Namibia

After a quick, orderly and easy trip through security I was landside at Windhoek, Namibia and there was my driver. Yay!

He led me to a swanky VW, nicely signwritten with the name of my hotel ‘Roof of Africa’ which is my home for tonight, the first night of my Botswana/Zimbabwe tour.  Along beautiful sealed straight roads we headed for the city, the ever present red red sand out the sides of the road and into the distance. It never stops, but at least here it is contained and so far not covering all the footpaths and most of the road like the other places I have been of late. 

I haven’t done much research about this trip; all I know was that it goes to the Okavango Delta, a place that has been on my bucket list for years, and then on to a few other places that I am not too interested in but are on the itinerary so I will do as it says. I did know that there are some long driving days. Ugh!  The tour finishes at Victoria Falls before I head back to Jo’burg to fly home. 

Along the drive I did learn a bit about Namibia. They, like us, drive on the left. English is their first language. They are predominantly Christians with a sprinkling of Muslims. Tap water is drinkable but water is in short supply.  

I imagined the Roof of Africa to be a central city high rise and was a bit surprised when my driver pulled into a low rise complex that looked like motels and out of the city but it is lovely.   I was shown to my room, plugged in my chargers and hit that soft white matress like it was a bunch of fluffy clouds. With little sleep the night I left Somone at 5:00am and a solid run of short flights I had barely slept for close to 48 hours so it wasnt surprising that I heard nothing for the next three hours. So much for my rule that I never have day time naps so as to avoid jet lag. There is only a three hour time difference from Senegal so that wont be an issue anyway. 

The hotel has one thing I have never seen in hotels before: universal power outlets. You can plug in whatever type plug you want as long as it is 220 or 240 volts and it will work. 
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I checked my trip notes. Ok it is not like I imagined. It seems that as well as the shared room on the houseboat in the delta I also get to share a room in some ‘lodge’. That will put me out of my comfort zone but oh well. The other thing I now know is that the long driving days are in a safari vehicle so hopefully manned by a decent off road driver so we can get dusty and dirty. Im so glad I booked an extra night at a resort in Vic Falls. Bring it on. 

Lunch called. A buffet option or a la carte. No contest a la carte all the way especially since they have PORK CHOPS!  My fave food that I havent had since I left home. It sounded good, it looked good and it was great!!! Lightly marinated, grilled to perfection and tender soft. I like this place. 
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As I was eating I was intently watching what was probably a restaurant manager or something. A tiny Asian lady who was like a sergeant major   organising the buffet and the staff. It was hilarious to watch. She did make sure that all the staff had a big lunch from the buffet which is more than I can say for some restaurant managers in NZ. 

Afternoon map done and we got together for our intro to our group for the next ten days. A young Australian couple, a russian lady, a swiss lady, a Greek American guy and a Greek Australian woman who is a dead ringer for the aunt in ‘My big fat Greek wedding’. The one that will dish up lamb to the vegetarian. It was hard to contain my smile. The rest of the group seem lovely. 

Both our guide and driver are from Zimbabwe but now living in South Africa and are both switched on and seem lovely. 

Our vehicle is parked out side. A massive big safari truck and not the small 4wd I had imagined, so I am getting more excited about the trip. 

Dinner was Namibian style oxtail stew and damn good too. Next came grilled kudu and also orix. Both delicious and tender. 

A lovely end to what started off as a crazy day. 

Tomorrow we head into Botswana and will be staying in a basic lodge before we head for the Okovango Delta for two nights in a house boat. Neither place will have wifi so be prepared. Blogs will follow when we are back on line. 

Comments

  1. beata29 November 2019 at 06:56

    Best of luck. ZIMBABWE Vic Falls - Helga and I loved our time there.

    ReplyDelete

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