indwe magazine - february 2010 - swakopmund feature

8/14/2019 Indwe Magazine - February 2010 - Swakopmund feature

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[ N A M I B I A ]

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The landscape might remind youo something like the Nasa lunarimagery rom the 1960s or aremnant o an old sci- moviewhere they shot the scene orsome desert planet. Here the dust

blows high and spins across theroad in little tornadoes, and its

easy to get lost in your imagination. But just overthe next crest you see the spray rom the oceanand then the tankers and shing vessels bobbingin the water and you remember youre on thatspecial stretch o road between Walvis Bay andSwakopmund on the west coast o Namibia.

For the next ew kilometres, all one sees isdunes and telephone poles and a stretch o tar thatmeets in the distance, cutting a dri ting line

between the massive hills o sand and the mistysea. But beyond that one can be orgiven or not

being too impressed by Swakopmund on the rst

A BEAUTIFUL OASIS ON NAMIBIASSKELETON COAST, SWAKOPMUND IS THEPERFECT PLACE TO TAKE A SAFARI INTO

THE OLDEST DESERT IN THE WORLDWORDS BY SCOTT SMITH

drive in. Its small, the outlying homes areunimpressive and the side streets dri t quicklyof into sand. It isnt a striking place, butgive yoursel some time, book into youraccommodation, have a drink and soon the ideas

or activities will come to you with every sloppywave that slides up the beach.

Founded in 1892, just two years a ter theNamibian capital o Windhoek, Swakopmund was

built to be the main harbour o the then GermanSouth-West A rica. But most such activity hastaken place at Walvis Bay since 1915, when theGerman colony was taken over by the Union o South A rica. Since then, Swakopmund has beendeveloped as a tourist spot and it shows todaywith the lengthy line-up o outdoor activities thatcan be enjoyed all year around and the number o good eating establishments.

A short walk around town reveals all sorts o little treasures. There are some gems o German

P H O T O G R A P H Y P H O T O L I B

R A R Y

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architecture, such as the distinctive red-and-white-striped lighthouse, or the Woermann House, builtin 1905, and the Damara Tower, which are still

surviving even though the municipality hasntbeen too strict about the upkeep o the lessheritage-orientated buildings dotted around town.There are some great restaurants with amazingsea ood under hushed whispers o secret recipes and antastic, home-brewed dark beers o German tradition.

There are greatrestaurants withamazing sea oodand dark beers

The water ront and popular beach area brimswith activity, and there is a surprising cosmopolitanvibe: Germans, A rikaners, English, white, blackand every economic strata mix and mingle andseamlessly ow around one another. Holidaymakersand residents alike enjoy the sunset beach. A walkout on the quaint old jetty is a must, and when youare tired o the sun, take a stroll along the SchadAllee or Strand Street and stop in at any o thewelcoming restaurants or pubs along the way.

Brightly coloured beaconTheres no shortage o suitable accommodation inSwakopmund, whether youre on a budget or not.We booked into the Swakopmund Guesthouse, abrightly coloured beacon just of the main road.Its new, just over a year old, and was a amilyvacation home be ore it was completely renovated.Its essentially an upmarket bed and break astofering anything that a guest might ask or. Therooms are clean and the sheets crisp its a per ect

hitecture ,riped light

in 1905, and

survivingbeen tooheritaTh

Eye-catching: spotamazing wildlifesuch as dune

geckos, skinks anddesert chameleons

Hot pursuit:explore the Namib

Desert in a Land Roveron a y-in safari

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place to relax. To top it of or the responsibletraveller, its eco- riendly, using solar energy andrecycled water. Swakopmund Guesthouse is just ablock or two up rom the sea and a ve-minute walk

rom town. Swakopmund is small enough to walkanywhere, so you dont need your car unless youreally want to venture into the dunes.

Over the dunesConsidered to be the oldest desert in the world, withsome o its largest dunes, the Namib Desert around

Swakopmund has received a mere 10mm o rain allon average annually or the past 10 years. Its unnyto think that just over the next crest is a bustlingtourist town. But li e doesnt just bloom in the city: i you participate in a living desert tour, youll ndthat the desert is alive, too you just have to knowwhere to look. Then you wonder how so muchactivity is sustained by the moist og blowing in

rom the Atlantic Ocean less than a kilometre away.Enquire with your hotel or organise a larger tour

through an operator such as NatureFriend Sa aris,based in Windhoek, which does a number o packages and y-in sa aris in Namibia andneighbouring countries. The natural areas aroundSwakopmund are unbounded. Once in the dunes,there are so many distractions along the way it eltlike we knew where we were going but never knewwhether we would get there.

A living desert tour is a lively a air. Ourguide, Christopher Nel, reminds one o the late

You wonder how somuch activity issustained by themoist Atlantic og

ptravrecyblock

rom tnywh

really

OvC

Light entertainment:take a seal anddolphin tour of the bay

THE GERMANCONNECTIONNamibias ties withGermany havegiven us somegreat beers. Ask thehordes of Germanvisitors to Namibiawho claim thatNamibia Breweriesin Windhoek established in 1920 brews beers thatare more Germanthen Germanyitself. Theseinclude Tafel Lager,Hansa draught,Windhoek Lagerand Urbock, atraditional darkbeer known asbock beer, whichcomes with a kickof 7 per cent.

Establishingeven closer tieswith traditionalGerman brews,Namibian-bornchemical engineerJrg Finkeldeyestablished hisown family-ownedmicro-brewery,CamelthornBrewing Company,early last year. Henow produces atraditionalBavarianweissbier,

branded Weizen Germanfor wheat.

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Australian naturalist Steve Irwin as he jumpsin and out of his Land Rover inspecting everyfresh track in the sand and never tiring of talkingabout the same thing. Christopher is particularlyexcited about what he considers to be the littlefive of the desert: the dancing white lady spider,the transparent dune gecko, the legless lizardcalled a skink, the sidewinder snake and thedesert chameleon.

The scenery on this tour is particularlystunning. If you want to be a little freer and simply

enjoy the landscape, hire a quad bike and go on aguided tour through the desert and play a little bytearing up the windward side of a dune. But it needsto be stressed that these are guided tours throughthe dunes where they stay on the sand and avoid thegravel plains where the tracks can stay for a lifetime surrounding natural habitats are respected. Ourguide says the tracks from the wagons of 18th-century trekkers are still visible on the plains morethan a century later.

There is something about those dunes aroundSwakopmund: you can get lost in their vastness,tumble into a valley and safely imagine that you arethe only person in the world. You can sit back and besurrounded by their peaks and appreciate them allthe more because you know you dont have a ve-daytrek to get back to civilisation and a cold drink (suchluxuries are just over the top of that dune). Of course, for the more cultured, there is always theRossmund Golf and Conference Centre, which

Tracks from wagonsof 18th-centurysettlers are still visibleon the plains

An a

freshbout txcited

five of the traalledeser

Enjoy the landscape:

tear up the windwardside of a dune on aquad bike P H

O T O G R A P H Y P H O T O L I B R A R Y

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boasts one of the ve all-grass desert golf courses inthe world.

Happily lostThe sea around Swakopmund can provide days of entertainment, and there are suitable spots forsurfers, boats and divers. A popular option is to takea dolphin and seal tour with catamaran chartersfrom nearby Walvis Bay. On these tours, you go pastthe local oyster platforms, from which huge amounts

are exported as far away as China. From there, theboat makes its way into the beautiful bay area, whereyou see a shipwreck, a lighthouse, birds, seals,dolphins and an abundance of marine life.

Namibia is one of the only countries still growing:Pelican Point annually adds to its length as siltdeposits stretch it out into the sea. The oldlighthouses improbable position on the sandbaris very romantic, the land extending out some500m into the sea harbouring a seal colony. If youcan take the smell, ask the captain to inch as closeas he can before the boat scrapes the sea oor andyou will witness the activity of the colony whiledolphins jump around you. In this wonderful place,you become happily lost in your imagination.

Historic: theSwakopmund

lighthouse wasbuilt in 1902

Huge amounts of the local oysters areexported as faraway as China

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indwe magazine - february 2010 - swakopmund feature

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