The People of Namibia

(Cross posted at DailyKos)

Man, I had never realized what a chore this might become, but… I’ll try my best to describe my impressions of the people of Namibia, as requested by Duct Tape Fatwa, and then I’ll write about other aspects and post other pictures in the future. Again, I am compelled to apologize for the quality of the pics as I had to reduce them 88%…

This is me enjoying a hefeweitzen dunkel on my brother in law’s patio in Wiesbaden before we set out.

First, let me say that this in no way represents any claim of expertise upon my part. Instead, I hope this entry will be a jumping off point to welcome many other people out there to correct my misimpressions and maybe offer everyone more informed and scholarly information. I would welcome all criticism and further opinions!

Secondly, I am hampered, in a way, in that there was a tacit agreement between me and Mrs. Dood that I would park my politically active views while on vacation. As a result, I honestly did not ask many people that we encountered very tough questions, or pursue things aggressively.

Thirdly, believe it or not, I was kind of sworn to secrecy from some people that I encountered that I would not reveal them as sources for some of the things that they told me… honestly fearing government reprisal! I will divulge those opinions expressed to me, and some pictures that I have taken here, because I found them fascinating, but not cite anyone…

Fourth, I have to be honest here; we did not encounter or talk with many of the local peoples, as it was sort of silently discouraged.

Lots of caveats, I know, but here goes!

This is the airport at Windhoek.

We first flew into Johannesburg International airport from Frankfort, Germany and from there to the airport in the Namibian capitol of Windhoek. The two flights on South African Airways were a real treat… it was almost like stepping back in time where flight attendants were courteous and helpful and airplane food was actually somewhat tasty! Our US AIR flights to and from Frankfort suffered tremendously in comparison. If anyone is interested, SAA has a frequent flyer miles agreement with American Airlines, I believe. Our party of nine then rented two Toyota SUV/Minivans, and we were off!

The airport is actually about 35km from Windhoek. It is an exhilarating experience to immediately try to master a standard transmission and steering wheel set up on the wrong side of the car and drive 80-90 mph on the wrong side of the road! And then, later flying along loose gravel roads at 60-70 mph for hundreds of kilometers with no other cars in sight… very memorable…

Christus Kirche.

Our first stop was at a beautiful church on one of the main hills in Windhoek called Christus Kirche… unfortunately it was closed to tourists that day because it was a national holiday for two days. This church is at the intersection of Fidel Castro Street and Robert Mugabe Avenue… I swear! Across the street from the church is the Namibian National Assembly building.

The Namibian National Assembly, across the street from Christus Kirche, at the intersection of Fidel Castro and Robert Mugabe.

Flower wall surrounding the National Assembly.

Windhoek is a fairly large and populous city, and is a carbon copy of anything that you might see in Europe, particularly Germany or the Netherlands… many of the streets, buildings, and businesses have German or Afrikaner names. English is the national language, but most people speak a couple of languages. We honestly did not spend but a few minutes in the capitol as we were more interested in hitting the road for our main wilderness/desert experience.

Windhoek as seen from Christ Kirche and the National Assembly.

For the most part, it seemed like a very clean city where visible to us. There is also a University there, and there did not seem to be a lot of poverty evident. Whites were definitely a minority as far as I could see! The exchange rate was a little over 6 Namibian dollars or South African Rand to the US dollar, and overall, it seemed that your money went even farther. Along some streets in the capitol you could find many wonderful crafts/souvenirs by the actual artisans for purchase at a real bargain. There are beautiful sandstone, ebony, ivory, and zebrawood sculptures… woven baskets, jewelry, batik fabrics… as well as ornately carved or painted empty ostrich eggs.

Some of the souvenirs we brought back.

Our next stop on the first day in country was a little town called Reoboth where we gassed up.

This is Reoboth… within a few miles of here we turned off the paved road and barreled along gravel roads for hundreds of km. The sign reads…”warning… tobacco is addictive”… America’s little gift to the world…

This was sort of the “last chance” for gas before heading into the countryside. Again, the service station was kind of a trip back in time, as there was an attendant who courteously pumped the gas and cleaned your windows for you, expecting a small tip.

There was a marked difference between city life and country life for the average Namibian. Country folk seem to define the term “dirt poor” except that there is a wealth and overabundance of dust and dirt. Most inhabitants seem to cluster in little villages around people with property and money.

A typical village/compound.

Midway in our travels we visited the town of Maltahöhe in order to get gas and mail post cards.

One of the main streets in Maltahöhe, where the rich folks live.

A souvenir stand in Maltahöhe… notice the writing on the building if you can make it out… “Aids kills protect yourself”… Africa’s gift to America.

A display for tourists of a typical nomadic desert hut in Maltahöhe.

I wandered off to take some pictures, and when I returned I found that our party had become swamped with curious people as well as beggars at the post office. We were told previously that in no way should we give anyone money, as the situation might get ugly very quickly.

Here is the secret information… in spite of the government’s best attempts to avoid embarrassment over this, the rural population remains incredibly poor, uneducated, servile, and very superstitious.

This is a typical grave site with the customary waterbottle.

I visited the grave yards of some of the poorest black Africans, presumed Christians, and was fascinated at some of their customs… nearly all graves had an empty water bottle at the headstone… this was to keep the ghost of the deceased from wandering if they happened to get thirsty. Digging a grave can be a two to three day experience of backbreaking labor, as within less than a foot of digging you hit sandstone bedrock. Some were covered in chicken wire, presumably to punish the spirit if it decided to roam, by not allowing it to return to the grave. Interestingly, most of the Namibians homes in the desert are small, circular hut resembling brick structures with tin roofs. Many typically square, western style homes with all the luxuries of power, plumbing, and running water were built naively for workers initially. These were fairly quickly abandoned and fell into disrepair, as people felt that ghosts lived in the corners…

Since becoming a free state not under minority rule and similar to South Africa, Namibia seems to be having some growing pains. A lot of Southern Africa has a similar history to the Southern US in a way, in that there was rapid white European “colonization”, if you will. Since that time, many of the minority white “landed gentry” seems to be either migrating elsewhere, or hunkering down to preserve their way of life as best they can. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that they are endorsing slavery or anything, but I certainly perceived an uncomfortable air of clinging to past hierarchical relationships, that I have also seen and experienced in the US, but not to this marked degree.

The harshness of rural Namibia, I think, has led to a lot of the preservation of antiquated relationships between the former white ruling class and rural blacks. The average population density of the country is 1.7 people per square km, and when you account for the fact that most people live in the small, wetter agricultural area to the north or in the capital Windhoek, the true picture of the whole country becomes stark. Many farmers find themselves being the only source of power, food, water, healthcare, and income for their employees/neighbors, and I feel that they are to be praised for grudgingly taking on these responsibilities, as there seems to be no real compensation for it. Add to this, the fact that the desert plains throughout the majority of the country have endured a roughly two year extended drought, and the whole picture is even more disturbing… Our hosts said that a funny vignette that happens repeatedly to them was comments from their guests about how lucky they were to have experienced such lovely, rain free weather on their vacations…

The one thing that I really struggled to really hold my tongue over (Mrs. Dood’s looks absolutely can kill) is the fact that we ran into many adamant GWB supporters in the people we came into contact with. Their perception is that he and America are the last bastion for defense against a growing threat of Islamic extremism. They insist that there is a growing problem with violent Muslim fundamentalism in even the overwhelmingly Christian Namibia, and that kidnappings are becoming frequent in South Africa. This was all news to me… I think that I was able to put a polite and balanced perspective upon what GWB has done to our country.