While I was still running the guest house in South Africa and Emma was teaching in Ethiopia, she came down to visit for the July/August holiday. Unfortunately a incompetent immigration official at OR Tambo airport had different ideas about our holiday plans. Despite UK passport holders being allowed to enter SA for 90 days without a visa, this clown thought that she had to renew a previous visa that had long expired. Although he works for Home Affairs he had obviously had no experience of dealing with said government department as he gave Emma 7 days to sort it out which included 2 days when they were shut. On arrival in Port Elizabeth we did try to sort it out at Home Affairs but although they agreed that the immigration officer had made an error there was nothing we could do. Emma would have to leave the country in 5 days!
We headed back to Morley House to say hello to our friends in the village and to make a plan. We decided that we would exile in Namibia as it was ‘next door’ and you didn’t need a visa. We had always wanted to explore Namibia but we would have rather done it on our terms. Oh well, we will make the best of it.
We were pleasantly surprised by the capital city Windhoek, it is more like a big town really than a capital city. The place is spotless and everything is ordered and the people are friendly. It is also home to my favourite Southern African beer, ‘Windhoek Draught’. We decided to spend a few days in the city and make a plan for the rest of our month in Namibia. There are not lots of sights in the city but we enjoyed taking in a couple of museums, especially the Independence Memorial Museum which boasts a roof top bar and restaurant.
When it was time to move on we decided on heading to the coastal town of Swarkopmund. We jumped on a shuttle bus and we were soon dropped off at Skeleton Beach Backpackers. This turned out to be an inspired choice, a stones throw from the beach and a pleasant short walk into town. The room had everything (tv with football, fridge, balcony) we needed and there was a kitchen so we could even rustle up some food and a garden to chill in. On first inspection Swarkopmund seemed an ideal place to base ourselves for a while. Namibia seemed a bit more expensive than SA and some of the places we would like to visit required hiring a car and the accommodation was mostly expensive lodges or camping. As we didn’t have the Jeep or our camping gear, we decided to use Swarkopumnd as a base. This was an unexpected holiday and staying put always cuts down on costs when travelling so we ended up staying for 10 days, but there was plenty to keep us entertained.
One of the highlights was taking a trip into the Namib Desert to look for the local creatures and to enjoy the dunescape. The dunes were stunning and the micro climate caused by the desert being so close to the coast caused an eerie misty atmosphere. This micro climate and moisture allow quite a few animals to survive in the desert and we were lucky to see a sidewinder snake and a chameleon. On another excursion we took a boat trip from Walvis Bay to view the marine wildlife and we saw dolphins and 100s of seals basking along the sandbanks. On other days we relaxed at the backpackers or wandered around the town enjoying the many restaurants along the sea front and watching England against all expectations get to the world cup semi-final. Our favourite restaurant was the Lighthouse which had a special on of buy 1 pizza get one free and also buy one bottle of wine get one free. Now that is our kind of offer. It was even more of a deal when the wine was De Maye from a winery in Stellenbosch. This quickly became our new best wine but despite all this we had to move on.
Our goal was to visit Etosha National Park in the north of the country so we got the shuttle back to Windhoek and then a coach to Tsumeb. From there we hired a car for a 4 day trip to the park which was not too far away. The only places to stay in the park were either expensive lodges or camping, which we would have loved to have done but without a lot of cash or a tent our options were limited. So we found a place on the edge of the park and did day trips. Etosha turned out to be a fantastic wildlife experience, bit like Kruger without the crowds. One of the best things about Etosha is that you don’t need to drive around endlessly looking for the game. Best bet is to choose one of the many water holes and sit tight and let the critters come to you. We saw loads of different animals and many different species gather together at a single watering spot which is incredible to see. On our final day we drove through the park and exited on the southern side and stopped off at a couple of small lodges on the way back to Tsumeb. We stayed an extra couple of days in Tsumeb at a lovely backpackers (maybe swayed by the VW campervan bar in the garden more than the luxury room and great kitchen) and watched England finish 4th and France crowned world champions.
We headed back to Windhoek and rented a fantastic apartment and chilled there for a week or so. We took in the botanical gardens and a trip to Avis Dam Nature Reserve and enjoyed a relaxing time. We even got to meet up with our mate Neil who came down from just up the road in Zambia.
Considering it was an unexpected month in exile in Namibia it was a fantastic trip and hopefully we will go back one day with a car and all our camping gear and explore the incredible scenery of Namibia more. On arriving back in Cape Town Emma was waived through immigration with a stamp for 90 days. She was in transit for 2 hours before heading to the UK – typical.
