I used to have this fantasy that one day I would get married on the dunes in Namibia. I don’t know why, as I had never been there but it sounded very Taylor Swifty romantic. I was all for a destination wedding but then we (my now husband and I) realised that we had to be realistic and get married near either his relatives or mine. So that dream was nixed.
It was therefore serendipitous that a few months after we'd said “I do,” I had a chance to travel to Namibia.
A group of journalists and a few business people took off on an Airlink flight from OR Tambo Airport to Hosea Kutako Airport in Windhoek, the capital. The airport is modern but still quaint and clean, with hardly any litter to be seen.
In fact, that is one of the more noticeable facets of Namibia, made clear on the 40-minute drive from the airport to the Windhoek Country Club Resort. The streets and pavements are clean, and there’s a certain quietness and dignity to Namibia. If Namibia could be distilled into a person, it would be described as a discreet gentleperson whose soul yearns for adventure.
The Windhoek Country Club Resort has all the amenities you could possibly want or need — you never have to leave the hotel. As we walked through to the pool, surrounded by tall trees and about 100 inviting sunbeds, it had that same atmosphere of Sun City — kitschy opulence; a cabana-like façade; heat; a gloriously huge, bright-blue pool; faint smells of chlorine, sunscreen and pina coladas in the air with the distant sounds of a waterfall (all man-made of course).
There’s also a casino, tennis courts, an 18-hole golf course, conference rooms and a gym, among other amenities. The four-star hotel’s rooms are all modern, comfortable and clean with chic touches.
After a walkabout through the hotel, we headed for a quick tour through the city. Unfortunately, we needed more than just a couple of hours and the quick bus ride did not do the city justice. I would recommend spending a day touring the city.
The only other disappointment was that, on our first night at the hotel, we had a buffet meal at The Kokerboom Restaurant and Terrace. It was probably one of the better buffets I have had (the chocolate mousse was fab) but that is not saying much if you are like me and hate day-old potatoes sitting on a warmer for who knows how long. Thank goodness there is an à la carte menu you can order from too.
One of the best things about a great hotel is the bed and it was very much a mission to leave mine in the luxury room I'd slept in. But Swakopmund was calling.
SLEEPY SWAKOPMUND
Make sure if you are exploring Namibia to factor in time to get from one city to the other. It took us more than four hours to get to our next destination, the Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre. There are a few padstals along the way, so there’s no need to worry about toilet breaks. The coastal road itself is a landscape that is dramatic, a magnificent space where ocean meets desert, with sparsely dotted bushes breaking the continuity of the white sand banks.
We eventually made it to the hotel, which is situated on the Skeleton Coast and is built in and around the 1901 German station building. The hotel pays homage to this by keeping the architecture of the building in the traditional style of the original station. The restaurant, Platform One, and the bar, The Whistle Stop, too, charmingly play on the station aspect with their elegant yet quirky décor. The pool is in the centre of the hotel, so nearly every room has a sort of porch area, which leads directly to the pool. It’s old-school Palm Springs classy.
If I thought Windhoek was quiet, it's a bustling metropolis compared to Swakopmund. A walk from the hotel to the beach was serene, a bit of a discombobulated feeling for this Joburg girl. There were a few people out and about but everyone was friendly, with plenty of souvenir shops, coffee jaunts and a bar or two only a few blocks from the hotel. There are also knowledgeable and friendly tourist guards/guides to help you find out where to go. Also, take a few moments to admire the buildings, which are historic examples of traditional German architecture.
START YOUR ENGINES
Our next adventure was to go quad biking on the dunes at a place called Desert Explorers. I must admit I was a Nervous Nellie, having only done this once before in a very controlled environment on a paved road. So going up and down sand dunes was a new experience for me. My husband actually gave me the best advice I have received from him to date (I jest): find a steady pace, but when you go up the dunes accelerate so you don’t get stuck in the sand.
After being terrified for the first few minutes on the quad bike, I finally got into the rhythm of it and enjoyed the hair-raising moments of flying up and down the huge dunes. The guides are there to help first timers, with tutorials on how to ride the quad and the hand signals they use to tell you when to slow down, speed up or stop. The scenery was gobsmackingly beautiful with seemingly endless mounds upon mounds of dunes in the desert.
Desert Explorers offers a whole list of different adventures, such as camel rides, go-karting, paragliding, sandboarding and many other activities to experience Swakopmund.
The evening activities remained a mystery. All it said on our itinerary was “depart for sundowners and dinner in a secret location.”
There was some extreme four-by-four driving to take us to what we assumed was our destination but rather it looked like we driving through a fantastical otherworldly place surrounded by white sand and black dolerite ridges, which makes sense, because they have filmed movies like Mad Max: Fury Road and other sci-fi films in that area.
Alas, when we got to our stop there was no dinner, but honestly no-one cared as there was MCC sparkling wine and the freshest, tastiest oysters to be had in a sitting fit for Princess Leia. Our guide, Abenteuer Afrika Safari's Hilmar Tonnemacher, told us that our desert dinner had had to be moved due to extreme winds. It was a ruse that we all bought as we thought we were heading to a newly opened Ethiopian restaurant in the city after a wander around in the “moonscape” enjoying the spectacularly spooky sunset. It is called the moonscape as the valleys were formed by the Swartkop river which cut through the softer deposits some 460 years ago to create what looks like the surface of the moon.
But as soon as we passed a few hills and took a turn, we were awed into silence. In front of us were what seemed to be a thousand candles settled on the black hills and lighting our way into the valley to our surprise dinner — all set up with a red-carpet, beautifully decorated tables with white tablecloths, and a firepit. It was a magical moment to behold, and one I encourage anyone who can to experience. The next moment, music started playing and one of our guides firedanced on a hilltop in the darkening dusk. Firedancing can be cheesy but it worked in that moment to heighten the atmosphere.
The three-course meal prepared by the chef was on point and everyone walked away from that experience just a little awestruck.
WONDER ON WATER
The next day was just as marvellous as Abenteuer Afrika Safari took us on a seal and dolphin cruise in Walvis Bay, about a half-hour drive away. You know when people come back from safari bragging about the leopard, lion or wild dog they saw? Well, we were the lucky ones this time. Pods of dolphins, seals sliding onto the boat being fed fish by the boatmen, giant pelicans with their colourful beaks swooping in and, to top all of that, a massive whale leapt in front of our boat, which guide Tonnemacher said he had never seen in all his years of doing this.
Tonnemacher himself is a jovial character, but don’t be fooled. He has all the knowledge of Swakopmund on the tip of his tongue and can give you answers to any questions you might have. For dinner, he took us to the famous The Tug Restaurant, located at the entrance to the original jetty. The restaurant was built around the oil-fired Danie Hugo Tugboat, which was made in the shipyards of the Port of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1959, and had its final operating days in Walvis Bay before being laid to rest in Swakopmund.
The restaurant promises “home-made freshness, great locally sourced seafood, fresh produce, tempting desserts and a vast selection of South African wines” and it delivers. I was tempted to have more oysters but after having eaten about 20 already that day, I decided on the kingklip, which was just as good.
The next day, we flew home via Walvis Bay airport, a 40-minute drive and a two-hour plus flight. Not bad for the trip of a lifetime.
PRACTICAL MATTERS
WHAT TO PACK: The weather is quite different depending on where you go. So summer clothes — shorts and T-shirts — for Windhoek, which in the summer has quite a dry heat like Joburg, and a few tracksuits and a heavy jacket for Swakopmund, whose weather is a bit cold, humid and windy, like a Cape autumn.
EASE OF TRAVEL: One of the things I appreciated about going to our west-coast neighbour was the ease of getting there. There’s no need to change money — you can if you want but most places take rand and, of course, you can burn your credit card. Also there are foreign exchange desks at both hotels mentioned.
South African-passport holders don’t need a visa and it is a mere two-hour flight from OR Tambo International Airport to Hosea Kutako Airport in Windhoek.
WHAT IT COSTS: As a bonus you don’t have to do any complicated sums in your head as it’s one Namibian dollar to the rand. But things in Namibia costs a little bit more than in SA so make sure you check the prices of those fridge magnets you are buying.
WHERE TO STAY: Both Windhoek Country Club Resort and Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre are part of the Legacy Hotel group. Both start from N$1,545 (R1,545) per person sharing per night. For more information, go to legacyhotels.co.za.
• Platt visited Namibia as a guest of Legacy Hotels.
