A relaxing start to our last day in Swakopmund, after breakfast we headed into town to use the internet, stock up on snacks for the trip and wander along the beach.

After lunch we headed back to the bungalow for more chillaxing before heading out on a township tour.
We were taken to Mondesa, a township of approx 25,000 people in Swakopmund, they have their own mayor and municipal facilities but they are still part of Swakopmund. We walked around the open markets and tried some of the food they were cooking, we then vistied Mama Josephines house and she showed us her traditional jewellery and herbal medicines. She looks after her grandchildren as well so we had quite an audience watching us while we were there. The majority of the houses in Mondesa have electricity, running water and flush toilets. Most of the houses are two bedroom but they will have up to 3 shacks in their backyard where other family members will live.
Modesa was created by the Sth African government when Swakopmund was under it's control, it is where all of the blacks were forced to live while aparthied law was in force so the majority of the population in Mondesa is black.
People can now get a loan from the government to purchase and in Mondesa and build their own house, there is a large area under development at the moment which is just wating for the water pipes to be laid so more plots can be made available.

From Mondesa we took a drive through Oshiwambo which is a shanty town of appprox 10,000 people. Here toilets are shared, there is no electricity and there are communal water pumps. Houses are built out of whatever is handy - empty bus, shipping containers, cardboard and tarpaulines. There are plans to formalise this community more and to try and provide facilities more like those in Mondesa.

We were then taken into the home of another woman in Mondesa who had prepared a traditional meal for us - porridge (hard not runny) which we topped with a white bean sauce, tasty spinach and a chicken dish. It was very tasty. There were also caterpillars which are like the Australian witchity grub - not my favourite but I tried them.
The kids here were very friendly - coming to sit on our knees while a local singing group performed for us. They loved having their photos taken and seeing themselves on the camera screens, they got really excited when we let them take photos as well.

One last night in the bungalows tonight before we head off tomorrow for more adventures.