THE MOST ORIGINAL STREET CHRISTMAS DECORATION

A tree of paint tins in downtown Windhoek. 10/10 for originality, about 3/10 for visual success.

Amusing to think of the mini-treefurore last year, when a beautifully decorated tree in African theme was torn down by the precinct owner in Swakopmund, because it was not 'traditional' (German?) enough.

Anyway, not much of the traditional Christmas here, if you are thinking of the European style. No Christmas pudding was anywhere to be seen, and only a few Brazilian frozen turkeys - more well-travelled foodstuffs, though not as eco-idiotic as the prawns, caught in England, shipped to Thailand to be cooked and peeled, then sent back to England again. No reason why they should be (turkeys to be seen, I mean) - who wants to stove over a hot slave when you can have a braai and a few beers on the beach, with some ice cream for afters.

Now all that's over, and we are at Dec 29th - perhaps because it's rather a ominous prime number and what I always thought of as the dead date - the nadir of the year - with life and activity at an ebb. The slack between Noel and Sylvester. In the northern hemisphere, frantic post-Christmas sales are in full swing under frosty, leaden skies: here, in Windhoek, by contrast, nearly all the shops are closed., and the population fled to the coast or south africa, depending on their budget. Not even the local newspapers are published - not that anyone would miss them. Not much happens here before Jan 15.

A soporific, sultry afternoon, duck-egg blue sky and fluffy white clouds - maybe some rain later. A happy 2008 to all our readers.

CAPE TOWN INTER- NATIONAL AIRPORT



doesn't look like this any more. In the apartheid days known as D.F. Malan (always pronounced Def Mlon by the then Seuwth Effrican Airways announcers) after the unpleasant first apartheid prime minister; latterly and blandly Cape Town International Airport - there seems to be no agreement over a politician to name it after - but surely Nelson Mandela, for his eternal association with Robben Island would be fitting?

Anyway, it used to be a friendly little airport, with wood panelling, and one room for arriving and departing, but now it is International, and is a huge construction site with multiple concrete double decker roller coasters going up. All because of 2010 obviously.

There is therefore a huge section for International Arrivals and International Departures, both called Terminals, but since the country's main hub is Johannesburg, they are not very busy. Not until a couple of weeks in 2010, anyway. I hung around all day waiting for a flight to Windhoek, leaving at 1600. I turned up to check in, but all counters were deserted - all 48 of them. The reason, looking at the board, on a Saturday afternoon, was that there were no 'international' flights out of Cape Town between 1400 and 1930, except for my one. I passed through into the equally deserted departure lounge, except for a sprinkling of fellow passengers - all such in the world are now identical - a broad glass and concrete corridors flanked by identikit flight-versions of high street shops. I always wonder at these 'duty free's- hasn't everyone tumbled to the realisation that the 'duty free' prices are approximately three times the prices with duty in any of the shops in town?

On this Saturday afternoon, nearly all were closed. There was one cafe open - I wandered over and inspected the R28 ($4) sandwiches and R32 ($4.50) slices of cake and decided I'd wait for the plane. A sign was erected on the steps leading down to the departure gate (another question - why does every passage through an airport involve a 2km trek through numbingly boring corridors and empty little lounges? It said. "There are no facilities beyond this point" At least it was honest. It should have added - Or anywhere else for that matter.

Finally the flight was called. The Air Namibia plane was clearly visible outside the window. But it would have been too simple actually to walk to it - we had to get on a bus, waiting till everyone had checked through - then the bus trundled to the end of the airport and back again. Security regulations, you know.

So my humble nomination for the World's most boring airport - CTIA. Until 2010 at least.