As we were being stamped into the Namibian side of the border post a truck driver was also being processed. He looked us up and down and then asked if we would like a ride. We could see that there were no buses or shared taxis and it was not long until sunset so we were grateful for the offer. The driver was from South Africa and was driving from Johannesburg to Angola to deliver a load of waterless eco toilets. His name sounded like 'rreahn' but it may well be Ryan and pronounced with a strong Afrikaans accent but we are not sure.
First we had to drive to a nearby petrol station at the Namibian village of Buitepos where Ryan wanted to get some money from an ATM to pay his road tax. We also needed to get Namibian dollars as well and John went first and as he was withdrawing he said he hoped there was enough for Ryan. When Ryan made his withdrawal there was actually no more money left so we had to lend him ours. He needed the exact amount that we had taken out and we would stop later and get more.
Initially Ryan was going to take us to Gobabis, 130 kms up the road but we decided to stay on with him all the way to Windhoek. We learnt a lot about Ryan's family and their life in Krugersdorf outside Johannesburg. His father had been a diesel mechanic and truckie and so Ryan had been around trucks all his life. He found the trucking business pretty competitive and had to do international loads to make a reasonable living. He was not that affected by the American financial crisis as he owned his own two trucks and his wife worked for an insurance company.
They lived on a few hectares with their preteen son and daughter and had a house there for his parents as well. He would often be away for a week at a time but always wanted to be involved in his children's sporting activities so would survive on 3 hours' sleep a night so he would be home on the weekend. His son played rugby and was a boxer. As Ryan was also a boxer they had built a huge gym on their land for the local boxing club. The daughter was also sporty but I have forgotten what she played. Ryan felt that by being involved with his childrens' sports they would not get involved in drugs and other antisocial behaviour.
They had recently got crossbows and liked to go hunting. They would go to a hunting ranch to shoot game. We have met a couple more South Africans who like to hunt. They can choose what animal they want to shoot, be it a zebra or lion, and the ranch would organize it for them. Ryan told us about a giraffe they shot on their last trip. It took 3 days to cut up the carcass and store the meat and it cost 22,000 Rand.
He didn't have any airconditioning in his old non-computerized truck and was so used to the heat that it didn't seem to bother him. He kept an old truck as he had learnt how to repair anything on it if it broke down and said he had met drivers who were stranded for a month or so waiting for spare parts for some small computer component that had caused their trucks to stop. He commented on several new trucks that passed us on the road. They arrived at the port in Namibia as a basic cab and deckless back and were made in America. He said they were not able to be registered in SA as the Scania and other European brands were protected there but more expensive than the American trucks.
We drove through the dark to Windhoek and saw several warthogs and duiker along the sides of the road. We arrived on the bypass road to Windhoek and Ryan dropped us at a petrol station where he was able to replace our money and ask the staff to point us in the direction of some accommodation in the city. We didn't have any bookings as we had only planned to stay at Gobabis or at the border in a tent. A patrolman in a van working for a home security company offered to drive us to a backpackers we had the address of, so said our goodbyes to Ryan and put on some warm clothes, as it was unseasonably freezing, and crammed into the single bucket seat and headed off at 11pm to find a bed.
At the backpackers a nightwatchman was sitting on a seat at the gate. We asked if he had any beds and he said he only had two. A couple who had booked the room hadn't turned up so we were able to have it and counted ourselves pretty lucky not to be wandering around Windhoek looking for a room at midnight in a city where 50% of the people are unemployed.
Windhoek (Windy corner) is pretty small with about 240,000 people. It has a few small hills and you could see the desert not far outside the city centre. The main street is pretty wide with lots of modern shops and a small mall. We knew we would be in Namibia for a few weeks so decided to buy a local SIM card and a mobile modem so we could have internet access to do research and catch up with the blog. Internet shops and backpackers charge about $6nz an hour and with a mobile 'stick' we can use a local SIM card and buy data bundles from street sellers or online and it is so much cheaper and more convenient if you have your own notebook like we do. We have learnt so much about the internet in our travels that others ask us to tell them about how we do it.
The most interesting thing about the people in Windhoek is the mix of races. Although South Africa is called the Rainbow Nation, we would say that Namibia is. People of all shades of black, brown and white mingle together and as they walk by you can hear Portuguese, Afrikaans, English, German, and all sorts of 'click' languages. Some of the click languages have 4 different click sounds that are made by placing your tongue in 4 different places in your mouth to make the click. I can make the clicks but can't connect them to a word. The word has different meanings with a click, without a click and depending on which click is used. I like to ask people we meet how to say various greetings in their language and there are so many languages that they have to use English in some cases to communicate with each other.
We stayed at a place called Cardboard Box Backpackers. It is supposed to be a party backpackers but was pretty quiet when we were there. Several tour guides and drivers stay and several locals come to drink at the bar so it is interesting to chat to them. Some of the safari truck groups stay and they don't seem to mix with anyone except those in their group as they have bonded like a family and don't move outside it. It is easier to meet single travellers as they have no 'family'. We met a man from Bangladesh who studied telecommunications and was paying all sorts of people who knew people who could get him a work permit. He was trying to get a online phone business going, something similar to Skype. The walls in the lounge were covered with photos of nursing student groups from Netherlands, Sweden and other European countries. The groups stay about 3 months at a time from the photos it looks like they take over the place.
John had his eye pressures tested again and they are fine and stable so won't have to have them checked so often now. I managed to get the blogs from SA, and Zimbabwe up to date with the fastest internet in Namibia!
