Any Courteney boots in Windhoek or something similar. I need to get some gifts for the ones at home.

Damn girls I work with all want diamonds! Why is it that every woman I tell I am going to Namibia they all ask for diamonds.

Surprise the girls with Tanzanite. I have not seen any Courtneys in Windhoek but have not been in every shop. There's a good safari clothing store in the Kalahari Sands Hotel Mall but they only handle Hi Tec boots and some other brands I've not heard of. Good place for shirts and pants though.

John

There's a boot mfg. in the industrial district of Windhoek which makes really cool seal skin boots. My PH drove us over there on the way home. I picked up a pair. They also have buffalo skin boots. They also have a tannery where you can buy a 'hair off' kudu hide for about $60. Lots of other leather products ad hides there as well. I'll try to dig up the name from my Namibia pile and post. Bob

Bob,
sorry to be a spoilsport, but seal skin boots, as I understand it, may not be imported legally into the United States. The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits their import.

Got to admit that I have a pair, but then I hunt regularly in Namibia and leave the boots with my game farm-owning friends. Just had them resoled in fact. They are light and comfortable, but do not have a shank and minimal ankle support.
Regards, Tim

quote:

seal skin boots, as I understand it, may not be imported legally into the United States. The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits their import.

I belive if the seal skin has been "worked" by native peoples it can be sold and owned.

I buy seal skin from Alaska that has been sewn by native people there. I use it as a arrow rest on my traditional hunting bows.

Tim, I'm glad I didn't post this before I went last summer. I'll be looking over my shoulder now when I wear them! Nobody looked at the boots in my bag, so I was lucky. Bob

Bobc got the name on those Namibian courtneys?

Now diamonds in Namibia are no cheaper than anywhere else so forget diamonds. (Some 90 percent of the diamonds found in Namibia are gem quality so the country gets quite a name for quality stones.) But, you don't want to pay that kind of money for smallish gifts.

However... Namibia has major deposits of semi-precious stones and they are not expensive. Depending on the birthstone of your recepient, you can buy silver topaz (a clear, bright stone that is the November birthstone as are all topaz). Higher priced, but still reasonable, are the various tourmaline: blue, green and watermelon. Or you can go for the "ordinary" sorts of thing like rose quartz, obsidian, agate, etc, etc.
Two shops in Windhoek: the high priced one on the main road (Rocks and Gems???), and a more interesting family run shop that used to be owned by Sid Pieterse on Stubel Str. that is down not far from the large German hotel (Thuringer Hof) that is past the bronze kudu on the top end of the business district.

The other thing to get is various items in game leather, but you'll find ostrich is expensive. Kudu and wart hog and what have you comes in lipstick cases, small wallets, belts and purses and you can check them out next to the Kalahari Sands at the very high end shop Katerina Karl run by Eva Marie and Heino Mannschen, or, less expensive, walk down the main drag past KK across thelight and another 50 yards and you are at NAKARA. If you want to you can go to the NAKARA tannery in the Industrial Area when you look at the sealskin boots. They are ARCTOS boots, as I recall.
Regards, Tim

Thanks Tim,

Working the connection right now.

D99,
To get an idea of what stones are there, just do a search for Namibia on ebay...
Regards, Tim