The first time in Windhoek I was there primarily to set up my tour of the national park. This time I wanted to see what I could see. Not much is there to see, but I wanted to try.
After arriving at my accommodation the first thing I did was shower and get clean. It felt great after all the sand and wind from the previous day. Sand gets stuck everywhere!
The first time in Windhoek I'd only seen the (ugly) outside of the Independence Memorial Museum. I still thought it was ugly, but I wanted to see what was inside.
The main entrance was closed, even though there was someone sitting there at a desk. I went in through another door, and was immediately annoyed by the elevator. I thought I'd pushed the button for a top floor, but that's not where I ended up. Oh well.
I was not impressed with the museum. At all. The layout wasn't smooth, there was no particular path a visitor should follow, and since I know nothing about Namibian history, that wasn't good. There was also very little description of what I was seeing, which also didn't help. Argh.
The best part of the museum was the view of the city I had from the restaurant on the 5th floor. The city isn't pretty, but at least it was a view.
I had dinner at a place called Joe's Beer House. It is listed in the guidebook, and on travel apps. I heard it suggested by nearly everyone I talked to, so I figured why not. They have a variety of Namibian game available, I decided to go for the zebra steak and salad.
I loved my dessert, which was a parfait that used the juice of the prickly pear cactus. Yum.
The next day I already had a bus booked for 1330, so I wanted to see something else before leaving. I walked to a church, which ended up being closed. Argh.
Next up was the railroad/transport museum. I'm not sure of the official name, I saw it listed differently in several places. When I arrived at the museum I knew I was in the right place because I could see an old locomotive outside. I could also see a steam engine.
To enter the museum I had to climb to the second floor and ring the bell. The manager opened the gate for me, and let me in. It wasn't hard to figure out where to go, and he checked on me every few minutes. (I'm not exaggerating, he came to check on me every time I moved rooms, which was every few minutes.)
Each room was devoted to something specific. I saw lots of clocks, and I saw transport schedules. I saw first aid kits and safety items. One room recreated a 'typical train cabin' as it was back in the day. I loved seeing authentic items, instead of just descriptions and photos.
After leaving the museum I took a quick wander through the train station, which was rather small. Trains still go through there, but there aren't many. If I go back to Namibia, I'd love to ride a train.
From there I walked back toward home, to grab my pack. I dashed into a supermarket on the way so I would have some snacks. When I got home I finished packing, and grabbed my pack. I said thanks for hosting me, and left.
I walked to the bus company area, which happened to be right near the train station. Go figure my bus started off a little late, which was frustrating because it was the starting point, the bus wasn't coming from anywhere else.
The ride was loooong, I got to Livingstone, Zambia around 11 the next morning, after going through border control at 0600.
I definitely want to come back to Namibia. Windhoek, not so much, but it is probably where I would enter the country if I'm flying in.
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