Namibia: Paternity Leave, Beer, gob smacking landscapes

Namibia: The country name that used to tongue-tie Deb.

But first some South African reflections. Just that, not judgements. I've learnt that no sooner than you think you have a country worked out and just as quickly an experience changes your opinion. So some reflections.

They drive too fast in South Africa. Not judgmental, a statement of fact. The speed limit on the open road is 120kph. Do that, and you go backwards. Hired a car for one week in SA and decided not to drive after dark. The highways aren't fenced in many parts, particularly where we were driving. But one evening we were going to fall just short so pushed on for not even an hour. Flashing police lights halted us, and in the middle of our lane was a bloody big bullock stone cold dead. Then 80-100 meters on (how fast were they going?) was a flipped bakkie (SA term for ute) on its crushed cab, with three dead people squashed inside. Very chilling. Bakkies fly past you with ten guys sitting on the wall of the back well, and another dozen sitting in the well. Man.
According to the Cape Times, the Easter road toll stood at 139, down from 232 for the same period 2006! Don't know their annual figure.

Despite the fact that an awful lot has been achieved in a relatively short time, injustices still remain in South Africa. There is a huge gap beween the fantastically rich (whites) and the impoverished (yep, blacks). Mind you a wealthy black middle class is emerging, in the large urban areas. We visited the Durban Art Gallery, in the Town Hall and saw a photographic display covering the black farm workers. Not a pretty life. We also visited the District 6 museum in Cape Town. In NZ terms, we would call it a Land Claim just waiting to happen. A whole district, black and coloured people were packed up, moved to Cape Flats townships, and almost every building demolished. The idea was to give whites land closer to the CBD. Not many took up the offer. They could see it wasn't going to settle smoothly. On a floor map in the museum, people are felt penning where they once lived - land claim?

The disparity is surely the cause of the security probems. If you don't have, and someone else does, well ... We actually felt very comfortable in Cape Town, taking the usual precautions (as they say). But again like I said, don't make an opinion too quick. A Cape Times story reports 'Crime has a severe negative to debilitating impact on Cape Town's investment opportunities'. In a survey on investment constraints, 'City businesses spent up to 7.8% of their annual turnover on measures to combat crime compared to the national average of 1.1%.' ' Almost 20% of the businesses surveyed said they did not report crime to the police, partly because they did not expect any result from opening a case.' But, sadly, it's also black robbing black in the townships now as what they call tic, we call P, the scourge metamphetamine runs amok.

One morning setting out for a run, and there were cops every where in the street. Burglars had broken into building next door, throught the lift well, right next to our open bedroom window on the third floor! And walking along one afternoon, a young kid had spread out and was counting his stash of cellphones. Quick as a flash they nick them from tables as people have coffee or a meal.

And the ANC is trying to re-write history. That is, down play the PAC role. That will be interesting to watch.

And one other observation. Sex sells. Advertising on TV is full of boobs, hotpants, bending over girls, innuendo. It's kind of primitive. Very 70-ies. And two speed boats at the beach: One named Playboy and the other Cassanova. It's weird. It's just a way of life.

OK, so it was a long trip from Cape Town to Keetmanshoop, Namibia. And I read the Cape Times, Tuesday April 10, cover to cover. Did you get this story back home? A Slovenian joker, Martin Strel , completed a record-setting 66 day, 5 268km swim of the Amazon River! He's already swum the Danube, the Mississippi, and Yangtze rivers. Asked about future adventures, Strel said "I am not going to do the Nile. It's long, but not challenging enough, it is just a small creek." Paraphrased, I guess Martin was just saying " The Nile is for wimps."

Some other Cape Town close offs: Saw the Unisys office, but didn't drop in. Well, we were on the way to a Wine Trip after all. And neat to see the stone crosses erected as navigational markers by Batholomew Diaz and Vasco de Gama down on the Cape of Good Hope. And when there, the Two Oceans Marathon (actually an ultra - 56km) was conducted with 10,000 entrants. There was also a half marathon which I would have run but entries closed three days before I became aware.

Anyway onto Namibia.

Namibia: Four times the size of Great Britain, population of just 2 million.

Namibia: Where politics has an engaging charm. Bear with me while I quote newspapers again. But this is a good one. From The Namibian.

'Men should also get "maternity leave" a Deputy Minister pleaded in Parliament yesterday. ... Speaking during debate on new Labour Bill, Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Bernard Esau said Namibia could follow other countries [allowing fathers paternity leave]. ... CoD Member Elma Dienda wanted to know how long this paternity leave should be.
Esau replied "Two weeks as a start".
This triggered fellow CoD member Nora Schimming-Chase to inform Esau, who seemed surprised by the sudden interest in his proposal, that women as a rule gave birth to only one child a year, but men could father many children annually and this would complicate the allocation of paternity leave.
"How many times do you want paternity leave?" Schimming-Chase asked him, causing giggles in the chamber.
Quipped Esau "[under Namibian law] I can only be married to one wife, so I can only qualify for ... such leave per birth in the marriage."
DTA Chairman, Philemon Moongo, a traditional leader, warmed to the idea. "Under customary law you can have different wives so you should also be entitled to paternity leave for each wife."
(Sparking laughter).
"I leave that issue to traditional leaders, the Moongos" Esau retorted. '

It went on, but you get the drift. It's Africa - I love it.

Namibia: One gob smackingly gorgeous handsome country. Blue skies; Clear skies.

Traveled by night train from Keetmanshoop to Windhoek. I love train travel. My first big adventure as a 15/16 year old was travelling by train Brisbane to Sydney to visit a school chum whose family had transferred. Exciting. And there's something reassuring about waking during the night and hearing the labouring engine toiling away through the dark.

Huge chunks are very arid - and the rest is desert! Reminiscent of Arizona, it even has the world's second largest canyon, the amazing Fish River Canyon. And lots like the Australian centre. Sunrise's pastel hues dappled the rust-ochre mountains, the pistachio-light straw grasses, and the daubs of olive green stunted bushes, and I could swear I was running in an Albert Namatjira landscape. But of course, it's just Namibia. Funny how we humans always need points of reference, comparison checks.

Travelling hunderds of km on dirt roads ('... the best dirt roads in the world' Namibia Tourism guide - and they could well be right.) to reach wonder spots, Deb and I have on a number of occasions just stopped the car. In the middle of the road - it doesn't matter. And just stared. At the nothingness. But actually, there's everthing. Game wanders across soon enough. Birds. And then you spot a flower in the dryness.

I had often heard the term 'under an African sky'. They're vast. Sunsets, as you'd guess, are magnificent. But at sunrise here, it comes up as a huge red fireball. And night is pure magic. The stars are sensational. And shooting stars. The Milky Way is as thick as soup. The Soupy Way? Doesn't have that same ring about it, does it? Did you know, there are 5 billion stars in the milky way bigger than our sun. Fact. The other night I lay and counted them.

Once, on a mountain bike trip, with my Wellington cobbers, somewhere up the back of the Awatere, one of the lads - a small bald headed front-runner, upon reaching the top of a climb and taking in the vista announced "Big country!" I looked out, and there was Taranaki and Ruapehu; across that water, Cook Strait, and there would be Wellington with Cape Palliser beyond. Across the other way, the beaches of Abel Tasman National Park. And behind, the range would stretch all the way to the Southern Alps. And if that hill wasn't there we could probably see Banks Peninsula. While appreciating the spell-binding effect of the view he saw, I recall thinking "But that's near half the country we can see! Nah, not BIG country." But I tell you what, this is BIG country.

Want a tip for your lists of places you should see: Naukluft mountains and Sossusvlei red sands desert (miles of red dunes as high as Kau Kau), and stay at Gecko Desert Lodge. Better still, stop creating the list - just go. When at Gecko we sat eating breakfast and watched a jackal hunting small Springbok - right in front of us.

Out on a Windhoek run one morning, up around Parliament and near the office of the Prime Minister, when along came a convoy of a jeep with four soldiers in battle fatigues and machine guns, three black tinted-window Volvos with flashing blue lights, and a follow up jeep with troops. Stopping near by, and from the middle Volvo with the country flag flying from the bonnet, out stepped the Prime Minister himself, Mr. Hifikepunye Pohamba , dropping in to see the PM as the budget was to be delivered that day- and the waiting police, soldiers and other stormtroopers all jumped to attention and saluted. But what could I do? Except stand erect, and give a Rooster salute. The troops didn't know what to do: Shoot me on the spot, arrest me, kick me in the arse. I solved their dilemma by jogging off to look at the Lutheran church and nearby museum.

Next day, Deb and I visited parliament. Deb asked a security guard if there was a chance we could look inside. He said he'd see if he could find someone. Out came David. His role is Legislative Council Liaison Officer. His job is to deal with "visiting statespeople and important dignitaries". Well David, my man, here we are. He reckons not many tourists ask to look around. He gave us an enlightening tour. "It's a shame you haven't got your camera" he said, "I could have taken your photo in the Speaker's chair" !!! While waiting for David, Deb read a poster stating Namibia has a list system with proportional representaion and tells the joker at the front desk that's what we have in NZ. He explains they have a President and a Prime Minister. Deb says we only have a PM - a woman. The guy bursts out laughing and makes a real 'get out of here' slap of his tummy. "She's been PM for 10 years" says Deb. "Oh" says the joker, realising he should regain composure, "do pass on my congratulations to her" !!! It's Africa - I love it.

Namibia: an HIV/AIDS infection rate of 47%. Oh man.

Another observation for you. What's with this Adventure Travel thing? Kids travel going from one thing to another, doing things they can easily do at home, and a million other places and that's their South African, or Namibian experience. Or New Zealand, or Australian experience. One poster reads: "If you do nothing else in Namibia, you must visit Swakopmund: Adventure capital of Southern Africa!" If you do nothing else... god spare me! Anyway, so far I think we have already seen a dozen so called adventure capitals of Southern Africa. And it goes "And today, like man, we did the extreme ultimate ... like you know, awesome man. And tomorrow we're going to, oh far out man, do the extreme ultimate ... if we survive tonight, when we go to Randy Rory's Bar for some bar-maid mud wrestling and get really smashed on tequila, like you know, awesome man." Yeah I know. I can remember thirty years ago. It was great.

True story: In a Cape Town kitchen talking to a couple of Aussie shielas, two gypsy queens, "Today Deb and I went to Robben Island" ... blank stares. "Had a look over the prison .... blank stares ... where Nelson Mandela was kept." "Oh that guy the song is about!" Save me.

Coincidently, a current read of Jan Morris in the Cuba chapter, provides an interesting aside. ' ... Once, In Havana, I interviewed Ernesto Guevara, then president of the National Bank. Thirty years later long after Ernesto had matured into Che and had become a world celebrated icon of the youth culture, I gave a lift to a hitch-hiker whose T-shirt bore a familiar picture of him - by then one of the best known photographs on earth. 'I bet I'm the only person you've ever got a lift from' I remarked, 'who has actually met Che Guevara.' ' Oh yeah' was the reply, 'Who was Che Guevara?'

Oh and what's with these 'Gap Years' thing? Droves of these kid poms traveling for a year. "We'll (they travel in groups never smaller than four) do South Africa for three months, then fly to Brazil, do Mexico, up to the States. We'll take a break (!!!) in Honolulu and Fiji before NZ and Australia. If we have time we'll do Thailand on the way home." "oh yeah, I worked for a month at MacDonalds." Yeah and travelled with mommy and daddy's supplied credit card in the back pocket.

I guess just another sign I'm getting old, and cranky. Speaking of which, getting old that is. And that damned losing your reading eye sight. Every new border becomes a real fuddle working out coins.

Anyway we did visit Swakopmund (where desert meets sea, and averages 8mm of rain per year!!!) and I figured I would do an adventure event - visit the Namibian Breweries! Damn. They transfered to Windhoek last year, and we just left there! Oh well. Shit happens. But on the subject of beers, they are pretty good here in Namib - it's the German influence. Windhoek Lager, Hansa Pilsener, Tafel Lager. They are popular in SA as well. Oh yeah, did you hear of the EU regulators bust and fining of Heineken (219.29 mill Euro - US$297.09 mill), Grolsch (31.65 mill Euro - US$42.88 mill) and Bavaria (22.85 mill Euro - US$42.88 mill) for forming a European beer-cartel fixing prices. EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said "Instead of respecting the law, they instead covered their tracks." (New Era) Well, bugger me, there's a cunningly different plan. Naughty, naughty, naughty corporates.

Swakopmund is actually a charming town - a bit of Europe in Africa. I ran one day along the Atlantic coast, and next day 45mns into the desert, turned around and 45mns back. Sweet.

And in Namibia, English is the official language. While everyone can speak it, it ranks about fourth in usage behind German, Afrikans, and tribal languages.

We have some more Namibia to do: Etosha National Park and the Caprivi - sccoting along the border of Angola, but I think I will post this now. Enough is enough.

But, before I close off, from the 'completely out of nowhere':

Man City manager Stuart Pearce, when commenting on booing fans (post match with Arsenal - the team boo-ed) "Sometimes there is a bigger picture, but people pay good money. The next time I go to the theatre I am going to let some thespians have it." "It might make me feel better." Way to go, Stu!

Back in a minute. Godot. (handwritten note stuck to windscreen of parked car in Windhoek)

'When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity. ' Albert Einstein.

Rock on,

Max

a.k.a. Mad

Roosters' Correspondent in Africa.