Well we have finally arrived in Africa. We safely picked up George (the Land Rover) from the Port of Walvis Bay which took a day. We have also now got a roof tent fitted, a 40 Litre fridge, folding table and chairs, cooking equipment (gas and fire) and a 2.5 metre awning. This has all taken some time! Bardt, the manager of the outdoors dealer Cymot in Windhoek has been very helpful and also arranged with Berti, the manager of Savannah Vehicle Hire to fit the Roof tent and the awning. This of course was all more difficult than it first appeared and needed bespoke brackets and all sorts so this took another whole day. When we then tried out the tent we found out that the manufacturers do not pop rivet two rungs of the ladder because vehicle heights vary which meant a return trip. We are now kitted out with a Namibian pay-as-you-go SIM card called ‘Tango’! We tried to get GPRS to connect to the ‘net but after several mobile shops attempted to do this MTC (the only Namibian network) helpline told me you could only get GPRS on a contract and even then it didnt work!! So we are downloading emails using a WAP connection at 9600 baud hence the lack of update of the website, until now!
Windhoek must be the most laid-back capital city I have ever visited. Not at all bustling, frenetic metropolis and all the better for it.
So we are now at the Waterberg Plateau, wonderful walking country. Today, on a short walk we saw a Dik-Dik and a Red headed Woodpecker (havent looked him up in the bird book yet). Have photos but that maybe beyond the current connection capabilties. Last night we stayed near here at a lovely campsite on a ridge overlooking the bush. Ideallic setting indeed, but horrendously windy, not much fun in a roof tent. At one stage I thought we were going to have to abandon ship in favour of more stable living quarters of George’s cab!
Next we plan to go to Etosha National Park where we are camping for 10 nights in three different campsites and a couple of chalets. We are looking forward to some excellent wildlife viewing there. The roads in Namibia are pretty good although the corrugated gravel roads are certainly entertaining.
A right of passage this evening, I cooked my first Potjie (a cast iron cooking pot, a bit like a witches cauldron used on a campfire) in which I made a Lamb stew with butternut squash and green beans. Quite good though I say so myself!
News of Etosha soon depending on mobile reception…