Monday, March 13, 2006
What's to like about Namibia? (Late February Early March 2006)
For the first time on this trip we found ourselves at a genuine hub for young and budget conscious travelers. At a place like this it always feels like a party. The short term visitors from Europe, the longer haul hitch-hikers, the itinerant odd job workers, local pick up artists, friends of the staff and those who enjoy the company of travelers congregate around the bar, the swimming pool, the public kitchen and the billiard table, keeping things lively. The turn over ensures that someone has always just arrived with interest or information. This was an enjoyable though disorienting place to be stranded whilst the Stingray proved itself unwelcome and stigmatized as an "import" (as if there is a single vehicle manufactured in Namibia).
Many of our co-lodgers would be much more comfortable on ski slopes in Europe. They pay large amounts of money to ride on quad buggies around the dunes of the Namibian desert (South of Windhoek the country begins to resemble the Sahara; shortly we will be visiting the largest pile of sand in Africa) or to chase dolphins in speed boats. Others rent four by fours to be driven by affable and encyclopedic locals into scenic places where spots of obvious beauty receive the relentless short admiration of expensive camera equipment.
We began to enjoy Namibia when we started to take advantage of the network of friends provided by the impish, sociable, captivating and untiring bartender of the youth hostel, along with a few of her select patrons. It was refreshing to meet with Namibians and Namibian university students who actually know where the Gambia is, who can speak about politics and culture, who are in no hurry to travel to Western countries and who are not consistently discussing their suffering or our place in their satisfaction.
I can tolerate the affront of glitzy consumer culture when it is sufficiently populated with well educated, politically active and independent people. The black Namibians who can afford to be most isolated and complacent seem, in many cases, to have retained awareness of their country’s struggle and of its place within the larger context of unfortunate people. That means they have the broadness of vision and the personal attachment to moving forward that is often lacking in other places developed to the same degree.
It will take a while before I figure out how to locate myself in this more complicated, more judgmental and less obviously needy sort of place. My initial adjustment has also been retarded by our reunion with the above mentioned Michael Breece, with whom I had much catching up to do
We readjusted our crampy vehicle, ditched a respectable amount of clothing, books and other equipment and earned a suitable amount of passenger seating. An analogous sort of reorganization has been underway within our group dynamic and with parallel success. I, personally, am delighted to have our ranks swollen by the Breece, who, at the time of our first meeting nearly three years ago, seemed likely to be my enemy. Breece and I became good friends during our final year in Gambia; he brings a stability and familiarity to this point in our trip that I am only now beginning to realize that we sorely needed. He has also attended and instigated a number of interviews within the last week while proving especially gifted at getting things that are stuck together (car parts, stackable cups, arguing people, etc.) well separated.
For the first time on this trip we found ourselves at a genuine hub for young and budget conscious travelers. At a place like this it always feels like a party. The short term visitors from Europe, the longer haul hitch-hikers, the itinerant odd job workers, local pick up artists, friends of the staff and those who enjoy the company of travelers congregate around the bar, the swimming pool, the public kitchen and the billiard table, keeping things lively. The turn over ensures that someone has always just arrived with interest or information. This was an enjoyable though disorienting place to be stranded whilst the Stingray proved itself unwelcome and stigmatized as an "import" (as if there is a single vehicle manufactured in Namibia).
Many of our co-lodgers would be much more comfortable on ski slopes in Europe. They pay large amounts of money to ride on quad buggies around the dunes of the Namibian desert (South of Windhoek the country begins to resemble the Sahara; shortly we will be visiting the largest pile of sand in Africa) or to chase dolphins in speed boats. Others rent four by fours to be driven by affable and encyclopedic locals into scenic places where spots of obvious beauty receive the relentless short admiration of expensive camera equipment.
We began to enjoy Namibia when we started to take advantage of the network of friends provided by the impish, sociable, captivating and untiring bartender of the youth hostel, along with a few of her select patrons. It was refreshing to meet with Namibians and Namibian university students who actually know where the Gambia is, who can speak about politics and culture, who are in no hurry to travel to Western countries and who are not consistently discussing their suffering or our place in their satisfaction.
I can tolerate the affront of glitzy consumer culture when it is sufficiently populated with well educated, politically active and independent people. The black Namibians who can afford to be most isolated and complacent seem, in many cases, to have retained awareness of their country’s struggle and of its place within the larger context of unfortunate people. That means they have the broadness of vision and the personal attachment to moving forward that is often lacking in other places developed to the same degree.
It will take a while before I figure out how to locate myself in this more complicated, more judgmental and less obviously needy sort of place. My initial adjustment has also been retarded by our reunion with the above mentioned Michael Breece, with whom I had much catching up to do
We readjusted our crampy vehicle, ditched a respectable amount of clothing, books and other equipment and earned a suitable amount of passenger seating. An analogous sort of reorganization has been underway within our group dynamic and with parallel success. I, personally, am delighted to have our ranks swollen by the Breece, who, at the time of our first meeting nearly three years ago, seemed likely to be my enemy. Breece and I became good friends during our final year in Gambia; he brings a stability and familiarity to this point in our trip that I am only now beginning to realize that we sorely needed. He has also attended and instigated a number of interviews within the last week while proving especially gifted at getting things that are stuck together (car parts, stackable cups, arguing people, etc.) well separated.
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