Calmer Chameleon

I have been here in Swakopmund long enough to have established first name basis friendships with many of the local artisans. Well, they are first name friendships if you consider that I am known as Mrs Bert and my son is Young Bert or Boy. "Hello Mrs Bert. How are you today? Is today the day you will be buying things? You must look at this."

Now, I must advise you that the Namibian use of "MUST" can come across as very bossy and carry an imperative tone, but "must" is mostly used in place of the words "have to." For example: "You must come before 5" really is a polite reminder that "you have to come before 5". "You MUST walk down the street to the third corner then you MUST turn left and you MUST enter the third house on the right. And you MUST come and enjoy a cup of tea. You MUST try another piece of my cake." Well...if I MUST!

Some markets sell fresh foods, some sell hand crafted wooden animals and other art, some sell jewellery, some sell clothing made of hand woven materials, some sell lengths of hand made and hand printed materials, some sell wire craft and some sell photo opportunities. Fair enough in a tourist town with a large unemployment rate. Everyone is out to make a buck.

  

This woman is from the Himba Tribe. She and her extended family hand make jewellery, but they are fully aware and accepting of the fact that many tourists don't want to buy their simplistic braided trinkets but prefer to merely take photographs of them. The haggling starts as soon as the cameras appear.

The standout feature of Himba women (apart from their naked torsos) is that they coat their hair with a thick sticky mixture of buttermilk and ochre. They also coat their skin in a thin ochre paste. Himba people tend to have a lighter skin colour than many other Namibian tribes people. The ochre protects their skin and hair from sun damage.

We walk past a small group of Himba woman and their children most days on our way to the beach or playground. What I said about being on a first name basis with many of the marketeers is not quite true of these Himba woman. I can, I suppose, accept the name they have given me...Oma (I refuse to acknowledge that Oma means Grandma in this very German influenced town...Oma probably means "Oh Beautiful One" in Himba). Try as I will, I am unable to pronounce any of their names - which all involve clicks and glottal stops unfamiliar to my tongue. Anyway, I often take them food: fruit; biltong; Vegemite sandwiches (these Himbas have really taken a liking to Vegemite) and similar finger food. I get no verbal thanks for this supply of food and I have accidentally established a pattern of expectation, which was not my intention, but I don't mind. I bring the food, so they expect the food, so I bring the food!

 I also watch their small children while at the park - the Himba mothers let their tiny offspring wander where ever they like and the mothers got cranky with me the first time I pointed out that there were little ones in the park without a parent/carer. So I do it for my own peace of mind, not for theirs it seems.

All manner of hand crafted goods are available at open air markets. Tour buses pull up and the marketeers start spruiking. The general rule is that if you touch an item, consider it sold. Therefore the marketeers will try all kinds of tricks to get tourists to touch their goods. Then they simply won't take them back and the haggling/bargaining determines the price.

I am fascinated by the recycling that is used by these African artisans. They can even make items on request.

Aluminium cans become animals...

...and cars.

Bottle tops become handbags. (I have already informed my husband that this should not provide him with an excuse to drink lots of beer!)

Open air markets in Swakopmund.

Artists constantly look busy polishing their works. Even if the marketeers didn't make the the art works originally, it looks to the tourists as if they made them by the way they seem to be giving them their final polish.

It is not just arts and crafts that are available at markets. Food stuffs are available at the Kuiseb Markets - as are photo opportunities.

Mopane worms are available at the Kuiseb Markets...but I didn't buy any!

More aspects of some markets in Swakopmund.

Photo from the President's lawn - overlooking the markets.

One area in Swakopmund allows marketeers to set up in an alleyway to attract tourists to the other businesses. Here, I organised a craft afternoon by hiring wireworker, Wellington, to teach a group of children how to make wire animals. He began by allowing each child to make whichever animal they wanted. Pandemonium broke out with children getting frustrated and Wellington demanding perfection. I dashed to a craft shop, bought some more pliers and suggested that all the children follow Wellington's instructions for one animal. Much calmer.

The children chose to make a Chameleon. Several hours of "good fun" later, each child had their very own Chameleon to take home. And Wellington went home with a full pocket of cash. Happy all round, I'd say.

My son's chameleon. Not bad for a 6 year old.

A real chameleon. A calmer chameloen.