ONE DAY IN SWAKOPMUND

We get up at seven this morning-a real luxury after having got up at five these past few days. After a quick breakfast, we leave to tour Swakopmund-the idea is to see as much of the town as possible. The town is shrouded in a thick fog and it is difficult to make out much of the buildings.

Our first stop is the museum, which is right next to the red and white lighthouse. The museum has interesting displays on the local history. The display on the people of Namibia is very interesting as it details the culture, tradition, language, customs, their contribution to the Namibian society and the impact of modernization on their lives.

For lunch we head to the Lighthouse Café with superb views across the Atlantic Ocean. Adi and I manage to get vegetarian lasagna and a vegetable grilled sandwich. But the seafood platter of our friend looks really delicious-one of the rare moments when I am tempted to give into my ma-in-law’s requests and start eating “at least fish”.

We then visit the Kristal Gallery to see the largest quartz crystal on display and wander into a world of colours, hues and formations. There is the amethyst, ruby, aquamarine and a host of other minerals that have been forced into beautiful colours and textures by unimaginable heat and pressure. I fall in love with the Pietersite stone and buy a pair of earrings made from Pietersite at the jewelry outlet at the Kristal Gallery. Pietersite is golden brown in colour and found only in China and Namibia. It has been named after the guy who discovered it.

Shopping Time! We check out an antique store in the centre of town-lovely stuff from all over the world. All that shopping has tired us and we decide to grab coffee at Anton Café. This café has been around for a long time and sells some authentic German goodies. The Black Forest Cake is heavenly and the freshly ground coffee refreshing. The area in front of the Anton Café is the site, where local crafts are available for sale. The “Big Five” carved in wood, in varying sizes form a significant portion of the items on display. We go closer to examine the handicrafts and are soon surrounded by the stall owners trying to peddle their wares. We beat a hasty retreat-even before we have had a chance to admire the stuff on display.

We then walk to a bookshop that we had seen earlier. I cant remember the name now but it had a decent display of books concerning Africa and more particularly Namibia. I bought Namibia Space by Chris Marias and Julienne de Toit-an excellent read and great photographs too!

We return to our hotel to freshen up and decide to go to “Cairo to Cape Town” for dinner. We have to look for it a bit since it has changed its name and we almost walk past it! True to its name, it has the Arabic hummus, tagine and the labneh dip as well as game meat on its menu. And the service is unobtrusive and friendly. Over a bottle of wine, we make promises to our friend to always stay in touch. What a wonderful end to a beautiful trip!