My Favorite Place in Swakopmund

The nourishment was palatable, the staff delightful, and the signage amusing (see photos below). The convergence of those three qualities convinced me by the time I finished my white wine and chicken schnitzel that I'd be coming back to Village Cafe every day during my four remaining days in Swakopmund.

What I wasn't expecting from my second trip to Village Cafe on Wednesday, my birthday, was to be so thoroughly entertained by a soundtrack (courtesy of 94.9 FM) that highlighted the best of '80s country music (with one '70s and one '90s hit thrown into the mix). What do the people in Namibia even know about Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry? Apparently, they know enough to know that with country (as with people), the oldies really are the goodies.

I have The Sea Horse, the place where I spent my first night in Swakopmund before moving to Pebble Stone House for the subsequent four nights, to thank for my taste of Nashville on the coast of Namibia. (The four hours of nothing but country that I listened to on my iPod en route from Windhoek to Swakopmund was a long, filling appetizer.) Sea Horse's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the recommendations of Doug, the proprietor, aside, I can't exactly rave about my experience there. That might have more to do with location and timing: Sea Horse is somewhat removed from the center of Swakopmund, which made finding dinner something of a scavenger hunt, even at my arrival time of 7pm, and from sunset to mid morning every day, the entire town is enveloped in a dense layer of fog, which made it seem like an ocean-side resort at the end of the world.

If it hadn't been for that one night at Sea Horse, though, had Doug never told me about the one place in Swakopmund that I just couldn't miss (intel that came in much handier than that he's heading to Cape Town next month for, as he insisted on specifying, a gay wedding), I might have missed Village Cafe and my birthday helping of good old country music completely.

Until tomorrow!

94.9 FM's Retro-Country Hump-Day Morning Birthday Playlist

"Do You Love As Good As You Look" The Bellamy Brothers
"I Wish You Could Have Turned My Head (And Left My Heart Alone)" The Oak Ridge Boys
"Queen of Hearts" Juice Newton
"Golden Ring" George Jones and Tammy Wynette
"I.O.U." Lee Greenwood
"I Feel Lucky" Mary Chapin Carpenter
"She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)" Gary Stewart
"Stranger in My House" Ronnie Milsap

Village Cafe's Wall of Yuks