Are we in Bavaria? Nay, we are in Swakopmund!

This morning we take a ride around Swakopmund, or Swakop as the locals call it; the center is not very large and can be easily walked on foot.

The most paradoxical thing about Swakopmund is that it does not seem to be in Africa, but in Bavaria or in a remote village in the German countryside.

The buildings of the center are all dated from the beginning of the 20th century and are in perfect German style, some have labels of the names of German Gothic buildings; it is curious and entertaining the contrast between the metropolitan-style town, the desert lying behind it, and the Atlantic Ocean with its mighty waves and its strong sea currents in front.

It's not the first time we come to Swakop and we did want to come back because we like it, too, after so much desertion and loneliness, we needed a bit of life; or somewhat similar as after 9.00pm last night in the city there was no longer anybody around.

We find it very much changed since last time, first of all the periphery seems to have doubled in surface, it gives the impression that there are a lot more people and that the productive and commercial activities have also increased.

Tourism also seems to us to be more developed, for example there are souvenir shops that were not there before, there are many more hotels and restaurants; we like how it turned.

This morning we have breakfast in a very nice and well cared for coffee, called Slow Town and it seems to be a bit at Starbucks’ but with its uniqueness; it is furnished with armchairs, chairs, upholstered stools and sofas, with black walls like blackboards where, with chalkstones, they have written sentences dedicated to coffee, they also have a small shop where they sell souvenirs of the bar, coffee and Italian coffee machines.

We buy a cappuccino and I must say that it had nothing to envy to the Italian cappuccinos, even the sweets were not bad at all; it is a shame that we stop in town for a short while because we would be happy to return.

Nearby there are two pedestrian areas where there are some restaurants and shops selling technical clothing, art objects and souvenirs; fortunately there are no low profile souvenirs, but only special items, although in some cases they do not come from Namibia but from other African countries.
 

We take a round and buy something, it's impossible not to bring some remembrance at home, even though our home nowadays is already a small African art museum.

We would gladly stop another day to drink another great Namibian beer, produced according to German standards, but we must continue our journey, so we spend some money at Pick'n'Pay, we get the diesel full for our car and then we go, our next stop is Windhoek.