“You need to experience the lows to enjoy the highs” as they (whoever they are) say. Well up until the Namibian border I think it’s pretty fair to describe our trip as the following \______________ Only Morocco is worth recommending as it’s European i.e. everything works and it’s enjoyable being there. Now however, at long last I can add a / to the end of that drawing of a golf club on the floor. Namibia is wonderful as appears to be any of the Southern African Union states of Botswana (more later) Zambia and SA. The long list of what’s terrible north of here doesn’t apply at all anymore. Food, Roads, Climate, Malaria, Service, just about everything is in the good column. Er no that’s not good Malaria, it’s just crossed out. Having just made the border as it closed and with sore bums our first experience of Namibia was
...a Wimpy restaurant! Much gorging of banana milkshakes, burgers, chips and coffee later we checked into a German styled motel for a beer and sleep. I should point out that Namibia is a former German colony so much like SA, things work. The native people here seem very different to their neighbours above in a way that I really can’t describe. Religion doesn’t seem visible at all unlike the extremism it seems to hold in both Christianity in the Central and Muslim in the North and West. Neither does there seem to be a tribal thing going on where elsewhere it’s their tribe rather than country that is the big deal. Days two and three were spent at Ongura game reserve lodge just outside of Etosha National Park. And what a treat it was too we had about the best food
we’ve ever eaten, a guided drive around the National Park which was full of giraffe,
lions, impala (and these three were before we’d even got into the main national park, they were where we’d ridden our bikes the previous day!) Kudu, oryx, zebra, warthog, buffalo, elephants, birds and others.
Still with a rear inner tube that was either flat or fine we rode a short 100km to Tsuneb in order to buy and fit a new tube and sort out this problem once and for all. Fifth puncture repaired and new tube fitted we met Noel (UK) and Reka (HGY) who were on a slower, longer trip like ours but in a thirty year old trusty Land Rover.
We ended up spending the rest of the day and night with them and camped together with Noel demonstrating his Braai (SA BBQ) skills as we munched on steak, salad, red wine and marshmallows. Big yum, good times. As expected, after crossing into Namibia it’s a different world and without making a massive list of what’s now good it’s easier just to say that we’re having a fantastic time here. It’s definitely a place worth coming back to and spending a month or so in a 4x4 whilst also taking in its eastern and southern neighbours. The feeling of space is nice as with a population of only 1.9 million you really can get away from it all. Although because of this Windhoek was incredibly quiet and so after a couple of nights at a backpackers place we headed east the 1500km to see my friend Werner for a few beers...
...a Wimpy restaurant! Much gorging of banana milkshakes, burgers, chips and coffee later we checked into a German styled motel for a beer and sleep. I should point out that Namibia is a former German colony so much like SA, things work. The native people here seem very different to their neighbours above in a way that I really can’t describe. Religion doesn’t seem visible at all unlike the extremism it seems to hold in both Christianity in the Central and Muslim in the North and West. Neither does there seem to be a tribal thing going on where elsewhere it’s their tribe rather than country that is the big deal. Days two and three were spent at Ongura game reserve lodge just outside of Etosha National Park. And what a treat it was too we had about the best food
we’ve ever eaten, a guided drive around the National Park which was full of giraffe, 
lions, impala (and these three were before we’d even got into the main national park, they were where we’d ridden our bikes the previous day!) Kudu, oryx, zebra, warthog, buffalo, elephants, birds and others.
Still with a rear inner tube that was either flat or fine we rode a short 100km to Tsuneb in order to buy and fit a new tube and sort out this problem once and for all. Fifth puncture repaired and new tube fitted we met Noel (UK) and Reka (HGY) who were on a slower, longer trip like ours but in a thirty year old trusty Land Rover.
We ended up spending the rest of the day and night with them and camped together with Noel demonstrating his Braai (SA BBQ) skills as we munched on steak, salad, red wine and marshmallows. Big yum, good times. As expected, after crossing into Namibia it’s a different world and without making a massive list of what’s now good it’s easier just to say that we’re having a fantastic time here. It’s definitely a place worth coming back to and spending a month or so in a 4x4 whilst also taking in its eastern and southern neighbours. The feeling of space is nice as with a population of only 1.9 million you really can get away from it all. Although because of this Windhoek was incredibly quiet and so after a couple of nights at a backpackers place we headed east the 1500km to see my friend Werner for a few beers...
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