Namibia: First Time in Africa

It took over 36 hours of travel time, but I got to Namibia on Tuesday, starting my first trip to Africa. In case one is confused at the Cape Town airport (a very long flight from Heathrow), it’s very clear that one has reached The Continent, as illustrated here:

and

Descending for the landing at the Windhoek airport was an unusual experience. Coming our of the clouds and down toward the land, I saw zero buildings and one road before we touched down. It was all a vast expanse of dry ground dotted with green shrubs, with many dirt roads or trails. No highways, no endless miles of suburbs, just shrubs and trails.

It takes about 40 minutes to drive into the city (pop. ~300,000). You pass wide open spaces, with green mountains in the distance, and the occasional farm, identifiable by its being fenced off from the open space. Shrubs and small trees everywhere, and occasional hills.

The outskirts of Windhoek seem to be many very recent housing developments of identical houses, each across the street from another development of different buildings, all identical to each other. It becomes very pleasantly hilly, with no longer brand-new neighborhoods that look moderately prosperous, every one surrounded by walls, some with razor wire.

Our tour guide took us out today for a quick introduction to the city. Namibia became independent from South Africa in 1990 after years of war, and they have since built an impressive museum of resistance and independence, with an unusual shape:

As you might expect in a country that once lived under apartheid, the museum experience was sobering. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo, but I wanted to include this exhibit, including the bench on which non-whites have to sit separately:

A more pleasant site was the Craft Center, where you find a variety of high-quality objects, including home decorations, clothing, jewelry, fabrics, and artworks. If you have the carrying capacity, you can bring home a menagerie

bur fortunately lots of smaller items, equally interesting, are available.

Namibia has been influenced by important people, who have been honored with streets bearing their names. Here are two, with which I end this post:

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