October 18, 2011
By Mike Schoby
If you find yourself motoring through the dusty thousand-mile ribbon of nothingness known as the Caprivi Strip (Namibia, Africa) you will find few things other than scattered villages, donkey carts (the Kalahari Ferrari), herds of goats and shebeens€¦lots of African shebeens. These quaint drinking establishments are to Africa what the classic American Roadhouse is to Texas. You can saddle up nearly 24/7 to wash the dust out of your mouth, pick up a sporting woman (which in Africa can be very sporting) and possibly get in a knife fight.
While nearly identical in diminutive size, rot-gut booze selection and shabby exterior appearance, they create individuality through creative names. To wit, here are our Five Favs in no particular order from recent trips to the Dark Continent.
Night Club No folks, this isn't a shebeen, this is a NIGHT CLUB. While the hours of operation were the same as the others, there was a similar lack of music and the same odd smell, we thought this night club should get extra props for the flashy use of roofing material.
Gansta Paradise Paradise??? Yes it was. Though the half stripped cars out back and tough looking patrons sporting gold teeth and knives made it an inviting scene, we only had one drink before cautiously backing out of the door. That's all the time it took to find our land rover on blocks out front.
International Market and Bar This bar's wonderful international feel was easily achieved since this shebeen was located within walking distance of the border of Angola, Namibia and Botswana. As for the market, all we could find was grain in the form of beer.
Good Struggle Never Loose Bar We liked this place, but found it to be a bit of false advertising. After 16 Castle Lagers and one pool game (for cash) that went horribly wrong, we found out that even after a good struggle, you can still loose (or lose).
King Nehale Club Even though we felt like kings in this joint, there was only one chair, no throne and the service wasn't the best. Go figure.
