Thursday, January 31, 2019

Johannesburg & Swakopmund - Entry 007

A happy new year to all from FashionTraveled! A little update: Last year was a diminished year for blog posts, thus we [the royal "we"] are looking forward to providing more reviews on menswear [domestic and international] and some tidbits of travel here and there. Occasionally, I shall review a product of travel [flights, accommodation, and so on - Like this post] because of a unique opportunity.

I had the chance to visit Swakopmund, Namibia. The invitation was from a work interaction, and I was invited for two nights at the Atlantic Villa. This allowed for a gorgeous backdrop to display a new belt I acquired from a friend at Gucci for the holidays.


Fashion: Belt
Destination: Johannesburg, South Africa & Swakopmund, Namibia


I was fortunate that my friend's family from Johannesburg was available to host me during my three day and two night stay. South Africa was my first stop because it is an easy hub to access at a reasonable cost. This allows to easy access to other southern African nations. As it turns out, this was my second time in Johannesburg, and I spent more time with my friend's family. However, I did take a couple of pictures of the wonderful summer the southern hemisphere had to offer:


Host's Backyard

Nelson Mandela's Family Home

Messages to Mandela via Stones


After my stay in Johannesburg, I headed to the airport to fly to Walvis Bay, which is about 40 minutes driving to my destination city - Swakopmund, Namibia. This costal city was colonized by the Germans, and was renamed as such, because the local language required a click in the original city name the Germans could not pronounce.

One of the many juxtapositions in life I witnessed was the natural geography of Swakopmund. Specifically, how I saw coastline, sandy beach, and across the road - undisturbed sand dunes. Despite seeing sand on both sides of the road, it was bizarre seeing beach, sand, and desert. All at once! I was hoping to catch a nice sunrise encompassing all aspects, yet it was quite foggy because of the marine layer that is involved with many coastline cities. Yet here is a panoramic from the dunes:


Beach in the Distance from the Dunes

I had a tour by Rainbow African Tours arranged by the lovely ladies of Atlantic Villa, more on them in a moment. My tour guide was Eddie, a tour-guide-in-training, and a driver. So there was a total of four of us heading towards Dune 27, the largest sand dune in the desert, but not all of Namibia. Since I was the only person on tour, I had to be charged at the higher rate of 500$N, but know the cost is lower, in the 300$N range. I was able to ultimately get some pictures with the breathtaking dunes in the background as well as a nice backdrop where I am sporting the Gucci belt nicely.


Caught in the Dune Winds


Candid in the Wind - Close Up of Gucci Belt
Sunset on the Dunes


Flights: Newark>Porto>Amsterdam>London>Johannesburg>Walvis Bay
Accommodation: CouchSurfing & Atlantic Villa