EYES TO WINDHOEK’S SKY

We may not have any skyscrapers. We may be lacking in towering cathedrals and strangely shaped highrises or enigmatic sculpture-like structures that stretch towards the heavens, but Windhoek’s skyline has its own sense of wonder.

Have you ever taken some time to truly appreciate how beautiful a city Namibia’s capital is? Clean (we have been voted the cleanest capital city in Africa several times), green (in summer) and rich in both history and modernity. Windhoek is a wonderfully dynamic, culturally diverse and intriguing African metropolis.

My favourite time of day in my hometown is that hour or so just before sunset. I’m usually either at home (in the summer months) or on my way there.

In summer, especially this year, the sky is often thick with heavy clouds. They reflect the last rays of the day in a prism of incredible light. Their voluptuous edges turn pink and purple, and everything around seems more beautiful. Summer also means that the city’s various wild spaces, of which there are thankfully still many, turn lush and green. The swarthak bushes and candle-pod acacias in rivers and along hillsides are a verdant green and the city feels healthy and welcoming. In autumn, some of the vegetation in residential areas start to shake off their feathers (read: leaves) and many sport those quintessential autumn hues. In winter, though the vegetation becomes more stark, the season brings its own charms with it.

Spring might just be my favourite season in Windhoek. The sky is always hazy with dust and the sunsets are incredibly dramatic. The acacias flower - those pretty, yellow balls. So do the Jacarandas and all the other trees that line the city streets. The mountains around the city are our true skyline - Eros, Auas and the Khomas Hochland. The air is sometimes so hazy in spring that you can barely see them, but as the sun sets over this mountainous horizon, the sky is saturated with bright yellows, oranges and reds.

Our showpiece buildings may not be as iconic as the Chrysler of New York, that weird cucumber-shaped thing in London or the Eiffel of Paris, but we do have a few that add to the picturesque cityscape which is changing year by year. The Christuskirche is probably the most famous of those, with the Independence Museum right next to it. Some say it looks like a perculator, and they’re not wrong, but it has sort of grown on me in recent years. I was driving into Windhoek on the A1 from the north recently and the setting sun hit the golden pinnacle that is the Independence Museum in such an interesting way. How bright it was! Reflecting the sun and casting a glorious glow. I thought something near the CBD was on fire!

More and more new buildings are popping up around the city. May they hopefully add not only to our economic growth but also to the beauty of our cherished capital city.

So take some time this April to look up once in a while. Whether at a beautiful building, old or modern cool, or at the splendour of the sky (hopefully still cloudy for a while). If you’re in the seat of one of FlyWestair’s Embraers, make sure to peer out your window during take-off and landing. There are brilliant sites awaiting you in Windhoek.

Elzanne McCulloch