Namibia!

Namibia!!! Absolutely AMAZING!
February 14th-Happy Valentine’s Day, Namibia!

Early in the morning we had some U.S. Embassy people board the ship to talk to us about Namibia. They shared some personal stories and gave us some advice about getting around and safety. They told us that 51% of the population dies from AIDS, which explains why Namibia is such a “young country”. The average age is 42 years old. This information may be shocking and you can only imagine what my first impression of Namibia was like after hearing about it from American’s. But Namibia is a beautiful country, and incredibly rich in culture even though the official country is only 17 years old (it used to be inhabited by South Africa and lately Germany).

My friend Ashley and I went on a City Orientation Trip to a town called Swakopmund—it used to be a German colony, and it’s a beach vacation type of town for Europeans and especially South Africans. There are about 30,000 residence in the town which is just about the size of Boston University. The German influence in the town is apparent in the architecture: buildings and hotels look like Disney-World, cute and fun colored. First we visited a Namibian Weavery called Karakula. They have a website too, but they have their own wool farm, they spin the wool and dye it there and there are 14 specialty weavers. They distribute mostly to Europe and make custom carpeting and tapestries. For example we saw a photo of a newborn, and they made it into a rug. Their signature pictures are African Animals—the most popular one is an elephant rug, which I custom ordered to be sent home, you know I love ellies. I got to meet the lady who is weaving it, I picked the colors, and I picked the size. I really enjoyed talking to the people in the weavery, the owners are two German men, one spoke English, the other didn’t, but we all had a conversation about the culture of their business. I was also ecstatic to have my own Namibian tapestry made and sent home. It should take at most 3 months to make and send.



Then we went to a crystal factory. I learned about the native gems and precious stones. I found the gift shop so fascinating because I bead with a lot of the same stones at home, and for a while I thought that the gift shop was what they took us to see because it was so incredible. Haha my friend Ashley goes “Katie did you see the museum!” and then that’s when I realized there was more to see than the gift shop haha but in my defense the gift shop housed huge rocks of crystals with signs saying ”Do not touch” with information cards=very museum-ish. Pietersite is unique to Namibia and is only found in Namibia. There was a rock of Pietersite, which was 85 USD and it was about 2 inches in diameter and circumference—so it’s expensive, but the ball looked like a globe from a satellite captured picture—that’s the best way I can describe it! I learned how they made the jewelry and how they shaped the stones in their workshops.

Then I went to a craft fair in the center of town. I did more talking to the craftsmen than buying their items, but I was surprised how they approached us. Not in a threatening way like I felt in Morocco, but in a way that they wanted to know where we’re from, what we’re studying, what our name is, where we are studying at Semester at Sea, and most of all they wanted to shake my hand. I met one guy named Elia who crafts masks and buffalo bone among other things with his father. He hadn’t sold anything in 4 days, but he still was out there every day spreading out his crafts to sell to people to support his family. Of course there are lots of guys concentrated in one area, only a few women who all shared a similar lifestyle of collecting their resources and crafting them. I haggled with him for this amazing African Mask, he said it’s his very special design, and truly incomparable to any other masks I’d seen that day. He wanted to sell it to me for 1200Rand ($120 USD) and I got it for 300Rand (30 dollars). So I did a great job bargaining. I also learned a lot about the culture behind their craftwork. In general talking to locals is something I would like to do more because I’ve met such interesting people—interesting in that they have very different lives than I.
Ashley and I climbing Dune 7!

I also climbed Dune 7—the largest sand dune in Africa and The best workout in 15 minutes! Our tour guide said if we climbed the dune in 7 minutes he’d buy us a drink. Well, it didn’t look so hard, but once you start climbing it you have to keep going or else you sink into the sand. And the sand is piping hot so it burns your ankles as your feet sink down. Not to mention by the end I was sweating bullets and covered in sand because it was so hot and so hard to climb—really unlike any Stairmaster level I’ve ever experienced. The sand dunes are so gorgeous though, they look fake.


Rachel and I during the sunset at the condo, night one.

For dinner, Ashley, Molly and I enjoyed a romantic dinner at a restaurant that specializes in Ostrich. We started off with Ostrich Carpaccio (even though they advised us NOT to eat anything uncooked) It was the most DELICIOUS meat I’ve ever tasted—low in fat, high in protein. A local also told us where to eat and what to eat, so we had some guidance. That night I checked into our rental condo in Swakopmund—some very IRRESPONSIBLE boy was in charge of 35 people, so I didn’t even have the address of where our place was I just knew it was by the “Rafter’s Bar.” So we walk into the bar with our big weekend bags, and the bouncer was like, “you can’t come in here with that bag” so I got even more irritated, but he was kidding, so I went in and then was basically swarmed by locals asking me if I was “checking into the bar” and cracking similar jokes at the two little American girls walking into the locals bar with our huge bags. To my dismay we found that all of our friends already left. So Ashley and I awkwardly stood in the middle of the bar and waited for our friends to come and show us where our condo was located. I roomed with 9 of my girlfriends in a place with 4 beds, and then the rest of the group were all dispersed among 4 condos—which we never saw and I’ll explain why. That night I hung out with my roommates and went to some local places.
Dinner at The Lighthouse Restaurant, sunset, night 2. (From Top: Annie, Gillian, Rachel, Rachel, Me, Ashley)

The next morning (Feb 15) at about 8:30am the landlady comes in and says we have to move out by 11am—yes we were EVICTED. BUT it was NOT the girls fault, we’re 9 girls, how loud could we be? TWO of the four condos had serious noise complaints, and obviously it was the boy’s condo’s that got EVERYONE kicked out of our houses. It’s funny because even before we arrived in Swak, we agreed that we were never letting boys plan anything ever, EVER again. I don’t know why the landlady’s would rent family-style condo’s to a massive group of American college kids either.
Natasha, Gillian, and me revving our engines. day 3.

February 15th

It worked out very nicely after we got kicked out though. We split from the huge group into many smaller groups. We found a great bed and breakfast hotel next to the beach called, “A La Mer” with 24hour security. The guy who owns it really was so generous and tolerant of us. He planned Desert Adventures for us, and told us where to eat game and dinner. Annie and I shared a room and then Molly and Ashley came banging on our door at 5am because they were locked out of their condo down the street. But during the day we walked around Swak, talked to locals, enjoyed the beach and some local places.

February 16th

When we woke up we ate breakfast that they prepared for us and we went ATV-ing and Sandboarding in the desert. We had such a blast in the desert, and it was so beautiful. Sandboarding is literally sitting on a cardboard sliding down the dunes. It was such a thrill, and we even made a chain of people sliding down the dune too. I posted a video to show. But I would love to go back to Namibia for a few days again. I know we all had a great time together and it exceeded all of our expectations!

Well after one day of classes we’ll be in South Africa tomorrow! Can’t wait!
xoxo



Reed, Ryan, Kat, Molly, Me, Gillian, Bobby
sand-sled team.