Willkommen in Windhoek Thu 31/10/2002   Arrived in Windhoek via Jo'burg at 15:30 in the afternoon, yet by the time I had actually gotten out of the airport the shuttle bus into town had already left, and there were no other planes due to arrive until 6pm.(The airport is about 40km from Windhoek) Managed to talk my way into getting a ride with the airport personnel bus going to Windhoek, where I tried to find my way to the Chameleon City Lodge, with the help of a map, previously obtained from the tourist information. I however ended up in an industrial estate where some friendly windhoekians let me phone the hostel to find out where I had gone wrong.(South African prepaid cards from vodacom don't work in Namibia) After the phone call I knew that there are three Voigth streets in Windhoek and I had gone to the wrong one. Sweat dreanched, as I was carrying all my stuff, I trodded back the directon I had came, finding the hostel some minutes later. The inside of the hostel was very inviting with a large pool and nice bar. The rooms were clean and the living room sported a huge and tasteful selection of films, as well as a fast internet computer with an ISDN connection. In the late afternoon I booked a tour organised by chameleon called "Himba and Skeleton Coast Safari" and also arranged for a rental car to get down to Sessriem and Soussusvlei (the sand-dunes sea) right after the end of the trip. Went into town and had a brief look around the CBD before returning to the hostel for a relaxed and early night at the bar. The second day in Windhoek Fri 1/11/2002   Had some free toast for breakfast and headed off into Windhoek to withdraw some money for rental car and safari and to explore the city. Felt very safe walking around and ended up buying some food at the supermarket which I had sitting down in the lush green park in the city centre. Visited the Museum of Namibia and learned about the history of independence from South Africa and the German colonial influences that shaped Namibia. Back at the Chameleon I met a group of 5 South African students from Capetown and I joined up with them to go see a free movie at the Cultural Centre (a very cool building combining old and new architecture) which was part of the Namibia Film Festival starting that day. As the film (Gosford Park) was free and we rocked up pretty late, it was impossible to convince the doorman to let us in, so we ended up drinking free beer on the large outside terrace discussing what to do with this young evening. Continued on to the La-di-da (a club with a refreshingly mixed crowd) but were there too early and ended up driving back and around, finally stopping in a different club called "the Pentagon" (more of a white crowd which all seemed to be quite capable of speaking German). Danced and partied until 4 in the morning and then headed back to the hostel for 2 hours of sleep.	Chameleon Central Backpackers 5, Voight St. North - (061) 244 347
Chameleon City Windhoek Church Windhoek Church Thunderstorm at Dusk
Himba and Skeleton Coast Safari - Cheetah Farm (day 1) Sat 2/11/2002   Got picked up at 7am and brought to the "old" Chameleon hostel from which the safari would commence. There I met my tour companions - Herbert, a German nurse from Norden, Claire and Steven a couple from England and Tekla a Swedish medical doctor from Stockholm. We lucked out with our tour guide Suzie who turned out to be very enthusiastic and professional and with whom it would be lots of fun to travel. Off we went on a long days drive (450km) to the "Cheetah Farm", stopping in Otjiwarongo for beer and soft drink supplies. After arriving at the campsite at around 2:30 and setting up our safari tents for the first time, part of the group went straight for refreshing swim in the pool on this very hot day. In the late afternoon we were first taken to the farmhouse where four tame cheetahs live, including one cub, which according to Suzie is quite rare as Cheetahs do not often breed in captivity. After some stroking and patting of the big tame cats, went off to feed the wild ones in the enclosure. As we drove into the enclosure more and more cheetahs started to follow the car no doubt in anticipation of their dinner. After some small disputes the pecking order was quickly clarified and shortly after the feeding commenced. (fresh pieces of goat, yummy) Following this interesting display we returned to the campsite and Suzie prepared a gorgeous evening meal which we ate around the open fire. At this point I was feeling the effects of my lack of sleep from the night before, enhanced by some beer and good food, so I wandered off fairly early to the tent I was sharing with Herbert.	Cheetah Farm Campground
Himba and Skeleton Coast Safari - Opuwo (day 2) Sun 3/11/2002   We had an early start heading North towards Opuwo, all on gravel roads. After about one hours drive we stopped at a gerneral store to buy presents, mainly maize flour and sugar which we were going to give to the Himba village chief in return for letting us visit and stay. Once we reached Opuwo the sun was burning down and the temperature was getting well above 35 degrees. We met up with our guide and translator Elisabeth, (and her 2 sons Gabriel, Lindon) who showed us around the village square where one could buy an assortment of crafts, deepfried caterpillars, goats meat, cooked cow's hoofes, maize beer and many other more or less interesting things. (I only bought a suncap in a PEP store on our way to the market, which would turn out to be an essential item under the namibian sun) After our brief visit to the Opuwo market we headed off to an eco-campsite close by to have lunch and relax in the shade as we were trying to escape from the heat of the day. In the afternoon we continued on to a Himba village some kilometers from Opuwo, on the way to which we picked up Elisabeth and two of her children. The Himba village which we were about to visit was still quite unspoilt from touristic influences and the people there lived very much in their traditional ways in clay and bamboo huts without water and electricity etc. (they were somewhat used to tourist visits though) On arrival all the women were sitting in a semicircle in the shade of one of the few trees in the village and we presented our gifts to the first wife of the village chief. (who was not present like all the men who were out working somewhere) After our introduction from Elisabeth we had a look around and were shown how the Himbas produce a red skin colouring made of cow fat and the dark red okra stone. This colouring is worn to protect the skin from the sun and from drying out and is quite resistant to being rubbed or washed off. We were also shown the jewelery worn during a marriage ceremony which is passed on within the faimly and is made of some type of metal and leather. Marriages take place early and in two stages, the first stage a woman is promised to a young man but the real marriage is then only completed once the woman reaches the age of 14 or so and can bear children. The last and most amazing (in western terms) tradition we were shown was the "washing ritual", which basically consists of taking a hot piece of coal from the communal fire and burning a mixture of herbs and bark to produce an intensely smelling smoke (which reminded me slightly of sandelwood) which is then used to "clean" the body. No water is involved and Suzie was telling us that the Himba's are washed exactly twice in their life: once when they are born and once when they die - a pretty startling notion to me, being used to my almost daily shower etc. One has to say that the Himba alternative seems to also work as none of them smell badly, and considering the scarcity of water in the region the tradition obviously makes sense. After this interesting afternoon we returned to our tents and while Suzie was preparing dinner, Tekla and I walked up a nearby hill to take some photographs of the legendary namibian sunsets. Took some nice photos despite not making it to the top due to the onset of darkness, so headed back to the others after having had a nice snog. At this point I decided that it may be better to share tent with Tekla than with Herbert for obvious reasons :-).	Near Himba village (close to Opuwo)
Preparing Okra Skin Colour Tekla and Gabriel Elisabeth and Lindon Himba Child Panorama Himba Village Sunset from Hill Sunset near Opuwo
Himba and Skeleton Coast Safari - Palmwag (day 3) Mon 4/11/2002   We packed up and drove back to Opuwo where we dropped Elisabeth and her two children before heading south towards Palmwag. Driving on gravel roads all the way, except for one small stretch along a moutain pass which had the reputation of being the most dangerous road in Namibia and was still being worked when we drove by. The construction effort was slightly impeded by the fact that the steamroller had fallen off the side of the road into the ditch. We stopped after 2 hours in an semiarid stretch and climbed up a little hill to look closely at a huge baobab tree. Warmquelle would be our second stop, an area of hotsprings, where we spent a few hours bathing in the sun as well as a warm and slightly sulfuric pool and stream. Climbed around the area to find the source of the hotsprings which turned out to be rather unexciting. Reached Palmwag in afternoon and set up tent, before going on a walk to find the elusive dessert elephants that sometimes stop over at the oasis in Palmwag for water. Lucky us, as one single elephant bull was drinking and grazing in the area when we arrived. Walked on one of the short trails surrounding the lodge with Tekla up to a lookout, where we encountered a group of 8 "Jermans" easily identified from a distance. On the way back I went off to take some more pictures of the elephant with the sunset drenched mountains as a backdrop. After a dinner at the bar, we headed off to our tents and I tried to find any usable covers as the night was turning very cold, with a minimum of 8 - 10 degrees (brr), making it the coldest of the entire trip. part 2 of Namibia	Palmwag Lodge and Campground
Baobab Tree Dessert Elephant Palmwag Elephant Sunset Palmwag Palmwag Elephant