Namibian Coast: An Overview

Atlantic Ocean

Our time on the Namibian coast was both one of great beauty and also of the issues prevalent to Namibia. Highlights include running up some of the world’s tallest sand dunes, spending a day on the beach taking in the Atlantic Ocean and visiting the gravesite of the first genocide of the 20^th century, the Ova-Herero Genocide. We left for Swakopmund after classes on Wednesday 23^rd of February. Swakopmund is an old German colonial town on the coast of Namibia. It has beautiful beaches, a nice lighthouse and plenty of up-market restaurants, particularly catering to the German population and tourists. It was about a 3 hour drive and we finished the day with a beautiful dinner at the Lighthouse Restaurant. I had kudu schnitzel, fries and vegetables. 

On Thursday we spent a majority of the day at the Rossing Uranium Mine, the largest mine of its kind in the world. Due to time constraints we had lunch at the Mondesa Youth Opportunities, an after school program for children in grades 7-12. From there we went to the Herero Graves Memorial Park where there is a burial site for the people who died during the genocide. I spent dinner eating pan-fried shark with rice at a nice German restaurant.

Dune 7

Friday was an intense day of hearing from a range of speakers and climbing dune 7, one of the largest sand dunes in the world. We traveled to Walvis Bay to learn from two contrasting perspectives. Walvis Bay is Namibia’s largest port and houses a large fishing industry and is the home to many miners. Firstly, Jan Kruger as part of the Export Processing Zone (EPZ), talked to us about the benefits of areas exclusive areas set up for capitalistic development. Then Herbert Jauch, a labor researcher contrasted his statements, speaking about the problems with EPZ and the need for a more comprehensive approach to economic empowerment. Before lunch, we were taken to the Sunshine Centre, a place that teaches and cares for disabled children and teenagers. We had a picnic lunch at the Walvis Bay lagoon, where flamingos congregate. These migratory birds travel annually to Etosha N.P. in northern Namibia. Dead jelly fish line the tranquil beaches contrasting the colorful shells and deep blue waters. Our next stop was at the Wellness Centre, a place that provides free services to people with AIDs and HIV. To end a long, but brilliant day we went to Dune 7. It was really hard work climbing to the top as the sand was extremely hot on bare feet and the journey tiresome. Each step plunged the foot right into the sand. It was totally worth spending time walking around the tops of the sand dunes. The sights were epic with the massive red sand dunes and the sheer distance to the bottom of the each one. That night I had fish (hake) and chips from a relatively cheap restaurant.

jelly fish

Saturday was a free day in which I spent on the beach, taking in the sights and sounds of the Atlantic Ocean. There was great beauty and richness in this experience. Later on I enjoyed a free yoga session provided by my development teacher, Linda.  Dinner was a Braai (an Afrikaans word meaning Barbeque involving meat) with students from Furman University, a college in South Carolina. It was interesting to hear about their experiences traveling through the Southern African region while taking classes.

shells and sand

We headed out at 9 am on Sunday to drive back to Windhoek and prepare ourselves for the coming week. My experience in Swakopmund was aesthetically pleasing, while I experienced good bonding with my fellow classmates. I will soon post some of my future blogs to talk in more depth about some my experiences here. To finish up, I have left a poem from my time on the beach:

Home through Nature’s Call

Wave cusps form

Pushing and pulling

Merging and molding

Taken together as one

Nature’s majesty is revealed

In a seemingly ceaseless

Array of plentiful blue

Followed by wistful gray

The cycle repeats

Destructively finding its way to the

Intricate sand of completion

Where its end is not of stillness

But the coming of a another link

To an ever going pattern

That puts one on the brink

Of no return

I look up from my towel of tranquility

As a seagull sweeps softly in the winds wisps

The waves bring music to my ears and

The smell of seaweed seeps through the air

Calmness comes over like no other

As memories flood back from all of the summers

I spent at the side of the ocean

In a constant state of life’s motion

The familiar is brought back in creativity

Home is here in bright reality

Safeness returning in brilliant colors

I find nature like a child her mother

beach life