We packed up, had breakfast and then started to head south out of the Etosha and toward Windhoek. We had 17 kms of road before the gate but failed to add either birds or animals to our list despite our best attempts. Another paper form to be filled in as we exited the gate but I think I could have written whatever I wanted to and no one would have cared at all. There is a mandatory police check but the lady couldn’t have been bothered to get up from her chair to come to the car so she just waved us on.
Brief stop to refuel at Outjo where the three guys refueling and cleaning the windows (and what turned out to be the car in the end almost) were definitely the most cheerful and friendly of anyone we have encountered. They even washed our number plate (it was unreadable due to the mud from Etosha).
The trip south was pretty uneventful with traffic picking up as we got closer to Windhoek. The drive was just over 4 hours. There are many things I just don’t understand in Namibia. From Okahandja through to Windhoek (about 70-80 kms) the road is actually a 2-lane highway. About in the middle of it is a permanent police roadblock. You are going 120 km/h and have to come to a total stop. And it is permanently there so any crook would know and wouldn’t drive that way anyway. Even if they did though, no one is actually going to bother to get off their chair or come out of their air-conditioned hut. It does really make you wonder why it is there in the first place (besides making you brake very quickly).
We noticed the culture of just hanging (or sitting around) was very prevalent in the towns we passed through today. In one town, some people had their boots of their cars open and we using that for seating. Another bloke had actually brought his own fold-up chair to join that boot conversation. It seems people actually plan to sit around in Namibia.
We arrived in Windhoek around 1:30pm and got stuck in traffic making our way through Windhoek to our hotel. We are staying at The Weinberg which feels like 5-star luxury in comparison to what we have been staying for the last week. It is part of a complex and there are 4 restaurants on site too which means we didn’t have to drive anywhere for dinner. We actually went to CTFM (that stands for Cape Town Fish Market) for dinner. Seems somewhat odd to eat at a CTFM in Windhoek but after meat for a week we both felt like fish. What we did find funny was when we arrived we asked for a table and they asked if we had a reservation. Never made a reservation at CTFM in my life – as H said ‘it’s like making a reservation to go to the Spur’! But it seems necessary at CTFM Windhoek as the place was packed and we were lucky to get one of the last remaining tables outside on the patio. The food was good actually so really no complaints from us.
Until tomorrow …
P & H
