyer’s Parrot, *Poicephalus meyeri*. **Center**: Millipedes don’t get any larger than the Giant African Millipede, *Archispirostreptus gigas.* They are sometimes well over a foot long. Right:Southern Red Bishop, *Euplectes orix*.

Final three photos: There were few places along the stretch between Rundu and Divundu that did not have people in view.

Next: Divundu

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.

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.

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).

**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.

Meet the **Yellow-haired Sugar An**t ( 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.

Nicaraguan Adventures 7: Sebaco, Boaco, and Juigalpa

**SEBACO** – (Fruit and Vegetable Town). I had already mentioned this town in the last article. Actually we never set foot in the town proper, just stayed on the bus at the *crucero* (“crossing”) as the hawkers came on board with their various wares. The most common items were the tomatoes in bags. You can see them hung up behind the man with the red hat.

**ABOVE**: Another vendor takes advantage of his captive audience as the bus travels southward. I believe he was selling herbal medicine. It is a common practice in Latin American countries – we have experienced this from Mexico to Peru – for vendors to get on at a certain point, give their shpiel (usually loudly) and then get off to get on another bus with all new customers going back the opposite way.

**BELOW**: The map shows our next stops. It was complicated getting to Boaco because we first had to wait quite a while at Tipitapa (famous for a notorious prison nearby) and then wait for a bus going our direction. If I remember correctly (this was back in 2018) for some reason we had to get *another* bus at Teustepe. The towns in these last two articles are pretty much off the tourist radar. Especially these last two we are going to. That means increasing difficulty in travel.

**BOACO**: *Ciudad de Dos Pisos* (“*Two-story City*“), referring to the very hilly layout of the place. We can definitely attest to that. We walked down from the terminal (above) and up again to get to downtown and our hotel.

Another slogan for the city could have been “*City on the Move*“, because it had relocated twice before. They were first 15 miles east of here but were attacked, under British instigation, by neighboring native tribes. Having settled again along the **Malacatoya River** they belatedly discovered that they were in a flood zone. So they came to the present site “*between 1552 and 1572*” (Wiki).

**Parroquia Nuestra señora del perpetuo socorro Buaco** is in the background. Russian influence? Not as far as I could find out. The church is Roman Catholic.

Motherhood Statue in the Parque Central.

Parque El Cerrito (“Hill Park”) perhaps should be called “El *Cerrado*” (“Closed Park”). It is probably good for a view of the town but for nature not so much. It did not officially open until 10 AM. And even then it was not open.

**JUIGALPA**: Above and below are views of the **Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Asunción**, a modern-looking church with old bells. Bells that we heard ringing all hours of the night from our hotel two blocks away. “Ringing” gives the wrong impression. The sound was very un-bell-like, like rusty pails. And the street noise of vendors and down-the-block music, and the raucous evening gatherings of countless Red-eyed Cowbirds added to the cacophany

A common feature of Latin American churches is the prominent display of dead Jesuses. Representations of the risen Christ are much rarer.

The town itself certainly had charm and interest. We would often go to the park for ice cream or hamburgers. The whole region is famous for raising cattle, the number one beef producing area in the whole country.

Downtown Juigalpa. The people were pretty friendly. Foreign visitors are rare here compared to Granada across the lake.

Huffing and other drug use, as well as drunkenness, is a real problem here.

Thomas Belt Zoo admission was c.25 (2018) Supposedly it is an ” impressive selection of animals”. Animal Gulag is more like it. The cages were way too small. Several of the animals looked rather nervous and unhealthy.

The high point of the town – literally is the **Mirador Loma de Tamames** also called the **Mirador Sandino** boasts a
two dimensional representation – also literally -of their heroic **General Sandino**. A pleasant enough setting to enjoy the view and relax on benches decorated with paintings of cattle and birds that are now rarely seen near the town.

**Leaving Juigalpa**. Actually, I think this photo is of our approach to that town, but since we had to backtrack again this is the same scenery we saw on the way out. This whole region, as I wrote above, is largely given over to cattle raising.

NEXT: Northwest Nicaragua

Nicaraguan Adventures 6: Jinotega, Selva Negra, and Matagalpa

This is the scene my wife and I, sitting down after a hike up the mountain, were enjoying when the masked young man came out of the bushes. “I want that phone”, he said, holding up his machete. My wife threw down some money, but he didn’t want that.

“Give me the phone or I’ll kill you.“

“Kill me then“, I said, standing up. At the same time my wife stood up and yelled, “Ladron!” (“Thief”). At this point he lost his nerve, running back into the bushes. I threw a rock at him but don’t think I hit him. We were a bit shaken after this and reported the incident to the police. They faulted us for not going up the mountain with a police escort! I doubt if they even filed a report.

This was our most lasting impression of Jinotega.

The next two photos below are also from this town.