Luka! Luka! Luka!

As you probably were already aware, this month was host to one of the most exciting events of the year – Karneval! It all began with Kehrein on Friday where Tony and Leonie were crowned Prince and Princess, once Marion Schelkle and Norbert Klosta had relinquished their fauxcrowns. The parade kicked off early around 10am on Bay View Strasse, where children and adults alike were resplendent in their various costumes and this year’s Prince and Princess – Tony and Leonie reigned over all. There were colourful floats, floats with a message and even one float which had its very own Braai pit.

The children’s anticipation and excitement was tangible and gave the entire parade a warm and vibrant atmosphere. Having never been to Karneval in Lüderitz myself, I assumed that once the parade had finished its short circuit and we had reached the Turnhalle that that would be the end of it until later on in the evening. However, I was to be proven wrong! Inside the Turnhalle the wonders continued as there were stalls upon stalls of good food, sweets, games, pillow fighting and much more. The hall was looking the part; decorated with streamers of yellow and blue thanks to the Karneval committee, and full of people happily munching on kebabs or pancakes. The entire room buzzing with conversation. 

As soon as Sarah and I arrived in Lüderitz we had heard talk of the Karneval, were asked if we were going to the Karneval and so when we arrived at the Turnhalle at 7pm our expectations were very high. I am delighted to say we were not one bit disappointed. It was a fantastic evening, full of wry humour, hilarious jokes and riotous skits, not to mention the next chart topper; “Lüderitz, where the Hell is Lüderitz?” written by the very talented Birgit Eimbeck and Diane Metzger. The outfits on display were varied to the say the least, and the effort that had been put in was obvious. We felt very left out, being two out of only a handful of people not dressed up! All the effort wasn’t for nothing though as a lot of people were awarded prizes for their spectacular outfits. First place in the women’s best-dressed category came Ira who looked wonderful as a Venetian courtier and first place in the men’s category was Jason Burgess who was dressed as a sumo wrestler, complete with chopsticks. Best dressed couple went to Alfonso and Nicole who were very convincing accident victims with quite horrific injuries. Franci was awarded, “most original costume” and was dressed as Global Warming, complete with glowing fairy lights. As we left the Turnhalle close to One O’Clock in the morning, our stomachs sore from laughing, the party was still going strong. We were warned people in Luderitz knew how to have a good time! However, Saturday night was not the end of the celebrations! The Kehraus was held in the Yacht Club on Sunday and we heard tell that a good closing down party was had by all.

Lastly, a big thanks to all who made Luka such a success this year, you have made our first Karneval a memorable one!