the land of the brave

Trevor, Katie, Podge and I arrived in Windhoek at one this morning. Our hospitable driver dropped us off at The Cardboard Box Backpackers where we quickly set up our tent and went to bed. We didn’t wake up until 9h30, which is the latest we have slept in during this whole trip!

Windhoek! The view from the steps of Parliament. Windhoek is the
capital of Namibia, the Land of the Brave!

After eating a free breakfast of European pancakes (eating them reminded me of the time Anne, Jill, Maisha and I made Norwegian pancake), we decided to go explore Windhoek. Today was a bit of an odd day… Not only because it was the first time we had been in a city all trip, but also because I couldn’t really place what it felt like to be in Windhoek.

To an extent, it reminded me of Kimberley. I think mostly because Afrikaans is the primary language spoken in Namibia and the observable culture also seemed comparable to that in Kim. But it is definitely a much bigger city than Kim, has a much different geographic setting (Windhoek is surrounded by hills – we did go on a short hike and I took lots of time looking at rocks and identifying the quartz, feldspar, micas and garnets that were present), has a strong German influence and is more attractive than Kimberley.

One of my favorite things that we did in Windhoek was visit the Natural History Museum. Namibia has a fascinating history. Like every other country in Africa (except for Liberia and Ethiopia), Namibia (then called South West Africa) was annexed by Germany during Europe’s ‘Scramble for Africa’. Germany exploited the natural wealth of the country (lots of diamonds in the south) and forcibly removed – and in some cases deracinated the populations of – the San, the Herero, the Khoikhoi, the Owambo and the Nama that were living within these diamond-rich areas.

In 1914, with the onset of World War I, Britain pressured South Africa into invading Namibia and within a year, Germany retreated from their colony. Throughout the 1920s, 30s and 40s, South Africa strengthened its hold in the region and the affects of apartheid (forced labor, ID books – I got to see some of these and they are incredible; there are pages within these books about employment, to see whether the person has paid taxes or not and the area where that person is required to live) spread throughout Namibia. In 1949, South Africa granted the white population of Namibia parliamentary representation in Pretoria (the capital of South Africa). The bulk of Namibia’s viable farmland was parceled into some 6000 farms for white settlers while other ethnic groups were relegated to newly demarcated ‘tribal homelands.’ This arrangement lasted until the country won independence in 1990.

The forced labor systems that South Africa implemented in Namibia eventually led to mass demonstrations and increasingly nationalist sentiments in the late 1950s. By 1960, the South-West African People’s Organization (SWAPO) had gained the support of many blacks living in Namibia and began appealing to both the United Nations and the International Court of Justice on the issue of South African occupation. The ICJ did vote to terminate South Africa’s mandate, but instead of creating a free republic they wanted to administer the territory through an international council.

In response, on 26 August 1966, SWAPO launched its campaign of guerilla warfare in northern Namibia that would last for 22 years. In 1972 the United Nations finally declared South Africa’s occupation of Namibia illegal and demanded a withdrawal. Surprisingly, South Africa did not comply and fighting continued between South Africa, Namibia and even the Cuban-backed government of Angola (who supported SWAPO).

Lots of factors brought about the end of the war. Increasing international pressures were being levied against South Africa’s apartheid regime. The war was growing more and more costly. By 1985 most soldiers fighting in Namibia were there due to conscription. And South Africa’s economy was suffering badly. In December 1988 Cuba, Angola, South Africa and SWAPO finally struck a deal; all foreign troops were to be withdrawn from each country and it stipulated that the transition to Namibian independence would begin on 1 April 1989, and would be followed by UN-monitored elections held in November 1989 on the basis of universal suffrage.

Elections in November were pronounced free and fair by the UN. In the elections, SWAPO garnered two-thirds of the vote but the results of the vote did not give the party the sole mandate to write a constitution. As such, SWAPO, several minority parties and some international advisors all worked together to draft a new constitution that called for a multiparty system and an impressive bill of rights. The new constitution was adopted in February 1990 and independence was granted a month later. I am older than Namibia.

That is where I will leave my history lesson for now and I have to apologize to any history enthusiasts reading this – I know I did not tell the tale justly. But I wanted to try and give everyone a sense of;1. how tumultuous Namibia’s history has been, 2. how young the country is, and, 3. how there is still a lot that the country is trying to do in order to reconcile the past.

A display at the history museum.

In order to celebrate making it to Windhoek in one day, we decided to go out to dinner. We ended up at Joe’s, a place that specialized in great beer (I has a Helle Lager) and even better meat. The menu offered crocodile, zebra, springbok, onyx, ostrich, kudu and a few other game animals. Katie and I shared a platter that had grilled ostrich, onyx and springbok. It was all so tender and so delicious! Unfortunately I didn’t know whit meat was what on the plate, but I think the springbok was my favorite.

The group at Joe's!

After dinner we walked back to the Cardboard Box Backpackers (we walked because the one taxi that offered us a ride wanted to charge us double what it should have cost) where we continued the festivities. We pulled out a deck of cards and made our own ‘Get to Know Each Other’ game. We each took turns drawing a card and depending on what we drew we would either get to ask (if we drew and odd) or be asked (if we drew and even) a certain type of question. The suit you drew determined what type of question was asked. If you drew a heart, a relationship/ dating question would be asked. If you drew a club, a going out/ clubbing question would be asked. If you drew a spade, a childhood question would be asked. And if you drew a diamond, a question about the last four months would be asked. It ended up being a really fun game and we only stopped playing because I was falling asleep at the table where we were playing.

The cardboard box backpackers and our tent.