Flight Details:

Nov. 30/06
WINDHOEK – JOHANESSBURG
SA77
D:17:20 A:19:20

This past weekend we had the annual Christmas party for the department. Almost all staff were in attendance and everyone was allowed to bring one guest. We ate well, laughed, and had many a cool drink. It is always nice being with co-workers outside of the office. Everyone was relaxed and enjoying themselves, some more so than others....The ones that got a bit too 'relaxed' (read: out of control) are still hiding from us this week.

Marco, Francois, and Alistair warming up for the big night.


Laurent (Director of Computer Services) and his wife.


We are losing one of our greatest veterans in the department, James. Laurent gives the speech and customary peace offering (Polytechnic garb).


Playing secret santa and opening our gifts.


Dj Webmaster, Romeo Sinkala.


Enjoying our Sunday in the sun around the pool!


Me and my invited guest Kimera.

I think the turkeys in Namibia must be the luckiest in the world. Very few people celebrate Thanksgiving as it is so much a North American tradition. That means on Thanksgiving Day you can see turkeys roaming the countryside as free as a bird, or in this case, a turkey.

I spent the American Thanksgiving holiday last Thursday at the house of an America embassy worker. We were invited to a Thanksgiving potluck to celebrate in true American style; lots of food, drinks, and football on the telly. I brought fresh roasted vegetables drizzled with olive oil and fresh herbs.

Because the Americans have a very large embassy here we had many in attendance. Despite all America’s shortcomings there are two things that rung true on this day. The United States devotes a heck of a lot of money to developing countries such as this one. The US AID and foreign development budgets are mammoth and they do a great deal of good for this country. Also, Americans are generally very nice people, and I was very happy to be welcomed into their beautiful home to enjoy a great meal.

AND there was turkey with gravy !!!

Off to the Gross Barmen resort for our office Christmas Party. Should be lots of fun kicking back with my colleagues. I will return tomorrow with some stories no doubt.

Situated less than 100km from Windhoek but 25km from Okahandja on the main route to the north as well as Namibia's coastal region, this resort is a convenient stopover for tourists to and from the coastal towns. The resort is built on the site of one of the earliest mission stations in Namibia. The main attraction at Gross Barmen is the strong mineral hot spring with its revitalising and health-giving water.

I have just modified the template of this website to increase the visible space. If you are using an old 800x600 monitor you are likely to encounter problems with the new layout. Shortly I will be making some big changes to the content of this site. The blog shall continue but there are many older projects I would like to showcase on my personal space.

Please let me know if you happen upon any problems during this process.

Tina's Birthday Party

If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00.

With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1000.00.

With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.

If you had purchased $1000 of Delta Air Lines stock you would have $49.00 left

But, if you had purchased $1, 000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, You would have had $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

It's called the 401-Keg Plan.

Last trip to the Coast 2006
Day Two - Langstrand

For breakfast we hit the hotel. It was just after they had finished the breakfast buffet but they brought it all back out and accomidated us wonderfly assuming we were guests of the hotel. they were quite stunned when we asked for a bill. (Breakfast is included if you stay in the hotel)

We could have hung around Swakopmund for the day but decided to just drive south and see what happened. We turned off just about 15 km from Swakopmund, exactly between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. What we found there was absolutely wonderful. Pristine beaches, fisherman bringing in massive fish, people diving for fresh lobster, etc. We even spotted a real live whale hanging out on the beach (inside joke, ask me)

And so we walked north along the beach watching seals swim offshore. The waves crashed in as they have for a million years. I really thought about this, these waves have been hitting this shore for so long and thus the terrain has been shaped just as such. I am fascinated with oceans and beaches.

After walking for 20 minutes or so we found this delightful little pier. I have seen it while driving to Walvis Bay many times but here we were. I could have spent the whole weekend here. There was a delightful breakwater that you could sit on and have the waves crash to shore below you.

This beautiful alternative to Swakopmund is found here.


Yes, the sun even came out to smile on us as we explored the beaches of Langstrand. What a rare and wonderful treat.


The pier actually houses a bar which looks like it has not seen a customer in many years. There was abstract talk about aquiring said bar.


The breakwater where we sat for hours watching the waves roll in, occasionally splashing high enough to get us wet. Seals were seen just below hunting fish in the shallow water. They seemed like they were having an amazing time in the water. When a wave would roll in they would often ride it like a surfer would jumping just below the crest of the wave and giving us a real show.

Check out those dunes in the background...


Beautiful shadows cast out on the pier.


Now here is the real treat. At Langstrand we found an amazing restaurant that will rival both the Tug and the Raft in Walvis Bay. No one I know has ever even heard of this restaurant. It is right upstream from the Buring Shore so it was very likely a popular spot for Brad and Angelina during their stay in Langstrand. I had a wonderful black pepper and corriander encrusted tuna steak served with chips.


Cyrlene insisted on crayfish (lobster) which was way under market prices. According to C, it was "ok, but not fresh" As a child in South Africa she would often dive for crayfish herself. Hard to compete with that kind of freshness.


Wonderful vistas from the Langstrand restaurant.


All about contrast.


Ever wonder what the ocean floor looks like? I have.


Worth mentioning. Just before heading out (and this was a stretch cause Cyrlene wanted me to call my boss so that we could stay until Monday, yes it was that great!) we watched as a group of people were enjoying a lunch on the beach. There were a few guys, a few girls, and they were all dressed to impress. As we shook our feet free of beautiful Namibian sand, they got into there car to leave. Everyone piled in to the car but the driver remained out. His navigator popped the hood and he started the car with a screwdriver by tweaking something under the hood. We laughed for quite a while about this, funny how Mr. Cool has to start his car with a screw driver.

Then I remembered my Mother's old car back in the day. I somehow remember a butter knife being required on occasion to start the motor, and I also remember how when it rained, it poured inside the car. And when it got cold soon thereafter, we had mini skating rinks inside the car where your feet should be resting comfortably. Full circle.

Last trip to the Coast 2006
Day One - Swakopmund

I am so happy that I was able to squeeze in one last trip to the coast before I return home on November 30th. The original plan was to head down with a few people from work, but all but myself and Cyrlene actually made the trip on Saturday morning. Nothing was going to stop us. We were both in dire need of a relaxing weekend.

This was one of the only trips I have taken to the coast where I did not have to do the tourist thing and visit the famous spots every tourist must see...like Dune 7 and various spots in Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. It was all about kickin back, and that is exactly what we ended up doing.




Mandatory arrival lunch at the Lighthouse beach bar. We had the standard fare, pizza's, beer for me, and in Cyrlene's case finely chilled South African wine. The pizza's were great and the beach view was fantastic despite the overcast skies.


We took a long walk on the beach and I discovered a side of Swakopmund I had not seen before. On the northern coast we came across many quaint beach front homes, as in this one with the very creative pathway. (Proves that when at the coast you should never be in a rush) So we meandered around the beach checking out the various shells and rocks. We also came across a few dead seals washed up on the beach. I have heard that it is seal clubbing season, sounds terrible doesn't it? Actually it is a very important step in maintaining value for the Namibian coast's fisheries. Seals eat a lot of fish each day and are a real threat to the vibrant fisheries industry in Namibia.


After our walk we checked in to our bungalow and head to the beach bar. It is a short walk from the lodging. Here we are being set up with two springbok shots (amarulla and mint liquer) and beer for me, wine for C.


"Sometimes we stand in the darkness, afraid to look into the light."


Yes, I was buying souveniers for my peeps back home. Who wants an elephant????


Landmark; The Swakopmund Lighthouse


Dinner was at the Tug Restaurant. They never fail to amaze me with their fresh fish and fine steaks. Although we booked at 12noon we still were put on a waiting list, so we had to hang out in the bar for about 30 minutes. It's a very neat little bar which is actually the captains deck of a tugboat the was wreaked off the coast many years ago. It was segregated from the wrecked ships hull, and plopped on top of the restaurant in the 80's.


After dinner we hit the cocktail bar for a few specialties.


After cocktails we head to the casino where I doubled my money and Cyrlene went broke. I seem to have alot of luck in this casino, as does my sister when we here in August. Poor Cyrlene is just not the luckiest gambler but she never lets it get her down.

We retired to the bungalos but before going to bed we decided to hit the beach with a half bottle of wine and a blanket. I recently bought metal wine glasses for just such an occasion. We sat and listened to the waves roll in for just over an hour. This is my new favorite thing to do ....!!!

Wild Weekend in Windhoek

Friday I took in a show at the warehouse with my Spanish professor Juan. The show started late and when it began, it was a solo show. The artist kept watching the door as I he opened with a beautiful traditional song and then launched into a number of covers, i.e. ‘No woman no cry’. After the third song he ran backstage and disappeared for 5 minutes or so. It was becoming painfully obvious that something was wrong! It seems that the band did not show up until about an hour after show time! Once the group got going they were really banging out great music. The show ended up keeping us over three hours in total. By the time the show was finished so was I.

Here are some pictures from our more mellow Friday night at the Warehouse.

I had gone out with a friend from the Polytechnic early Saturday evening. When I returned home I got a demanding message from my friend Desmond to get myself in a cab and head out to Katatura for the night. Normally I never go to Katatura as it is one of the more impoverished and for the most part considered the most dangerous areas in Windhoek. This time I had an opportunity to meet with a great many friends some from Namibia some from abroad, so we would have a large enough group to travel with.

I head to the club and met my friends outside. In Katatura the nightlife is bustling with the highest concentration of Sha’beens (informal bars, sometimes run out of one’s living room) in the world. Inside the club it was the usual scene lots of people dancing and jiving to the latest Kwaito. Inside the club the foreigners in our group were targeted because we were recognized as non-regular patrons of this club. Our friends warned us to be extra careful of our belongings. My friend Phillip had 50RAND lifted right out of his jeans pocket. There was a diversion created and by the time Phillip noticed the 50 was just escaping the crest of his pocket. Rather than cause a scene and try to get it back, he let it go. Our assailants were an interesting bunch as we saw the crew organize around us. One in a suit (the professional), one in an NBA jersey and hat (the muscle), and one in fairly ragged looking clothes (the distracter). We watched them leave as we recognized what they were up to and started to form a neighbourhood watch community.

After the club we hopped in a cab all with different ideas of what to do next. Because it was near the beginning of the month, most people had recently been paid and were in party mode. We saw a large group hanging out in their front yard having a bbq. So somehow it was decided that we would (and could) join the party. We were actually welcomed with open arms to the party and instantly given a cold beer. We stayed for a while and chatted with our new friends.

Our new friends told us of many parties going on this night and thought it best we hop in the old bakkie (pickup truck) and take a spin around the neighbourhood. We spent the next three or four hours driving around the township stopping in here and there, meeting new people, family, friends all the time welcomed by open arms.

Being in a township is a very unique experience. Not all areas are as dilapidated as you may have seen in my earlier pictures. Many people who were once exiled here have made it their home and built their houses from the country’s independence in 1990. Although the history and original purpose of the township is terrible, today you find a great sense of community and pride in these areas.

When we arrived home the sun was beginning to rise. We met a lot of great people this night and had a very surreal experience in the townships of Windhoek. I did not take my camera, so there is no evidence. It might have been a good thing though, as it may have disappeared in the club.

Strange...Beaver Canoe in Namibia!



Although I know Beaver Canada - Toronto Canada not to be a licensed brand, it somehow landed on the main strip in Windhoek. I have yet to inquire with the manager as to how it ended up here.