As I already told you, there were two things I wanted to do in Namibia. See the red dunes in the Namib desert. And see some wild cats. So with only a few days left of my two week easter trip, I made some research and found a place called N/a’an ku sê Foundation which is just about 50km from Windhoek. It is a wildlife foundation with a game park, lodges, and various kinds of wild animals that have been found either hurt or abandoned, and that the foundation now takes care of. Some of these being lions, leopards and cheetahs – I had found my place and booked a “feeding tour” for only 25€.

I had seen lions before, but not his close, and not this angry. There was a fence separating us from the animals, but there were little children in the jeep I was with, so the lions got their hopes up. The guide fed them by throwing meat over the fence and the jumps were impressive. I guess they actually could have jumped those fences if they wanted to. The ladies were the hunters, as we all know, but it was interesting to see how the lion actually was dominating the two females completely. He was in charge, no doubt. And he was a quite upset king.

When we got to the cheetahs, I was in awe.. apparently, once you tame a cheetah – they stay tame forever. These huge and gracious creatures were sweet as kittens and even made the kind of “mjau” sounds we all know. I asked if I was allowed to touch them. “At your own risk” the guide said, while patting one himself. So I put my hand through the fence and a cheetah walked up. It looked at me and then stroked its head against my hand, and licked it. The tongue felt kind of like the tongue of a cat, only even more rough. The feeling was overwhelming.

We continued to the leopards, which, as the guide told us, unlike the cheetahs – never can be tamed. These are the animals that unconditionally will rip your face right off. The guide didn’t have to explain that to us again when we got to see them, it was actually really uncomfortable being close to these demon looking animals, despite the fence. The were projecting the kind of “I can see right through you, you bad human, and I shall cut your throat and drink your blood while you sleep.” message that you sometimes get from evil house cats. Difference was these kittens had slightly bigger fangs. Let’s just say that leopards don’t seem particularly friendly.

On our way back to Windhoek, we met a man that was taming a wild horse, and found a really nice tree. It had been the prefect last day in Namibia, and I was driving, of course.

Back in Windhoek, I met up with Baldwin again the next day and asked him to show me something than I had not already seen, so he took me to the Katutura township in the outskirts of the city.

Katutura, “The place where we don’t want to live” was created in the late 1950’s following the forced removal of all black people from Windhoek city centre. Today, Katutura houses more than 2/3 of Windhoeks total population and the people live in metal sheds that they sometimes use as shops, bars and hair salons during the day. But despite suffering from overpopulation, obvious sanitation issues and difficult access to clean water and electricity, the very poor township felt like a safe and extremely friendly place.

I spent some time in the Havana district where I met 17 year old Rejoice with the amazing smile, who had just painted her face red. Painting the face is a Himba tradition to protect it from the sun and give it a beautiful red nuance. Rejoice was shy, but her mother an I laughed it off. Oh, and the little boy on her back was not her son, it was her little brother.

We drove around the township and met a big group of playing kids. Later, I spent some time in a hair salon where Cornelia was getting her hair braided while her little girl Respect was running around. She wasn’t sure about the age of her child, but said she thinks she’s around 2 years old.

The people I met in Katutura were a little shy, but very keen to talk and interact, and really friendly. The obvious contrast to the sparkling city centre of Windhoek made a big impression on me. One needs to go a bit outside in order to understand what Namibia is all about.