Back to civilisation

Having basically been almost alone in the desert since arriving in Namibia, and therefore out in the nature almost the whole time, Swakopmund came as quite a cultural shock for me. I arrived in the late afternoon at the nice little guesthouse, owned and run by Sam, who came to Namibia from the Emmental in Switzerland, and built up his little paradise here in Swakopmund. All he needs seems to be good food, good wine, good books and his dog, Beethoven, a huge Bernersennen dog. The preference of good food and wine was quickly obvious, in the five course meal for dinner, in the breakfasts selection, in the wine tasting offered, ... Don't get me wrong, the food in the previous places was delicious, and also really nicely presented, but the is a difference in style to getting the correct wine glasses, perfect set-up of the tables, a cheese collection for breakfast as if you were in Switzerland, candles on the table, classical music in the background, and the right wine to each course. The first night, it therefore all felt a little surreal for me. But I adjusted slowly, next night I went out for dinner, again with perfect waiters and set up, and as I was at the coast I had very delicious fish and, of course, wine.  Even on the next day where I went on another guided tour, I was offered champagne in the desert, oysters and champagne on the boat, ...(more about that later). Swakopmund itself has a similar feeling of being a bit surreal to me. There are the rich white people's houses, sometimes like little villas, all shiny and new,  with a big wall around them, in an unpaved, dusty street, as only the main roads are paved here. You have the pedestrian zone (the arcade), which look as artificial as Ingolstatt Village, some old big fancy buildings with German names, but at the same time, just around the corner, the simpler buildings typical for poor areas, an African street market, then again flower beds as if there wasn't desert all around. Apparently Germans really like this town because it is supposed to be so typically German. I don't really know a place in Germany that look like the 'german' part of the town. It just looks too artificial to me. Of course they are nice buildings, they just don't really fit. But all in all, it's a nice place to visit, especially subversive there is so much to do there. And it will be the last 'modern style' town for me for a while. So at the end, on my last night there, I enjoyed my last crab cocktail and very delicious red wine very much.