We were up early after a good night’s rest. But as usual we took our time over coffee, breakfast and packing up. We were on the road at 9am.
While we were travelling I was fascinated by the number of free roaming domestic animals (donkeys, cattle, goats, dogs, etc.) along the road. The road verges were exceptionally wide and fences either non-existent or in bad repair. There were vultures feeding on the road kill at regular intervals.
After crossing the border between Botswana and Namibia we set our watches an hour back to comply with Namibian time. When we stopped in Gobabis we realised why we were so hungry; we had forgotten about the hour that we lost! Besides needing lunch, Roger also wanted to buy some Landjäger (a semi-dried traditional German sausage) to replace the ill-fated biltong. The sausage and the meal were both excellent.
We arrived at the Airport Lodge outside Windhoek in the late afternoon. They had no available accommodation for us, but after Roger did his magic, they allowed us to camp in the picnic site.
It was a long day and we were tired. After sunset the cold descended with a vengeance so we decided that left-overs would do just fine for supper. Water for the shower was heated by a donkey boiler and was pleasantly hot.
An early night and a warm duvet was called for…
Windhoek was our first stop the next day. We had some last minute shopping to do and we needed a local sim card in order to have comms with our hiking buddies Eugene and Marlene. But first things first; breakfast at M&B. It was good, as always.
We were happy to leave the city behind us, chomping at the bit to get to the start of our hike. After refueling at Rehohoth we headed towards Solitaire where we planned to overnight.
Soltaire consists of a filling station, a shop, a chapel and the Moose McGregor Desert Bakery, which is well known for its apple pie. Arguably ‘the best in the whole of Namibia’, if you are into apple pie, that is. Their coffee is good too.
We both had coffee and Roger had apple pie. The home-made meat pies would be taken away for supper. All absolutely delicious!
The lodge, much to our disappointment, was fully booked and it had no camping facilities so that canned the idea of spending the night there.
It was late, after 5pm, when we left Solitaire in search of overnight accommodation. We were armed with telephone numbers for 3 possible campsites on the way to Sesriem, provided by the friendly receptionist at the lodge.
I have to say that the roads were in a really bad state. 15 Years ago we could not praise the Namibian roads enough. Now there was too much traffic and apparently little or no maintenance. We could hardly hear each other over the noise created by the bakkie moving over the corrugations.
It was fast becoming dark and we needed to find a campsite. The first one was too far off the main road, the second one was full, so we eventually ended up at the third, called Weltevrede. What a relief. It was about 8pm.
Setting up camp in the dark is never very pleasant. Setting up camp in the dark with a howling, freezing wind is even worse, especially while being sandblasted. We wasted no time getting into bed and pulling the duvet over our heads. Tomorrow is another day…
It was a long night. The tent was affected so badly by the wind that our feet were lifted every now and then and it felt like the tent was about to become airborne. The noise of the flapping sides was so loud that sleep was out of the question. We had visions of the tent, and us in it, being blown right off the top of the vehicle. There is a lot to be said for a solid structure during a storm. I missed Ufudu!