We flew up to Windhoek from Cape Town. Initially we thought it had a population of about 45, but then we realised it was a Sunday. It was rather hot, but nice and got going once the working week began. Rather than hang around there though, we went to Swakopmund, a well-organised German town on the coast. I felt a bit out of place wearing just sandals, so bought some socks to go with them. After a couple of nights there, we went inland to Sossusvlei, one of a large number of massive red sand dunes. I'd seen pictures of the area before, and it was quite spectacular. While Swakopmund was fairly mild, the desert had an average temperature of 35. We got to the dunes at 7am to beat the heat, and by 10am it was stinking hot. Climbing them was tough going, but rewarding. A bit like being married to someone who listens to pop music really. Another noticeable thing about much of Namibia is the desolation - we saw perhaps four cars in four hours at one stage.
Perhaps the biggest challenge in Namibia was getting a Zambian visa for Wenny. While the Namibian visa was very easy to get within 2 hours in Cape Town, the Zambian representatives (well, more their counterparts in Lusaka) didn’t quite seem capable of processing it within a few days. It must be tough, having to come back from a three hour cigarette break and actually do some work. Initially I think they forgot about the application, but after that they were just useless. It ended up with us having a race around the world experience, after getting the visa late on and rushing to the hotel, then to the bus to Zambia. The bus ride was pretty good though, and we saw a large elephant by the side of the road which resembled a former Australian immigration and education minister.
