IN the streets
of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, heavily loaded vehicles with foreign
number plates are hogging parking spaces while holidaymakers sporting
beachwear and sunburnt faces are beginning to fill coffee shops and
restaurants.
The holiday season is coming to town. Local businesses are thriving as the Christmas-New Year boom sets in. According
to Almuth Styles from Namib-i in Swakopmund, self-catering and
bed-and-breakfast establishments at the coast are well occupied. Those who hope to find accommodation between Christmas and New Year will need a healthy scoop of good luck. "Maybe one can still find room for a single night here and there, but only if one really looks around," said Styles. Hotels also report very good reservations. Most
of the bigger hotels are fully booked for the period between Christmas
and New Year, though some still have a few rooms available. Styles
said the biggest influx is, as usual, of Namibians but she has noted a
marked increase in the number of tourists from South Africa and
Botswana. At Walvis Bay, the picture is similar, reports Chriselda Meyer of the Walvis Bay Tourism Association. Some
hotel rooms are still available, but until the beginning of January
places at bungalows, camping sites, lodges and B&Bs will be hard to
come by. Getting a camping site or two at Long Beach might still be possible for those who move quickly. At
Namibia's favourite fishing destination, Henties Bay, a tug-of-war is
also going on for lodging during the last week of the year. | 
