STOP

      

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Where on earth has the last month gone? Days are whizzing past like windsurfers and already I feel we have been here forever. England seems impossibly far away but in some ways this windy corner of the Namib reminds me of home. The unpredictable weather, open spaces and friendly faces. However despite certain similarities, there’s no way around it, life here is a million metaphorical and physical miles from the life I left behind.

         The green green fields, muddy Wellies and chilly rains have been replaced with Buchter bustle, sandy pavements, warmth and wind.

         Extraordinary is a word which to me encapsulates Luderitz. The wind is Extraordinary. The vastness of the desert is Extraordinary, and the colours here of sand and sea, truly are Extraordinary.

         The biggest difference however lies not in the weather or physical surroundings but in the people, their sense of time the absence of rush, the gentle rhythm of life here is entirely different to England’s crescendo of staccato.

         I noticed one windy afternoon that there is a distinct lack of roundabouts in Luderitz, the number of them can be counted on one hand, one finger in fact. In England we love a good roundabout and would not consider a town complete without a whole fleet of them.  Our constant development of more roundabouts to add to the collection I think is part of our obsession with haste. Timekeeping for time beating, always rushing to beat the clock.

         A typical English street is full of anonymous crowds with their heads down, a myriad of people constantly searching for ways to Get There Faster. Roundabouts are part of this fixation, keep driving. Don’t stop unless absolutely necessary.

         Here, where in England we would salivate at the possibility of yet another roundabout, there are Stop signs. The streets are lined with them; every 10 metres there are bakkies at a standstill. The drivers, like the pedestrians on the pavement are in no rush. Stop. Simply soak in your surroundings for a moment, blink the sand out of your eyes and let the wind blow the cobwebs away.

Whilst waiting at a Stop sign recently, I began pondering the nature of our single-roundabout-ed town.

         It seems to me that Luderitz is an incredible microcosm of Namibia; this town is so small you step out of your backdoor you step out of Luderitz! And so windy that you can rarely step out of your door straight!  But the social problems encountered in this windy corner of the Namib Desert seem very much representative of the rest of Namibia. HIV is rife, education is a continual challenge and the affluence divide creates its own issues. Our town is by no means a financially wealthy town, but its wealth of beauty and turbulence of topical issues make it utterly enchanting. Stop. Let yourself be enchanted by it. As the days slide by, each stop sign I see allows me a split second to reflect and at every Stop sign I meet l can feel Luderitz taking me further under its spell with its extraordinary magic.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I like it here - in a roundabout sort of way!

Luderitz's Secret Side

The Journey Begins

You could see the heat. See it in the parched leaves of the trees we passed, see it in the thirsty brown grass burnt into sand and in the way the end of the road merged with the horizon in a myriad of fantastic colours. The drive from Windhoek to Luderitz was incredible. 8 hours on an almost completely straight road, the Namib Desert whirled past the window as we sliced through sand rock and scrub land for 900km towards Luderitz. The sheer size of open space around us was incredible. Claustrophobic in its vastness. As we neared Luderitz the wind picked up and the temperature outside plummeted. After a year of fundraising, months of preparation and week of waiting in Windhoek, Nambia's capital, our journey to Luderitz was drawing to a close but the real journey was only just beginning.

 Windhoek to Luderitz 7th September

Luderitz is a small harbour town in the South West of Namibia nestled along the Skeleton Coast. Although English is the National language, Afrikaans and Oshiwambo are still widely spoken in Luderitz, and the need for English language teachers is significant. The town is famous for its windy shores and unpredictable weather, the day we arrived (the 7th August) was a chilly misty day, making the heat of Windhoek feel like a whole other country. It is here in this small windy Namibian town where I have chosen to spend my year away from home. I remember that first day clearly, feeling nervous and a little unsure, questions running through my head: am I doing the right thing? What will the next year bring? - Will I be any good at it? And where the hell is the frigging sun?!?

The Sun Rises on Luderitz

Stepping into Luderitz is a bit like stepping back in time, colonial architecture covered with brightly peeling paint – shabby but charming – and the sandy streets next to a glittering blue sea. Everyone’s been telling us that: “you cry twice when you come to Luderitz, once when you arrive and once when you leave!!” I can certainly see why this is true.

 When the wind blows it really blows! The sand is whipped up from the pavements right into your eyes, you have to where sunglasses in all weather! And some days like the day we arrived, mist descends on the place so thick you can barely see the street lamps outside the windows, and with the disused power station (the biggest building in Namibia) looming outside our window, it can feel like a ghost town at times.

 But be patient, because just occasionally the wind dies down, the sun comes out and the whole town breathes again.  

Ufer Strasse

Luderitz's Secret Side

Luderitz’s bright colourful buildings conceal a secret. To the unsuspecting tourist, The High Street and smart Waterfront is the extent of the town. As they stroll up and down browsing the shops, stopping for a cool drink by the sea front they might wonder; if this is it? They snap a couple of photos of the pretty boats bobbing up and down before continuing on their way, ticking Luderitz off the list. Done.

            But there is so much more to Luderitz, a hidden dimension of poverty and beauty that is neglected by the tour guides and information leaflets. 

Open the door and take a look. 

Hiding behind the dunes, a settlement of cardboard and corrugated iron ramshackle dwellings, street side stalls and schools make up Benguela town ship. Although no one is Luderitz is rich, Benguela is home to the poorest inhabitants of town. In Luderitz 1 in every 4 people has Aids, this shocking demographic is largely concentrated in Benguela where drugs, prostitution and crime perpetual each other.

Benguela is also a place of incredible colour and sounds, people and life. On the 40 minute walk back from Valombola Creche (the pre-primary school we work at on the far side of Benguela) we pass brightly painted Car Washes stands, fruit stalls with juicy oranges for a dollar, people call hello when you have already walked 10 metres past them. A hairdresser advertises a haircut of the week, always identical to one publicized the week before. Women in flowing handmade dresses sway past with the weeks supply of potatoes for the family precariously balanced on their head. A lady sells delicious fried fish and fat cakes wrapped up in newspaper for two dollars at the market. Stop and say hello, unwrap the paper, smell the sizzling fat, bite into the steaming fish, feel the grease drip down your chin, clean your fingers on the sand – don’t have another for 3 weeks for fear of blocking up your arteries! Life is pulsing here, people and sounds fill the streets, women calling to each other over tin cooking pots and red plastic washing bowls, children running carefree over the broken glass in bare feet.

            But within this collage of life is a darker side. The potatoes are brought back from town only on payday, overly dressed up teenage girls teeter out of run down shacks in heels and too much make up, a woman lurches out of Simons bar after a morning on the lash, stray dogs with swollen pregnant bellies litter the sandy pavements and you realise, those children playing in bare feet should be at school.

            It is always easy to find a dark side, to dramatise the defects and problems of a place like this or reduce it to facts and gory statistics. But Benguela’s beauty lies in both its dark and light, behind the demographics you'll find the honesty of real life, real people. It may be hidden from the town centre but once found, it reveals all and there is so much more to see than statistics. The cracks and imperfections on display in all their glory. This right here, is Africa.

Take off your watch

Where on earth has the last two months gone? Days are whizzing past like windsurfers and already I feel I have been here forever. England seems impossibly far away but in some ways this windy corner of the Namib reminds me of home. The open spaces, unpredictable weather and friendly faces. However despite certain similarities, there’s no way around it, life here is a million metaphorical and (almost!) physical miles from the life I left behind. The green green fields, muddy Wellies and chilly rains have been replaced with Buchter bustle, sandy pavements warmth and wind.

Extraordinary is a word which to me encapsulates Luderitz. The wind is Extraordinary. The vastness of the desert is Extraordinary, and the colours here of sand and sea, truly are Extraordinary.

          The biggest difference however lies not in the weather or physical surroundings, but in the people, their sense of time, the absence of rush, the gentle rhythm of life here is entirely different to England’s crescendo of staccato. A ticking clock, a beating drum. Every society has its beat. After 2 months here I am becoming accustomed Luderitz's laid back tempo. Every couple of minutes simply stop. Soak in your surroundings for a moment, blink the sand out of your eyes and let the wind blow the cobwebs away. 

As the days slide past, the pulse of Luderitz life is drumming me further and further under its spell with it's extraordinary magic. Take off your watch - you won't be needing it here, and let me turn back the clock over the past two months to fill you in on life as a Luderitz Buchter Girl.