Namibia and Cape Town

I think it is best if I start by coming to terms with the fact that my blogs are just not going to be posted in a timely fashion. I feel justified in this late blog posting for two reasons. First, as my last blog post about Africa for a long while (all we have left of the continent is a short stop to see the pyramids in Egypt), it seems fitting that I post it with an extra-helping of “Africa Time”- the laid back, untimeliness I have grown used to the past few months. Second, after 17 years of school, and more on the way when I get back home, this may be the only year I can feel confident that my late posting will not knock me down a letter grade. So, now that I have my conscience cleared, sit back, relax, and enjoy my blog on Namibia and Cape Town. Take all the time you need.

It seems that throughout our travels through Africa, we kept hearing people tell us how beautiful Namibia is- from travelers in Rwanda, to Namibian sisters staying in Tanzania. When we arrived at Inkamana Abbey in South Africa, we met several brothers from Namibia that we really liked, as well as a German couple who, again, told us how beautiful Namibia is. For Bob, it was the final straw. One of the priests helped him make a few calls to the monastery in Namibia, we booked our tickets, and on November 30th, we flew from Durban to Windhoek.

When we arrived in Windhoek, two sisters came to pick us up. One was Namibian, and the other was Filipina, who because the Phillipines was a US territory, spoke American-accented English, and had even traveled to the US and stayed at St. Bens. *cue “It’s a small world after all” theme song* The connection made us instantly feel a bit more at home- a feeling the sisters would make sure we felt our entire stay (even if the searing heat in Namibia felt like anywhere but home sweet MinneSNOWta).

The monastery in Namibia is an international missionary convent, which means the community includes Australian, German, Namibian, Nigerian, Angolan, South African, Tanzanian, Indian, Filipina, and South Korean sisters. On top of the diverse makeup of the sisters, the convent itself was also unique as it was built right into the base of a mountain- rock had actually been blasted away so that the buildings could be situated within the mountain. And this “rock” is not just any average rock, it is actually filled with semi-precious stones, for which Namibia is famous for. As we walked around the monastery, as sister actually showed us how the stones were so prevalent that you could easily crack the sparkling stones out of pieces of crumbling wall that lined their walkways.

Despite studying for a semester in the country just South of Namibia, I really knew very little about the country. Assuming we may be in the same boat, I thought I would share a bit of background. In terms of land mass, Namibia is just larger than Texas, but its population is only about 1/3 that of Minnesota’s, making it one of the lowest population densities in the world. For many years, Namibia was a German territory, and later became a territory of South Africa and the UN. The country didn’t formally gain its independence until 1990. As a result, the country still has a large german population and german architecture, as well as racially segregated locations that still exist as a remnant of South African apartheid rule (and continue to exist as they do in South Africa as a result of poverty). While the country has many tribal languages, as well as german and afrikaans speakers, a provision of Namibia’s freedom was that all of the schools switched to English, to do away with the Afrikaans that was spoken and enforced by the apartheid government, which means we were able to travel and communicate easily during our stay.

In our first few days there, the sisters, who are considered semi-cloistered, made a special exception to let us tour around the convent, including sending Hannah and I with a novice to hike up to the top of their mountain. They also took us into Windhoek to tour the city. The tour was thorough. We got to tour the private hospital run by the sisters, where we even got to sit and speak with a physical therapist, visits a large national monument to their liberation from South Africa, drive out to the surrounding locations and squatter camps, and, as any good christian does during the holiday season, we even made our way to the mall to get a picture with Santa.

 

In our first days, Bob Bell et. al. was also granted our very first, non-tour, hospital visit when Hannah was stung by a scorpion. Unsure if the scorpion was dangerously poisonous, Hannah was rushed off to the hospital we had visited just a day prior (of course, when it first happened I didn’t believe her, and mostly found the whole situation humorous, so had this been serious, theres a chance we wouldn’t have made it in time. But hey, if I was great in life threatening situations, I would have chosen to be an ER doctor, not a physical therapist…) However, I wasn’t entirely useless, because in order to determine if she had in fact been bitten by a deadly scorpion, we had to catch it, and bring it in to the hospital. So, while Hannah was jumping into the car, two nuns and I went back to her room armed with a small jar, a stick, and a can of bug spray. After some hopping around on Hannah’s furniture, batting at the little guy with a stick, and, largely ineffectively, trying to spray the scorp. into submission, we managed to kill it and get it into a jar. At the end of the day, Hannah was just fine, as we left with a great story, and a tiny scorpion keepsake.

While we were certainly all happy that Hannah was fine for her ownsake, we were also pretty jazzed that it meant we wouldn’t have to cancel our trip to Sossusvlei the next day (Sorry Han, it is what it is). From Windhoek, the drive up to the Namib desert region famous for its massive, ancient sand dunes took about six hours. We arrived just in time to settle into our room and head out on a game drive. The owner of the hotel owns and breeds zebra, giraffe, springbok and oryx (apparently this is a normal hobby in Namibia…). I was mainly just surprised at how casually he explained that oryx are actually the money makers, and that giraffe are relatively inexpensive. You can buy your own for about $2,000 (Now we all know where my first real paychecks are going #FiscalResponsibility). Over time, our guide has slowly gotten his animals accustomed to humans, which means we got to sit about 15 feet from a herd of Oryx with massive horns, sipping wine and snacking on cheese and biltong. Just another one of the casual, everyday experiences of this trip.

 

The following day, we headed out early for the sand dunes. Some of the dunes are more than 1,000 feet tall, and are composed of 5 million year old sands. Hannah and I hiked up two of the dunes Yep. 1,000 feet up, with our feet sinking in with every step. It’s about as easy as it sounds. But the trudge up to the top was well worth the amazing view from the top, as golden sand dunes stretch out in every direction. Running, rolling and squishing our way down the dune wasn’t too bad either :). At the bottom of the second dune we climbed was an area known as Deadvlei where the orange sand is replaced by icy looking white clay and salt. and large dead trees with drooping branches. It looks so surreal, you almost expect to step off of the hot sand and onto thick ice. It may sound funny, but it truly is difficult to express how beautiful dead trees standing in a thick crust of salt are, especially when you turn in any direction to see looming orange sand dunes, and blue skies. If you ever looking for a an amazing, unique place to visit, I would consider putting the Namib Desert on your list. You could even do it fairly inexpensively if you choose to rough it at a campsite. The official Piper Stamp of Approval promises you won’t regret it (no money back guarantees; I have yet to hold an actual adult occupation).

After taking in the phenomenal views up north, we rejoined the sisters in Windhoek, where we arrived just in time to help spread some holiday cheer. Along with several of the postulants and novices, we helped pack up bags of donated clothing. The next day, we joined a group of sisters to visit Okajandia Park, a nearby squatter area where we decorated, sang christmas carols, handed out bags of clothing to around 30 families, and distributed small bags of toys and candies to the kids. Afterwards, I sat down with Bob and explained to him that giving to others, and spreading joy was what the Christmas season is truly about, not pictures with the Windhoek mall Santa. [And the grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day <3. ~Dr. Seuss ;)]

With only a short time left, we crammed our last days in Namibia with as much touristy attractions as possible. We started by spending a day with Sister Angeline, where we headed to a museum on Namibian tribes, history, and animals, followed by a trip to a local market. One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is the mix of tribal culture and customs, with modern western lifestyles that you find in African cities. As we walked through the market, there, in the midst of a large city filled with businessmen in suits bustling in and out of office buildings, sat Himba women, in traditional clothing- topless, with small skirts, and red clay caked in their hair. The women had likely come down from their rural homes in the north to make some money selling traditional jewelry. As we drove back home, we also spotted several Herrera women, who still dress in large Victorian style dresses and headscarfs- a remnant of customs brought to them by early settlers in Namibia.

Early the next afternoon, Father Max, a priest we met in South Africa, who had already been on the road for days, followed through on the spur of the moment promise we made us when we met at the Inkamana Abbey that he would show us the Namibian coast. Father Max is has a thick South African accent, is wildly animated, and could probably sit and talk to you about nearly any topic for 48 hours straight. Aside from a short nap he took at the beach, that is exactly what he proceeded to do for the next two days- and we loved it! Our first stop was at his monastery in Waldfrieden, where Fr. Max stays with just a handful of other brothers. We stayed over night there and then continued on to Swakopmund. Swakopmund is like a little Germany on the Namibian coast. We joined three elderly German sisters there for lunch, and then headed to the beach, where Hannah and I fueled a caffeine/ sugar rush with coffees and double scoop ice creams. Our next stop was Walvis Bay, where we not only got to see flamingos, but as Fr. Max repeated relentlessly “is the only place in the world where the desert and the sea are separated by a highway.” We parked our car on the highway in between, climbed up the sand dune overlooking the ocean, and rolled down the other side. From a distance, you would be hard-pressed to guess if we were college graduates or kindergartners- sometimes thats exactly as it should be.

We arrived back to the convent in Windhoek late that night where the sisters had waited up for us with dinner. The following morning, Fr. Max and Sister Remedios not only brought us to the airport, but hugged us and escorted us right up to the ticket counter, where we checked in to our flight to Cape Town. You heard it here first: if you want to leave a trip with a great tan, head to the beach. But, if you want to leave feeling totally loved and cared for, go visit Benedictine sisters.

CAPE TOWN

Since I have been to Cape Town once before, and South Africa made our travel list in large part because of me, I became the de facto travel planner. The resulting false travel agency that Bob joked about all trip, Winnie’s Wishes, received 5 stars on TripAdvisor. Here’s a look at our trip 🙂

Winnie’s Wishes: Travel Agent and Planning Guru

**Making your Cape Town dream vacation a reality.™**

Below you will find an itinerary and promotional pictures of the exclusive Cape Town dream trip.

**Winnie is a trademark nickname of Bob Bell enterprises. All rights reserved.

(Poor writing quality and bad jokes are brought to you by a slow sugar crash following the consumption of my entire Christmas stocking).

Day 1:

-Check into cool backpackers, and then head straight to Table Mountain! The cable car makes mountain climbing wheelchair friendly, and they even have a restaurant at the top 🙂

• Finish the night off with a Wandile Mbambeni concert at Blah Blah Bar.
  • Exclusive perks: also get to meet other cool rappers, DJs, and singers.
  • If you pretend you flew all the way from the US for this (*cough* Bob Bell) you may even be asked to give a video shout out.

Day 2:

-Despite endless warnings not to go to the beach on Reconciliation Day due to crowding, go anyways 🙂 The crowds aren’t so bad and the white sand will impress even the biggest beach snobs (*cough* Bob Bell). Beware though, the water is even colder than people say- be prepared to lose feeling in your toes!

-At night, relive your college glory days by winning the backpacker beer pong competition, and follow it up with a night on the town.

Day 3:

–Hop on a ferry to Robben Island. Learn about South Africans struggle to end Apartheid rule from an actual Robben Island political prisoner and see the cell where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years prison sentence, as well as the spot in the courtyard where he hid the manuscript for his famous memoir Long Walk to Freedom.

-Head back to the Waterfront for seafood and wine.

Day 4:

-Scratch plans to head to Boulder’s Beach to see penguins- it’s way too far! Instead, hit up the aquarium for penguin feeding time. It’s not quite the same, but you’ll save yourself a long drive.

-Catch an Uber over to Gugulethu township for an official Braai experience at GQ (I could type out the full name, but lets face it, you can’t do the Xhosa click). My amazing friend Bathini will help you pick just the right meats, and even bring you back to her house and for a tour around the area free of charge 🙂 The night promises amazing food, great friends, and long conversations.

**Added bonus, Bathini’s 3 year old nephew just got a kitten. Toddlers and kittens- it’s adorable. Nothing more needs to be said.

Day 5:

-Wrap up your trip with a trip to Stellenbosch. Waterford Estate offers a full wine and chocolate tasting, with 7 glasses of wine.

*pro tip: if your cab takes too long, they’ll give you an extra glass of win for free while you wait for it to come.

That’s a wrap! Our time in Eastern and Southern Africa has come to a close. On the 21st we landed in Sri Lanka where we are staying at a monastery in Kandy. We are sad to leave Africa, but are looking forward to new adventures and new foods! And, in just a two weeks, my mom and Todd will be flying out for the week. We are all anxiously awaiting their arrival 🙂 Please pray their flight has no turbulence, lest the poor soul who sits next to my mom will likely looks circulation to their arm.