Whatever can they have been thinking? We'd just boarded our Air Namibia flight to Cape Town. After five weeks in Namibia, I'd concluded that the country was a pretty modern, first world kind of place. But I'm sorry, it's now perfectly clear that little Namibia still has a lot to learn from the West when it comes to modern business practice.
The first clue came when, on our two-hour Air Namibia midday flight, we were told there'd be a hot lunch. This was preceded by the pre-lunch drink (we chose tomato juice, served with ice, a little stirrer and sachets of salt and pepper.) The chicken meal itself tasted rather like chicken, with crisp vegetables and a spicy sauce, and a dainty salad on the side. There was a small creamy cake to follow, and a glistening chocolate truffle in the coffee cup. We drank Coca-cola that came in a proper 330ml can, although wine and beer was on offer. The cabin crew were smiling and interested, handing out the drinks for all the world as if they were hosting a party.
I cast my mind back to our two-hour British Airways flight to Italy last July. I think we got a sandwich. Our ten-hour BA flight to Johannesburg had yielded far meaner fare than this 120-minute hop. Yes, if Namibia really wants to catch up with us in the west, I'm afraid it's going to have to find a much more cutting edge way of treating its visitors.
John
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