Today was a much fulfilled day. Disappointed at the fact that I wouldn’t be able to go to the Etosha National Park this weekend due to the meeting on Friday, I arranged a half-day tour around Windhoek to compensate for this lost. There are actually not many day tours are available with the travel agencies. Anyways, Celine and I went to visit Katutura, which is a township northwest of Windhoek and resided only by black people. We were told by the tour guide, a local Namibian named Benjamin, that 6% of Windhoek’s population actually live in this place, which is not proportional to its area.
The special thing about Katutura is related to the apartheid history and the current living styles and conditions in the township. ‘Katutura’ means “a place where we do not want to live” in Otjihereto, an indigenous language in Namibia. It was declared a township in 1959 during the apartheid era, when black indigenous people were forced to leave their original residence location, which is called Hochland Park today, to move collectively to the segregated township the South African government established for them. There were demonstrations and fight again this decision, however, nothing could be changed and 10 black people lost their lives for this course. (There is a photo with the tomb for remembering these people in the cemetery.)
Today, after the apartheid has been abolished for more than 15 years, Katutura is still resided only by black people. Many houses still bear the original house numbers that were assigned by the South African government according to their tribal ethnicity – a simplistic way to manage people without considering their feelings and needs – people were not allowed to live anywhere else back then. In the photo, you can see a typical house model.
We were also guided to a local market in Katutura – Oshet Open Market, or officially being called Single Quarter Market. It is a lively market full of bizarre African things. You can find dried worms (the black chunks in the basket in my photos), BBQ skewers without skewers (basically people just throw whatever pieces of meat over the fire), the big disgusting exposed bull heads surrounded by numerous flies under the midday sun (we were told they still would be used for some kind of food later), tailor shops that are full of local costumes, numerous barber shops with people inside patiently braiding their hair, and electronic stores with old and dusty TVs and stereos…
We then went to ‘Havana’, not sure exactly why it is named related to Cuba, which is a black-resided area with endless metal-piece-composed compartments. It is very sad to see people live under this condition, especially with the comparison to the fancy European live styles in downtown Windhoek. However, Benjamin told us that some people preferred to live here even if they have stable jobs, even with the government in some cases, because it is a good way to say money, which can then be sent back to their families back in the villages. We stopped over at a local drink shop, ordered some pop drinks and then sat on the bench in one of those compartments. Surprisingly, it actually didn’t feel as bad as we had imagined – it didn’t feel that hot inside. It was a great experience and Ben took us a photo that I really like – the one with three of us (Celine, me and Matthias) sitting on the bench in front of Coco Cola posters in the dazzling silver metal-composed compartment. It might incur some deep thoughts if you think hard.
Still not the end of the tour yet, our last stop was at Penduka, which is a NGO promoting women’s independence and self-empowerment. ‘Penduka’ means wake up. It was established by a Dutch lady named Christine in 1992. More than fifty local women are currently working here to make handmade crafts of various sorts. From the photo at the craft shop, you can see some of their work. It is great to see people, especially vulnerable women, to find a way to change their lives.
Right after the tour, Celine and I went straight to a famous local spot – Zoo Café, which is located on the edge of the Zoo Park, which is also just across the street of the building where I am working – Sanlam Centre. It is a really nice café with patio on the second floor and fancy menus. While eating, we looked around: there were no others except white foreigners (I was an exceptional case as well I guess); while looking down, there were no others except black locals walking across the park. While getting used to the open and equal society in Canada, it seems a very weird feeling to see the situation in nowadays Windhoek. Maybe the apartheid was abolished, but the line is still quite clear between the white and the black – they simply just cannot afford to eat at a place like this.
Wandering around the park for a bit after the brunch, I spotted a Chinese temple with the name ‘Shanghai Temple’ located at a corner of the park – that must be a symbol of the relationship established between the two cities of Windhoek and Shanghai. Another happy thing for the day was that we both found a pair of sandals that are comfortable, nice-looking and inexpensive. I spend N$60 for this pair, which is less than CAD$10. Just imagine that I have to wear my dirty sneakers with my nice dress to go back and forth work for about 20 minutes each way (with my high-heeled shoes in my bag), it would be good news to get this neural and comfortable one.
Later we did a few other things, including shopping at a huge supermarket (there is almost no difference from those in Canada, except the availability of some local food options. However, I didn’t get beer and wine as I planned, since it’s after 2pm on Saturday and no liquor is sold after that point until Monday, due to religious reasons.), viewing some great sunset scenes on high spots in Klein Windhoek, and eating in the first African food restaurant since I came here. The name is African Roots Restaurant, which specializes in African cuisine with special African cooking methods such as pickling, braaing and drying of food. It has a cosy and fancy atmosphere. I ordered just an appetizer - Baked Black Mushrooms filled with spinach and cheese, and a glass of dry red wine, and really enjoyed it. Interestingly, for the dessert menu, there was one item called Kalahari Sands with an explanation name as ‘Xuxu’, so I had to order it! It turned out that ‘Xuxu’ tasted really good and it was a mixture of ice cream and smoothie. We all had a great time, and it was really interesting to talk to Celine, who is from France and Matthias, who is from Germany. I have a feeling that my next travel destination would be Europe.
The special thing about Katutura is related to the apartheid history and the current living styles and conditions in the township. ‘Katutura’ means “a place where we do not want to live” in Otjihereto, an indigenous language in Namibia. It was declared a township in 1959 during the apartheid era, when black indigenous people were forced to leave their original residence location, which is called Hochland Park today, to move collectively to the segregated township the South African government established for them. There were demonstrations and fight again this decision, however, nothing could be changed and 10 black people lost their lives for this course. (There is a photo with the tomb for remembering these people in the cemetery.)
Today, after the apartheid has been abolished for more than 15 years, Katutura is still resided only by black people. Many houses still bear the original house numbers that were assigned by the South African government according to their tribal ethnicity – a simplistic way to manage people without considering their feelings and needs – people were not allowed to live anywhere else back then. In the photo, you can see a typical house model.
We were also guided to a local market in Katutura – Oshet Open Market, or officially being called Single Quarter Market. It is a lively market full of bizarre African things. You can find dried worms (the black chunks in the basket in my photos), BBQ skewers without skewers (basically people just throw whatever pieces of meat over the fire), the big disgusting exposed bull heads surrounded by numerous flies under the midday sun (we were told they still would be used for some kind of food later), tailor shops that are full of local costumes, numerous barber shops with people inside patiently braiding their hair, and electronic stores with old and dusty TVs and stereos…
We then went to ‘Havana’, not sure exactly why it is named related to Cuba, which is a black-resided area with endless metal-piece-composed compartments. It is very sad to see people live under this condition, especially with the comparison to the fancy European live styles in downtown Windhoek. However, Benjamin told us that some people preferred to live here even if they have stable jobs, even with the government in some cases, because it is a good way to say money, which can then be sent back to their families back in the villages. We stopped over at a local drink shop, ordered some pop drinks and then sat on the bench in one of those compartments. Surprisingly, it actually didn’t feel as bad as we had imagined – it didn’t feel that hot inside. It was a great experience and Ben took us a photo that I really like – the one with three of us (Celine, me and Matthias) sitting on the bench in front of Coco Cola posters in the dazzling silver metal-composed compartment. It might incur some deep thoughts if you think hard.
Still not the end of the tour yet, our last stop was at Penduka, which is a NGO promoting women’s independence and self-empowerment. ‘Penduka’ means wake up. It was established by a Dutch lady named Christine in 1992. More than fifty local women are currently working here to make handmade crafts of various sorts. From the photo at the craft shop, you can see some of their work. It is great to see people, especially vulnerable women, to find a way to change their lives.
Right after the tour, Celine and I went straight to a famous local spot – Zoo Café, which is located on the edge of the Zoo Park, which is also just across the street of the building where I am working – Sanlam Centre. It is a really nice café with patio on the second floor and fancy menus. While eating, we looked around: there were no others except white foreigners (I was an exceptional case as well I guess); while looking down, there were no others except black locals walking across the park. While getting used to the open and equal society in Canada, it seems a very weird feeling to see the situation in nowadays Windhoek. Maybe the apartheid was abolished, but the line is still quite clear between the white and the black – they simply just cannot afford to eat at a place like this.
Wandering around the park for a bit after the brunch, I spotted a Chinese temple with the name ‘Shanghai Temple’ located at a corner of the park – that must be a symbol of the relationship established between the two cities of Windhoek and Shanghai. Another happy thing for the day was that we both found a pair of sandals that are comfortable, nice-looking and inexpensive. I spend N$60 for this pair, which is less than CAD$10. Just imagine that I have to wear my dirty sneakers with my nice dress to go back and forth work for about 20 minutes each way (with my high-heeled shoes in my bag), it would be good news to get this neural and comfortable one.
Later we did a few other things, including shopping at a huge supermarket (there is almost no difference from those in Canada, except the availability of some local food options. However, I didn’t get beer and wine as I planned, since it’s after 2pm on Saturday and no liquor is sold after that point until Monday, due to religious reasons.), viewing some great sunset scenes on high spots in Klein Windhoek, and eating in the first African food restaurant since I came here. The name is African Roots Restaurant, which specializes in African cuisine with special African cooking methods such as pickling, braaing and drying of food. It has a cosy and fancy atmosphere. I ordered just an appetizer - Baked Black Mushrooms filled with spinach and cheese, and a glass of dry red wine, and really enjoyed it. Interestingly, for the dessert menu, there was one item called Kalahari Sands with an explanation name as ‘Xuxu’, so I had to order it! It turned out that ‘Xuxu’ tasted really good and it was a mixture of ice cream and smoothie. We all had a great time, and it was really interesting to talk to Celine, who is from France and Matthias, who is from Germany. I have a feeling that my next travel destination would be Europe.
1 comment:
Hi, alot of the pictures in the beginning are almost exactally how I pictured Africa. However, when I see where you are living and the surrounding areas, I am quite surprised to see how the lower and very upper class can live like that. It is amazing. As for those cow heads, that is something else we cannot understand. Very intersting!!!
Post a Comment