Windhoek

Above is a view from my house... This Saturday we went to Windhoek, the capitol of Namibia. It was a great day and nice to explore and learn more about Namibia. I have included photos at the bottom of this post. We began the day at Heroe’s Acre, which honours and commemorates Namibians who died in the fight for independence. The monument was built in 2002, and was a gift from North Korea. We continued on to the Maerua Mall where we purchased our cell phones and did some shopping. After that, we went to the Old Location Cemetery, which honors 19 Namibians who were killed by the Germans when they attempted to take over an area of their land. (Germany originally colonized Namibia, and then towards the end of WWII were forced to give up Namibia to Britain, which asked South Africa to manage and control the country.) Finally, we went to 2 local markets in various “locations.” Locations are the Namibian equivalency of a South African township. It speaks back to the time of apartheid, but now the locations and most areas are mixed. The photos below are: a view from near my house, Heroe’s Acre, Old Location Cemetery, MOPANE worms*, the locations, and my host brother and sister. Gertrude Rikumbi, whose grave is shown here, was a woman freedom fighter in the Namibian independence movement. She was the first member of SWAPO, the political party which advocated for independence. * MOPANE worms are a local delicacy. Locals hollow out the insides of these worms, and then fry with seasonings. Ask me my opinion about this next time we meet!

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