Touring Danes introduced to the best and worst of Namibia

A YOUNG Danish couple, upset by their criminal welcome to Namibia here on Monday, were filled with relief and gratitude yesterday after effective detective work by the Police at this northern town.

Self-made posters telling of the theft that befell travellers Marck Lauritsen and Lene Andersen at a Grootfontein service station on Monday morning were displayed all over the town this week, offering a reward for the return of items stolen from their vehicle. By yesterday morning the couple, who put up the posters, had all but resigned themselves to the irrecoverable loss of their valuables.That was before the Police Criminal Investigation Department came to their rescue.Its investigation, coupled with the two tourists’ efforts to enlist the help of town residents in finding their lost property, had paid off.Lauritsen and Andersen had been travelling through Africa for four months without encountering any crime, even in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, which is often cynically called ‘Nairobbery’ in travellers’ circles after its reputation for theft committed against tourists.But their good run ended at Grootfontein on Monday.A 17-second clip of footage captured by a surveillance camera at the town’s Shell service station shows how that happened.The camera caught a man dressed in a white shirt and black trousers lingering by a left-side door of the couple’s four-wheel drive pick-up.Lauritsen, Andersen and a fuel pump attendant were on the other side of the vehicle, their view of the man obscured.He looked round, and then casually reached deep into the vehicle’s cabin and took out a camera bag that had been lying inside.He stuck this under his shirt, looked round again – as someone passed by without raising any alarm – and walked off.In those few seconds, the Danish pair had lost a camera bag containing their passports, a digital video camera and a still-photo camera with film inside.On that film were irreplaceable undeveloped photos of their trip through Botswana, which they had visited before entering Namibia on Sunday.What should have been a short fuel stop at Grootfontein turned into a half-week’s pause as the couple waited to see whether someone would return their stolen property.Yesterday morning their luck turned for the better.A Grootfontein Police CID member, Detective Constable Ismael Lungameni, contacted the couple to inform them that all their stolen valuables, except for their passports, had been found.Lungameni had tracked the suspected thief and an alleged accomplice down by yesterday morning.Police said yesterday they hoped one of the culprits would direct them to where the couple’s identity documents were.Lauritsen and Andersen told The Namibian that they were pleased to have received a large measure of concern and support from people at the town, where shop owners were almost all willing to let them put up their posters asking for help from the public.By yesterday morning the couple, who put up the posters, had all but resigned themselves to the irrecoverable loss of their valuables.That was before the Police Criminal Investigation Department came to their rescue.Its investigation, coupled with the two tourists’ efforts to enlist the help of town residents in finding their lost property, had paid off.Lauritsen and Andersen had been travelling through Africa for four months without encountering any crime, even in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, which is often cynically called ‘Nairobbery’ in travellers’ circles after its reputation for theft committed against tourists. But their good run ended at Grootfontein on Monday.A 17-second clip of footage captured by a surveillance camera at the town’s Shell service station shows how that happened.The camera caught a man dressed in a white shirt and black trousers lingering by a left-side door of the couple’s four-wheel drive pick-up.Lauritsen, Andersen and a fuel pump attendant were on the other side of the vehicle, their view of the man obscured. He looked round, and then casually reached deep into the vehicle’s cabin and took out a camera bag that had been lying inside.He stuck this under his shirt, looked round again – as someone passed by without raising any alarm – and walked off.In those few seconds, the Danish pair had lost a camera bag containing their passports, a digital video camera and a still-photo camera with film inside.On that film were irreplaceable undeveloped photos of their trip through Botswana, which they had visited before entering Namibia on Sunday.What should have been a short fuel stop at Grootfontein turned into a half-week’s pause as the couple waited to see whether someone would return their stolen property.Yesterday morning their luck turned for the better.A Grootfontein Police CID member, Detective Constable Ismael Lungameni, contacted the couple to inform them that all their stolen valuables, except for their passports, had been found.Lungameni had tracked the suspected thief and an alleged accomplice down by yesterday morning.Police said yesterday they hoped one of the culprits would direct them to where the couple’s identity documents were.Lauritsen and Andersen told The Namibian that they were pleased to have received a large measure of concern and support from people at the town, where shop owners were almost all willing to let them put up their posters asking for help from the public.