Game Steaks...Flintstone Style + new Brit slang.
Trip Start
Jun 25, 2006
1
53
127
Trip End
Aug 01, 2007
Windhoek,
Namibia
Thursday, November 30, 2006
After another long drive on the dirt roads of the north we arrived in the capital city of Windhoek. Spotlessly clean, contemporary buildings, and German store names made it all seem quite out of place in Africa. All the same though, Windhoek is very representative of Namibia. It has been quite a surprise to us how developed, German-flavored, clean, and progressive the whole of Namibia has been. Had we known in advance how easy Namibia is to travel around, we might have opted to rent a 4x4 and camping equipment and drive ourselves. All things said though, we are having an amazing time with our group in Namibia.
Something that has surprised us a bit as we've been traveling around Southern Africa is how diverse the local populations of Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia have been. Prior to coming here, we pretty much expected everyone in these nations to be...well...dark skinned
Downtown Windhoek
. In fact, all three nations have sizable Caucasian and Asian/Indian populations. I guess I'd never realized that people with skin lighter than mine could be from a family that has lived in Africa for hundreds of years.We spent an evening on the town in Windhoek with the group going to "Joe's Beer House" which is a legendary Namibian game restaurant. It basically looked like a big version of TGI Friday's except with countless animal heads, skins, and horns on the walls. How's that for "Flair"! We only stayed in Windhoek for one afternoon and night so I don't have a lot more to report. I certainly someday would like to come back and explore further.
One of the really interesting things about traveling with a multi-national group is that we get to pick up all kinds of new terms. Most of the better ones seem to be British. In trying to have some discretion the lurid terms have been omitted. Here's a few of our favorite terms:
Eskie - a cooler. "Are there any cold Cokes in the eskie?"
Pants - a terrible occurrence or experience as in "That movie was pants." It is supposed to mean the incident is akin to messing your pants.
Right dribbler - a person acting in an extremely stupid manner. "That guy is a right dribbler"
Todd's dinner
. It is intended to imply that that the person is so impaired they drool on themselves.Lairy - Acting crazy, belligerent, or foolish. "The soccer hooligan got all lairy after his team lost."
Minging - The state of being extremely dirty. "I was minging after that five-hour hike."
Minger - A very dirty, stinky or ugly person. "Your ex-boyfriend was a total minger!"
Doing my head in - Something that is making you crazy. "These constant traffic jams are doing my head in".
She Said:
We have the hang of this overland thing now, and have become quite quick at putting up and taking down our tent. The time is really flying by, and it is hard to believe that we have been on this trip for 25 days already. This leg of the trip is much more civilized, and it is hard to believe sometimes that we are in Africa. Every town we drive through is so modern, clean and manicured. There are brand new Shell Stations everywhere, KFCs, Supermarkets and trendy shops. Definitely not what I was expecting when I pictured what Africa would be like, and the capital of Namibia, Windhoek, seems more like the suburbs of Denver, Colorado than southern Africa
You don't see these road signs in Jersey!
. Last night, we had dinner a fancy game restaurant in Windhoek, where everyone sampled kudu, zebra, oryx, and a variety of other safari animals. Todd ordered a gemsbok knuckle (which is the knee joint of a gemsbok, a member of the antelope family), and it was GIANT. He looked like Fred Flintstone eating dinosaur meat off a giant bone, and naturally everyone in our group teased him and took is picture holding it because it was so ridiculous. And he came close to finishing the whole thing...which is admirable and repulsive at the same time!After the meal, we camped at just out of downtown Windhoek directly off the highway at a municipal campsite (when we were pulling in, I was staying to Todd "Please say we aren't camping here. Please say we aren't camping here"). No one had ever been there before, and needless to say I don't think our overland company will be going back there again. The truck traffic was constant noise all night long, along with planes landing (the site had a convenient airport location!), and complete with an air-raid siren that blared at 6am. So much for the great outdoors!
