Swakopmund is pretty cool. I mean that both figuratively and literally. While you are all sweating in the heat and humidity back home, I’ve just been chilling in the cloudy, cool temperatures here. It’s been in the low teens by day and the low single digits by night, and everything feels colder here since none of the buildings have any heat. I’m wearing every layer I have — hat, gloves and jacket included — and I’m still cold. I’m sure I’ll be longing for this once I get back home, mind you, so I’m trying to enjoy it.
I woke up after a good night’s sleep, refreshed and recharged. My plans to sleep in were thwarted a bit by a car alarm at 7am, but it’s probably best to stick to an early schedule anyway, since we’ll be camping again tomorrow. I had breakfast and headed into town to check things out.
There are lots of options for adventure activities and whatnot in Swakopmund, but I opted to forego them all and to simply take a lazy day. My inner introvert was pestering me for some alone time to recharge, after a week of being with a group 24/7. I set out with a paperback and my camera to wander about and see what I could see.
The town here is small and quite touristy, but it’s also growing rapidly. There are construction crews along the outskirts everywhere. The town itself has a couple of main streets leading to the jetty / waterfront area. There are shops, cafes, galleries and craft stores everywhere. The town dates back to German colonial times, so much of the architecture is either original or — in most cases — imitation German. One thing I really like about Swakopmund is that, unlike most cities in South Africa or Namibia, there are storefronts visible to the street, as opposed to hidden behind high walled gates and electric wire fences. There are also plenty of people — tourists and locals alike — out walking along the streets. When I travel, one of my favourite things to do is simply to walk around, and I haven’t been able to do much of that on this trip, stuck in taxis or tour buses or safari trucks all the time. Swakopmund feels very safe, and it was nice to see people of all ages out walking around.
Mostly, I just milled around today. I snapped a bunch of photos. I spent some time in the well appointed Swakopmund museum, which has exhibits on the people, archeology and wildlife of Namibia. I had lunch at a little cafe with fun coffee slogans all over the walls. I browsed in souvenir shops and furniture stores and art galleries and successfully resisted buying anything. I hung out by the beach and watched the waves. The town is something of a tourist trap, with prices at least double of anywhere else in Namibia, but it’s a pleasant tourist trap. I couldn’t really imagine spending any extended amount of time here, but it’s the perfect break from sightseeing.
Mid-afternoon, I went back to the lodge and spent a little bit of time just relaxing by the bar. I’ve been catching up on all the news that I missed while incommunicado. Nelson Mandela is the top story around these parts, of course, and it’s quite sad what’s going on with him. I also got updates on the coup in Egypt. Of course, the big story back home — Daniel Briere signing with the Habs — was one I had to find out about on Facebook.
I met up with the group at the lodge early evening-ish, fully recharged thanks to my me-time and ready to be social again. We’re down to seven members now, since the other three were doing a shorter tour and left today to go back to Windhoek. The rest of us piled into the newly-cleaned, spiffy safari truck and went to the pub for dinner. The food was nothing special compared to last night, but the beer was cheap and the pub was actually heated, so I felt warm for the first time in what feels like days. The waitress was happy to speak German to Lukas, and the menu included things like springbok steak and oryx schnitzel. Only in Namibia.
We went back to the lodge after dinner. I repacked my bags after having done some desperately-needed laundry, indulged in another long hot shower, and settled in to enjoy the proper bed once again. Tomorrow, we’ll be heading back out into the wilderness, so if you don’t hear from me for a few days, that’ll be why. All in all, I’ve quite enjoyed this little break in Swakopmund, but it’s time to move on.