Personally, though, I think he sleeps too much. We can get so much more done at a nice, relaxing pace when we stick to my bedtime schedule. Today, for example, we were able to take our time over breakfast (which was divine) and visit Agate Beach (which is smelly) before arriving at Komanskop for a tour of the famous ghost town. What a rush we'd be faced with if we'd lounged in bed until 9.
As it is, we had loads of time to wander the deserted houses and imagine what life was like in the 1900s. What a photographer's paradise! Kevin was as excited as a bear that found honey, taking artsy shots of peeling wallpaper and rusting water tanks. I followed along as the dutiful wife with the video camera in the hot sun through the soft sand that was spilling in through the doors and windows.
It's easy to work up an appetite when you're keeping up with Kevin's pace. Even more so in Kolmanskop, where the desert is difficult work through and all the best shots are apparently on top of the highest dunes. That's probably why they have a cute restaurant at the old 'casino.' With a bit of nagging, I managed to convince Kev to finish off his shoot so we could grab some lunch (my stomach was still working on South African time).
To kill two penguins with one stone, though, we agreed to get something to eat at the coffee shop at Diaz Cross. Big mistake. As it turns out, it's a shop that really only sells coffee (and other drinks). So it's been another day without a formal lunch for us. Luckily, we still had the fruit left over from yesterday in the car to take the edge off until dinner.
Diaz loves slapping these crosses up at the windiest points he can find, doesn't he? There's another one near Port Alfred, and I need to tie myself down whenever we go to see it. We never did see any penguins, though. Or seals, for that matter. But perhaps the instructive pictures on the map are misleading. After all, the big shipwreck indicated over one of the coves that you can visit (while getting some amateur 4x4 practice on the steep dirt tracks down) looked more like a rubber dingy accident.
Nevertheless, it was another little glimpse of history - something Luderitz is simply brimming with. At the museum, we saw a photograph of the village in its prime, and it's amazing how little things have changed since then. Well, the overpriced curio place (that seemed exported from sandton), speciality coffee shop (where kev had Malawian java), and spar supermarket (where i finally found nuts, and subsequently bought out their entire stock for my padkos mix) are obviously all new. But most of the original buildings are still around, such as the church on the hill that has walls lined with intricate stained glass windows. It's like holidaying in a time capsule.
To mix things up a bit, we decided to skip the hotel restaurant and try somewhere else for dinner. Another mistake. Options are rather limited because, let's face it, there's not much to Luderitz. The town seems to have hardly changed in the last century. The place at the waterfront (i still giggle at how grand the title makes the location seem) was a definite no-go because kev was appaled by their kitchen. As we drove through the suburbs, though, we stumbled upon another hotel, where we decided to have dinner.
We started off with vegetable soup, which sounds safe, but turned out to be just-add-water stuff. In my opinion, they didn't even add enough water because it was more gelatinous than liquid. They also generously drenched my veggies in oil - well, except for my carrots. Those they decided to glaze with a sweet syrup. Kev said his fish was exceptionally good, though, making up for the awful starter. Ah well, you win some, I suppose.
Well, hopefully tonight will be a winner and I'll sleep through. It's midnight according to my body clock, so I'm getting quite sleepy. Although, falling asleep isn't as much of a problem as staying asleep is. Kev's already been trying to sleep for an hour, and I'm sure he's wishing I'd just switch my light off already. However, the way I see it is that we're actually going to sleep at the same time - but because I'm working with daylight savings, I get an extra hour for my time.
