Swakopmund, good for the soul

I’ve gone to Swakopmund a million times. And every time I get the chance to go again, I will do so in a heartbeat. There is so much magic in this coastal town.

It is a dream of mine to one day move to this care-free city, open a little coffee shop (with a lot of plants, of course) and just live. And I mean actually live, enjoying life with the complete awareness of that you can’t relive any moment that has passed.

Picture this: Waking up at 8am with a cup of Two Beards Coffee. Deciding to take a stroll along Strand Street, breathing in every particle of see breeze filled. Hair curling on your neck and the ocean water kissing your feet with every step you take.

Unfortunately, this is a long-term plan, but “all good things take time”, they say.

At a young age my family started doing traditions when travelling. When driving to Cape Town we’d stop at a very specific Wimpy for coffee. We’d have a set of CDs, which we would plan out weeks before the trip and would end up listening to one on repeat.

In Swakopmund the traditions were fairly different. When driving into the town and one can see the palm trees on both sides of the road, “Funky Town” by Lipps Inc is a must play. I’m certain that a few people remember this song when seeing the palm trees due to Shrek. That ogre had a plan with that song.

After the song has finished and we’ve gotten to our little holiday house, we have to unpack as fast as possible to rush to the ocean with complete fear that the water supposedly would be gone, if we didn’t hurry.

There are stipulated activities that have to be repeated on our trip. We are obligated to go to Village Café for breakfast at least once during the course of our stay. We must have seafood. We are required to have brunch at The Delight Swakopmund and to walk everywhere we go. Without these things, our bolt of freedom would not be the same.

Right before heading back to reality, my mother and I are committed to walking on the jetty one last time. We have done this every time we visit; it is a sight we do not get tired of.

I do wonder if once I live here, I would still see beauty in every corner of this otherworldly town. Do the Swakopmunders love their town as much as the rest of Namibia or are they tired of the cold misty mornings and salty air?

I always wonder how they feel when it is so overly crowded in their town, during the holidays. I’d imagine how I feel driving to work every morning in the city. Impatient and emotional.

On the bright side, once Windhoek is empty, since everyone has left for Swakopmund, one finally feels a tad relaxed in the capital.

Swakopmund is my family’s happy place, it feels like another universe. I am convinced that there must be pure dopamine in the air for everyone to be so happy. (With more oxygen comes more happy hormones) I hope this little enchanted metropolis is good for your soul too.

Author: Geena Visagie