Ahh...Windhoek Weekends. Namibia is not for the faint of heart (nor for vegetarians). Just when you think you have the place pinned down, it surprises you. The past ten days have taken me to photography exhibits by local artists, salsa dancing lessons on a rooftop, a guest farm out in the Kalahari, home-cooked Ethiopian, Indian, and a “braai” with colleagues, and an outdoor concert headlined by an Irish boy band.
To try to compare this town to anything would be like trying to describe a combination of Burning Man, “The English Patient,” and “Friday Night Lights.” Although quieter than most capital cities, Windhoek is an intriguing mix of things one doesn’t expect. Varied languages on the street – from Afrikaans to German to Oshiwambo or San dialects (!Kung San). An evolving identity post-independence: ie. directions to Windhoek’s most noticeable landmark, Christukirche, requires driving to the intersection of Fidel Castro Street and Robert Mugabe Avenue. And you can never tell if a local favors soccer, cricket or rugby. Most locals are cheering for South Africa, rather than Namibia, in the rugby World Cup (sidenote: the South African "springboks" or "boks" just beat Fiji!).
This weekend was the much-anticipated “Hart van Windhoek” (heart of Windhoek) concert, an outdoor festival that brought together Afrikaner pop stars and the band Westlife – the biggest thing to hit Namibia since UB40. Westlife is not very big in America (if they are, somehow I missed it) but they put on a great show to a diverse, all ages, crowd of about 15,000 people. My three lovely guides for our night on the town were Lerine, Charene, and Nadine, who quickly taught me about the country’s obsession with pop music, Jaegermeister, and shots of cherry vodka.
On Saturday some work colleagues and I took an impromptu road trip into the Kalahari. Sightings of baboons, springbok, and Oryx along the way are very common. The Kalahari is surprisingly lush, although the clear difficulty for farming is finding a reliable water source. Farm Kiripotib is a working sheepfarm that boasts a jewelry workshop, carpet weaving, a guest house, and two runways! No shortage of interesting characters on the farm as well. Phinneaus, a master weaver of the San tribe, taught me how to play the traditional game of Ovelo. The farm owner, Hans George van Haus, is a private pilot who has had the farm in his family for generations. Each year, he and his very stylish wife, Claudia (the jewelry designer), host a group of international glider pilots. With any luck, I’ll blog about a glider flight in the Kalahari in a few weeks…
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