Namibia with my Lover – Drool…
It all started with a dream. I wanted …
to travel a lot more. Especially within the African continent (can’t afford the thousands of rands required to fly over seas).
I figured I’d done SA extensively. Did Mocambique two years back. Zimbabwe&hmmm, maybe later. Lesotho – done. Swaziland- done. Botswana – done. Next stop. Namibia.
It’s actually quite funny that my lover and I booked ourselves into a B&B, paid for it and everything, without even knowing how far Namibia is.
On the map it seems pretty close. And I’d done other Southern African countries by car before, so I figured piece of cake.
Tjo. The place is like 2000km away mfana. That means it would take a full day to get there if you are foolish enough to drive.
Ah, I figured it would be a bit of an adventure you know. Just me, my lover and the open road.
We figured we’d leave in the afternoon, drive through the night and get there the next morning.
Phela we are on a budget trip, can’t afford to do an overnight stop, that stuff needs money. And we have very little of that.
This is the diary of Dikatso & Mothepu
December 29, 2005
10h00 – scheduled time to leave
13h00 – actual time of departure. Eish, my lover and keeping time – the two just don’t get along yazi.
14h00 – got a bit lost trying to find the N14 or is it the N4 – the road that takes us to Zeerust.
15h00 – Made a quick stop somewhere in Magaliesburg for some goodies. You know some padkos that consisted of sweets, simba chips, water and some cool drink. Can’t spend too much, we are on a budget.
18h00 – Zeerust. Finally. Been driving for what seems like forever. But the roads are pretty good, so wasn’t all that bad actually.
19h00 – Finally get to Pioneer Gate Border Post. Goodbye South Africa, and Hello Botswana.
Must say the customs officials aren’t very friendly. Nope, not at all. Botswana needs to train their customs staff to be a little bit friendlier, maybe smile a little. I mean, if your first impression of a country is their customs official…ya, they need some people skills.
Had to exchange some rands into the Botswana currency, the Pula that has more weight 1: 1.50 or so.
It’s getting dark, but the customs official tells me Botswana’s roads are as smooth as a baby’s bottom. No potholes in sight. Mara one problem. No fence to keep the wild animals away from the road. And remember, it’s getting dark.
23h00 – Finally we reach Kang. That’s midway between South African and Namibia. What a drive.
My lover was nice enough to let me drive in the dark and pouring rain. Could hardly see a thing.
I still have nightmares about cows. They are absolutely everywhere in Botswana. They just sit in the middle of the road and…very frustrating drive.
I must have passed millions of cows. Almost bumped a few in the process. Cows and donkeys, Botswana can never run out of those two animals.
I don’t understand why they don’t keep those things behind some fence. They’ll cause accidents, and kill somebody.
I’m really not exaggerating, those cows were flipping everywhere.
My lover tried to teach them the hooter. Every time we passed one, he’d hoot and say he’s teaching them to move out when they hear the sound of the hooter.
Now tell me, how many times do you think those cows have heard cars hoot when they pass? And he reckons he’s going to change those stubborn pieces of meat.
After this trip, cows are definitely not my favourite animals.
Kang was alright. We stopped at the Excel garage and tried to get accommodation you know so we could rest a little. We were freakin exhausted, and frustrated.
There was no way we were going to get back on that road with all those cows, in the road, in the dark…in the pouring rain.
Accommodation is expensive in Botswana, or at least in Kang. They wanted to charge us R300 bucks each for one night. Not even a full night, like a couple of hours to rest our eyes. We told them they could shove their room, we’d sleep in the car.
Eish mara no, we need comfort if we are going to do another 12 hours on the road.
I’m from the location. Ekasi my broer. Managed to hustle a deal with the guys manning the motel. We paid them R300 and got to sleep on a mattress…on the floor. They got a little deal going on there. Shoot, I hope their bosses never get to read this.
30 December 2005
04h00 – Mamuno border post opens at 7am, and we want to get there as early as possible. The rest was good. Now it’s time to get back on the road. My lover is driving for a change. Okay, he did some driving yesterday as well.
10h00 – Goodbye Botswana. And hello Namibia.
There are beetles everywhere at the border post. If they were to decide to attack a humans…there’d be a serious blood bath.
The Namibian customs officials aren’t that much friendlier than the ones in Botswana. But that doesn’t matter. We are just glad we’ve made it this far.
Gotta cough up some money.
R120 to buy us a permit to travel in Namibia. Botswana cost us a good R70. Can’t wait to get some food. And petrol. We are so freakin’ hungry.
Just outside the border there’s a Total garage. We fill up, and go to a hotel/shop/conference centre kind of place.
The people manning the kitchen aren’t all that friendly either. I suppose if I had been working during the festive season (so close to the new year), I’d also be a little grumpy.
Anyways, as unfriendly as they are, they hook up a mean cheese, bacon, egg, and tomato sandwich.
Being the good lover I am, I give Mothepu half of my sandwich. He was super hungry.
Okay, back on the road again.
13h00 – Windhoek. We’ve almost reached our destination. We get a little lost, and have a bit of a language problem.
Finally a good Samaritan shows us the way. And it’s off to Swakopmund.
15h30 – “Mothepu stop. Sand dunes. I want to take pictures,” I say to my lover. Have you ever looked at something so unreal that it seems like you are watching a movie, or looking at a picture?
The whole of Swakopmund is like something out of a picture. So unreal. So perfect. So pure. Amazing.
Oh, and then there’s the ocean. Oh my goodness. You have the Namib dessert on your left. A dessert, and right next to it on your right there’s the Atlantic ocean.
I couldn’t help but drool.
16h15 – Our final destination. Walvis Bay, surrounded by lagoons. In fact we are staying at the Lagoon Lodge. It’s beautiful out there with flamingos and all kinds of beautiful birds I don’t know the names to.
It’s just like heaven. I must shed a drool.
18h00 – Now that we’ve freshened up and christened the place. We drive back to Swakop, seems much livelier than Walvis.
Headed straight for the beach. You know the sun is still out right now. Kinda like Cape Town, at 8pm the sun still’s out.
Went to get some grub at a local pub. It’s quite busy this time of year in Swakopmund. There are quite a few GP, N, and NW number plates there.
The food is absolutely scrumptious.
23h00 – Head back to Lagoon Lodge. What a day.
December 31 – New Years Eve
9h00 – Breakfast.
11h00 – Have a shower and it’s off to the banks. Gotta get there before they close. Too late.
Didn’t know our bankcards would work on the Namibian ATMs but guess what? They do. They have all the major banks that we have down here eMzansi.
Okay, so we are good for money. Now lets spend some.
13h00 – Have Nandos for Lunch and then it’s off for some quad biking experience.
15h00 – R150 each for a camel ride. Wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. The camels aren’t even from Namibia, they get shipped down from South Africa actually. At least tha”s what the guy manning them told me. He’s from South Africa as well.
Spend a good 30 minutes on the camels. My lover is terrified of the harmless creatures.
And then it’s time for a serious adrenalin rush. We spend some R700 between the both of us on a two-hour quad biking trip.
Vroom vroom indeed. It’s beautiful out on the Namib dessert. Must go faster. And faster.
Ended up falling off my quad bike, and slicing up my ankle in the process. No more quad biking for me. Damn.
Rushed to the nearest private hospital. Met a funny doctor (not funny looking, funny as in ha ha) who tells me they’ll have to amputate my leg. Cruel jokes I tell you.
I get stitched up, cry a little (the accident could have been so much worse) pay a good R850 for consultation, medication and I don’t know what else.
“No dancing for you tonight,” the doctor warns.
What a day.
Can hardly walk.
18h00 – Head back to Lagoon Lodge got some TLC.
20h00 – Get some dinner at the same local pub we went to in Swakopmund the previous night. The waiters are really friendly there, and the food is so good. My foot is really starting to ache now. Eish. I want to party.
00h00 – Happppppppppppppppppieeeeeeee.
January 1 2006
9:30 – it’s a brand new year. And I can hardly walk. Have to be piggy backed everywhere.
Have breakfast and take a drive along the lagoon. It’s beautiful out there. The roads aren’t that great though.
We end up in front of some salt manufacturing company. There’s a huge mountain of that stuff just sitting there. I can’t imagine how many bottles of salt could come out of that.
15h00 – The lover gets us some fast food. Spur. Not bad.
20h00 – We decide that before we head home we should experience a little bit more of Walvis Bay.
So we headed down to a restaurant right by the lagoon. It’s absolutely gorgeous. But their service sucks.
We spent a good 45 minutes waiting for our food. Hungry as we were, we tell them to stuff their food. And went around looking for another restaurant that might be open.
But it’s new years, there’s no restaurants are opened this place. At least not in Walvis Bay.
22h30 – the lover is super hungry. I’m alright. He settles for a couple of sandwiches at a petrol station. The food’s disgusting.
Back to Lagoon Lodge it is. Our last night in heaven.
07h00 – Gotta get back on the road again. Have breakfast and head out.
Goodbye beautiful sand dunes. Goodbye oceans, ships and sea creatures.
January 3
10h00 – Home Sweet Home. What a journey
The cost of four-days accommodation in Namibia : R2400
The cost of spending 30 minutes at a hospital in Namibia : R850
The amount of money petrol to Namibia will cost you : R1 500 (return)
The amount of money spent on entertainment and food : R2 000
The cost of everlasting memories of a romantic getaway surrounded by dessert and ocean : priceless
