Windhoek
As Reka had to proceed to the Immigration office in Windhoek to sort out her visa. It was very clear that Namibia is a popular tourist destination with Europeans as well as South Africans.
I saw thousands of rented 4×4’s that were kitted out with roof tents and had most of the essentials that we had brought for our overland journey.
The scenery through Tsumeb and Otjiwarongo was absolutely stunning as you drive through large expanse open spaces and the scenery never disappoints along the way. We entered Windhoek on a Sunday but honestly with a population no more than 500,000 a big city seems very chilled whatever the day you arrive!
I managed to collect my refrigerator at a backpackers in Windhoek that had been left by Joe and Christine here a few week back. I lent them the fridge in Ghana as I didn’t see much use for it in West Africa as camping was not always that easy and my secondary battery that ran it was dead and so Namibia seemed like a close place to be rekindled with it.
We then found a nice backpackers to stay the night in called Chameleon backpackers, we camped there in our tents but it was in a small parking area but they also had dormitories and rooms but were all fully booked out. It was here at the bar that I met Sid an American guy that had been in Botswana volunteering his services as a doctor, Jan a German carpenter that is travelling through Southern Africa but as part of his tradition can only pay for his travels through the paid work that he gets as a carpenter in that country and a Swiss guy (can’t remember his name right now) that was helping a friend build a school in Cameroun and is now travelling to South Africa.
It was a strange mix but for one night we all stayed drinking till late in the Chameleon bar and then went in search of more booze through the streets of Windhoek, apart from a few casino’s we couldn’t find any late-night drinking places until a cab driver took us to a night club where we could get beers and have a good time in a Namibian club. I had drunk a lot that night due to the ciders I started on, the Swiss guy buying me some whiskeys during a few games of pool, a few bottles of red wine followed by several beers and so the next morning I wasn’t in the best of shape!
Immigration Office
The next day we stumbled into the Immigration office in the centre of Windhoek and after being sent to various booths finally found the correct officer who told us the guys at the border were wrong to let Reka in without the visa but after speaking to a few of his colleagues told us to return the next the next day and she would have to submit her application for a visa and it should be ok tomorrow.
Maggie had still been experiencing oil leakages on the front left hand side the tyre and so we went in search of a mechanic of which I was told there were a few in Windhoek but all we we went to were fully booked fixing Land rovers and Land Cruisers, one mechanic told me to come back in a month! It could wait till another city in Namibia so we left it at that.
Windhoek is a nice city and it has all the kinds of things a large city should have, its easy to travel round the city and seems very safe and relaxing. The only thing it lacked in the centre was a decent place to camp as space is obviously costlier to have in the city so we met a guy called Frikkie who ran individual safari’s through Southern Africa and he took us to a place 10km outside Windhoek where we could camp more in the wilderness and have a camp fire and access to a shower and not be far from the city so for that thanks Frikkie! (his website is www.big5experience.com) The next day after a few hours Reka had paid for her Namibian visa and had the same 60 days that I had so we were able to set off again.
