Casablanca to Casa Nostra

The last evening together they only had tea and sweet bread. Next morning the packing was rather extensive with each car going in its different direction. They had to look for oil for the car and this was more difficult than they anticipated. The bigger towns in Namibia do not seem to be well geared to this type of activity and the people rather unhelpful.

Dinner at Joe's

Eventually they reached Windhoek where they booked for the night at the Chameleon. A small place not far from the German schule that caters for a rather ecological backpackers type. She checked in while Coen went on a search for his oil. He came back in a rather bad mood since he again met with this ‘different’ way of doing things here.

That evening they asked their way to Joe’s – a place they had wanted to patronise already 4 years ago. At Joe’s they made a good meal of sharing smoked butterfish for a starter and Oryx fillet for main course. It was a Monday evening and the place was packed with people, tourists and regulars.

They made their way back to the Chameleon via yet another Shell garage to ask about the oil. It was early, they read, wrote and discussed the road back home and then went to bed.

After breakfast, Coen went off to do the oil change and she sat at the Chameleon to write, read and rest further. The person recommended by the Chameleon did a good job but at a price – motor oil is rather expensive in Namibia.

Road to park

Then they took the road out of town. Jacky of the Chameleon said they will not make the gate of the park that day and suggested that they might want to stay around Stampriet. It was a long road through the desert of Namibia where they saw warthogs, mongoose and meercats on the roads. It was the beginning of community bird country and they saw their big nests.

dinner at Auob

Cooling down

It was still early when they passed Stampriet so they pushed on to see what they could find further. And they fell on the Auob Country Lodge. A nice place with nice managers who were willing to put them up at a special price that day. They booked in, discussed the evening meal with the girl there and went for a swim to cool down – they have a nice pool. After the pool it was a wash/bath and a nap. Later they sat in the lounge and caught up with the news, and then went to the dining room for calamari in filo pastry and eland steak. The desert was chocolate mousse, all very well presented.

Ground squirrels at border post

The lodge offered a very copious breakfast. Then they moved on to the park. At Mata Mata, they signed out of Namibia and moved into SA, the park girl there was helpful. She booked them into 2 nights camping at Twee Rivieren and renewed their Wild Card. She also gave them pointers about the park: speed limits, the hours to be spent on the road etc.

Eagle in the park

Springboks

The speed was 50km/h and they saw quite a bit of wildlife with no effort: Wildebeest, Oryx, eagles, springbok etc, and of course some rather huge community birds’ nests. Cheetas were mentioned but they did not see them. They got to camp just after 16h00 and the SA border post was closed. They set up camp when Coen noticed that the rear left tire was flat. He changed that and then went for a shower.

Community birds nest

Wildebeest

Meanwhile she was getting ready to prepare the evening meal. When Coen had sorted out all the cooking needs, he settled to put the pictures on the computer to see what they are worth. It was getting rather cool when dinner was ready, they had a relaxed dinner and looked at their pictures while trying to plan the next trip her mother wants to make to SA.

Old house in the Park

This is what they saw...

Steenbok and ostrich

The next morning they had coffee and rusks early and drove off to see what there was to see on a morning game drive. It was, at first very much the same as the day before and eventually Coen asked her to drive. 




On the detour back to camp she took the road to a view point, Coen was not keen on it, but since it was her 
driving he just shrugged and guess what?! This is what they saw …..

Driving back to camp they also saw some interesting game. Once at camp they filled the car and had lunch, Coen had a nap and she investigated the surroundings after updating her blog.

Sunset in the Kgadigadi

That afternoon they went for a game drive. There was not much activityat the waterholes but the sunset was quite spectacular. There were some rather noisy newcomers to the camp when they started preparing food: couscous with pink salmon with shiitake mushroom and olive tapenade sauce. The evening was cooling down when they settled inside the tent.

Camp at Twee Rivier

It was shortly after 6 when they woke up and started getting ready to move. Water was boiled for coffee and then packing started in earnest. Some people had already packed and driven off. They checked out of the gate and made for Upington on a tarred but somewhat uneven road.

They chose to stop and fill at Askham to be sure they do not have problems. This is a small town off the main road where there are only 2 petrol stations and the ATM is only a counter inside the shop – the cashier gives out the money. After that it was a pretty uneventful trip to Upington except for the radiator playing up and down again.

In Upington Coen went in search of radiator repair and she went to the butcher to see if she can find some fillet for Alexander. They filled the car again and moved on towards Kuruman where they intended to sleep at Red Sands. The road was now getting busier and it was Friday afternoon too.

Dinner at Red Sands

And they met with the unending roadworks and ‘virgo’ situation which made them take longer on an otherwise good road. At Red Sands, they had space for them and soon they had unpacked and seen to the car etc, had a shower and were having a short rest before going down to dinner. They chose chicken wings for a starter and Coen had the lamb shank for dinner. It was well prepared and generous. The chef came up to see if everything was ok with the food.

It was a very quiet and peaceful place in a nature reserve. They had a good night’s sleep. Breakfast was included in the bill, so they sat down and made a good meal of it before hitting the last 500+km home.

Enfin home

There again, the radiator had to be watched and there were quite a few waiting times at the road works. They made it to the house at around 16h25 and the dogs came to meet them at the gate. Then they started the unpacking of the cars – tedious affair but had to be done. Later Keith, the housesitter dropped in for a chat and to give back the keys while they were relaxing a bit. They had a light dinner of soup and bread and retired to their own bed. 

Giving thanks

On trips like these, you come to realise that you cross/meet with people who come in and out of your life for a reason – these angels who help you even in the smallest manner to get through with your journey.

We have come across a number of these such angels who have directly or indirectly affected our lives and to them we give sincere thanks. To name but a few …

Keith who has accepted to house sit for us and keep our dogs company so we could go off without constantly wondering what is going on back home.

Hayyat in Rabat who made some bookings for us and gave us sound advice. The people who helped clear the cars and the girl who piled all 6 of us in her car to take us to where the cars were stored. Fatima in Fez who housed us for a long time, Mwe Beitul who cooked for us at her place and Ahmed who was there.

All the people who helped look after the cars, repairs and maintenance on the way and those who advised what can and should be done on the cars for them to tackle the roads ahead of whom Godfried in Ghana is one of them.

The people at the camp sites and inns on the way who housed us and talked to us about their country. Those who housed us even though they had never met us such as Willem and Marjolaine, Jimmy in Libreville and Albert in Dakar, of course Rico and Liz in Barra do Dande. And Koen and Vero who opened their apartment to us and also found shelter for our friends. The shelter given unreservedly by the fathers in the various missions we stopped at: Father Immanuel in Nigeria, Father Manfred in Mamfe, Father Arnold in Bamenda and the good father in Tombocco.

The good tips given by people of the SA embassies such as Vivianne, Aisha and Derrik, Thabo and Freddy at the SA embassy in DRC who helped us at a most opportune moment on this trip – help given willingly. Oliver in Benin who went out of his way to make our journey through Nigeria a safe one. Just saying thank you may not be enough but for now that is all we can do.

And of course, those who have called us, e-mailed us and sent numerous sms’ helped to keep us in touch with the real life out there. Those who were there to talk to and to listen like Sabina and Sara in Ghana, Vero in Luanda.

Not forgetting the doctor at the mission hospital in Mamfe who help deal with the skin problem.

To these people as well as the others such as petrol pump attendants, the receptionists at the lodgings, the people we stopped to ask directions, the vendors at the markets, the kinder officials at the borders – even the nasty ones – all helped to teach us something and to help us on this journey, we give thanks.

There may be others we could have forgotten momentarily while writing this. Thank you.