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On St. Patrick’s day this year we were invited to a ‘beer and skittles’ party. So my first thought was, who in this world would want to eat skittles alongside beer? That sounds pretty nasty to me. Turns out that skittles is an old European bowling like game which is the precursor to the standard bowling that we are used to. The lane, unlike bowling, was about 1/3 the size but had a small groove so that the ball would not too easily roll into the gutter. The best technique was to throw the ball at a slight angle so that it would sway from edge to edge as it rolled down the lane.

Oh yea, and we had beer!

From Wikipedia:
Skittles usually takes place in a skittle alley, and usually uses a single set of nine pins.

The pitch, like the pins and the rules, varies according to region, but is between 21 feet (6.4 m) and 36 feet (11 m) long to the front pin.

The balls are traditionally made of hardwood, often lignum vitae, though rubber balls may sometimes be found. They are between 4 inches (100 mm) and 6 inches (150 mm) in diameter, and have no finger holes. The player usually has a choice of sizes. A sloping wooden ramp along the side of the alley is often used to return them to the players.

Pins are vertical lengths of wood – traditionally from the wood of a cider apple tree in the west country, or sometimes synthetic materials. They are between 6 inches (150 mm) and 16 inches (400 mm) high, weigh up to 3 kg, with height, shape and weight all varying by region. The central pin (or sometimes the front pin) may be larger or differently shaped in some games. The pins are always arranged in a diamond pattern:

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* *
* * *
* *
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Usually three balls are thrown, and any pins that have been knocked down but that remain on the pitch are removed between throws. If all the pins are knocked down, they are put back by the sticker – so the maximum score is typically 27 (3 x 9), though this varies in different versions of the game.

Generally the ball is thrown to roll along the floor, but in some regions it is bowled rather like in cricket, either with or without a bounce – though with an under-arm swing action. Each player may have up to 12 ‘hands’ (turns) during a match. Source

Skittles is apparently also very popular in Germany, hence the location of an alley in Windhoek. In the big ‘G’ they call the game Kegeln.

Definitly want to come back here for another game.

Everyone at the alley had their own technique.

On the way out we found a neat little tree that had grown around a golf ball!!!

Camera Situation
Happy Independance Day Namibia and Bahai New Years

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