Awesome Holidays – Week 21 of 2020

COVID-19 Update through the holidays.

This last week has had a long weekend for all the people who have been working so hard during the pandemic. While businesses that were shut down during the pandemic are starting back up, it’s important to remember the rest that kept the people alive during the shut down.

In the last couple of days Namibia has recorded a handful of new cases of the pandemic. The first few have all been imports from South Africa, with returning citizens.

Unfortunately the last one that was reported was a truck driver that snuck out of quarantine where he was supposed to be hanging out, thinking that he was healthy. In Walvis Bay, no less. So, now the process of tracking down exactly where he went and who he made contact with has started.

Here’s to hoping that the contact was limited, and that the people he met has been following COVID-19 protocol. From what I see in town every time I go out, the regulations are only followed very loosely.

Holidays in May

May has always been a month marked with many holidays, and most of those passed during lock-down. The last holidays was Africa Day, celebrating 57 years of African independence from colonialists. Of course at the beginning of those 57 years, not all of Africa was free from colonialists, it’s been a bit of a process.

Thing is, it seems that all of Africa’s resources are still being extracted and sold on the cheap for more developed nations. There also seems to be a rash of thieving governments all over, and the exceptions to that is very few and far between. Room for improvement, I guess.

Businesses trying to start back up

Life for the average non-essential business owner has been a little frustrating in the last few weeks. Clients are almost non-existent. Looking at competing tour companies, there is precious little noise about any business being done.

It would seem that most of Namibians have no spare cash, as is to be expected. Salaries have been cut for most people. The tourism operators are spending no money of their own, as there is no income.

No tourists.

The businesses that are used to supply to the locals are also feeling the pinch. With bottle stores and restaurants closed, a significant slice of the businesses are still not operating and generating tax dollars. It is going to be a tough time for our peerless rulers as well.

The only way we can get through this is if we all work together, and no one tries to take too much of the much smaller economic pie that we all have to share now.

Some people are calling for an end to the lock down, and just let everybody get sick and the rest of us to carry on life as per normal. Like that will magically bring back tourists & money.

Entrepreneurial predictions

That car wash and shop in the Kuiseb river pictured above haunts me a little. These people have had pretty much zero clients from even before the lock down. I suppose they would get a few locals come to visit during the many holidays of May, but even that might have dried up.

Still, one has to applaud their entrepreneurial spirit. You can see the work that was done by making parking spaces and you will just have to take our word that the shop is nicely decorated. Which it is. Overheads might be non-existent, maybe a little repair here and there.

When we start back up, this is one of the stops on our Topnaar tour, and hopefully we will be able to drive a little business their way.

This may be the way forward during this thing. Networking and driving business to each other.

Keeping sane…

Every now and then one simply has to get out a little. During the winter months it is usually foggy, so on a clear morning it is quite nice to be able to go for a walk in the dunes. It feels a little like a holidays activity. Fresh air and exercise. At least we are not high risk, having been in lock-down in our house for two months, and when going out, it is to places like this where there is no infection, and no one to infect.

Not like that truck driver from SA. I hear rumors that Walvis Bay might go back to a more strict lock-down for three weeks to see what the damage was that this individual did. By taking his holidays a little early, he might have spread the disease to our densely populated Kuisebmond.

Social distancing is not very practical in this township. A large part of the inhabitants are living in shacks, with no money. These are also the taxi drivers and day laborers for businesses. So, if anyone got infected there, the whole town is going to suffer.

Next week?

As you can probably guess by now, not a lot has happened during the last week, and it would appear that this is going to be the same on the next week. Hopefully there won’t be any more holidays, and the government has not taken any holidays in contact tracing that incident.

Until next week!