In the first half of Week 14 as we cycled south to the capital Windhoek we saw a surprising amount of game by the road. We spotted families of pumbas (warthogs) every 5 to 10km along the road, a now familiar sound of them scurrying through the grass and under a fence when we got close drawing our attention to them. Screams of "Run Piggy, Run!" were also not uncommon. The various game farms along the road also allowed us to spot zebra, oryx, springbok and impala.
One real highlight was a close encounter with a pair of giraffe as we cycled through a game reserve to our camp for the night. We were able to get up close with the two on our bikes, before they ambled away with their unique gate.
We arrived in Windhoek after a tough cycle, weary after 4 big days in a row (making up for lost time for past illness). The increased traffic and busy bustle of the city was something we hadn't really experienced since Tanzania. On our journey towards Windhoek, we had heard a lot of good things about Joe's Beer House, so it had to be there we would head for dinner on our first night . Namibia was ruled by Germany 100ish years ago but there still remains a very German feel in places (e.g. the streets are strasses). So it was only right Charlie inhaled a gigantic pork knuckle with sauerkraut and washed it down with one of Namibia's finest German style brews.
Our rest day in Windhoek was full of admin, visiting a few cycle stores for some spares and replacements and restocking with supplies. This includes two new pairs of Havianas after we finally decided to replace our old pairs which each are now stuck together with super glue in most spots after many comedic flip flop busting moments. A particular favourite blowout happened in Arusha when Charlie’s flip flop (“thong” for the Aussie contingency) broke whilst walking past rows and rows of shoe stalls. If you think African market workers are usually persistent, imagine their sustained selling attempts upon a tourist walking down the road barefoot and wielding a broken shoe.
Leaving Windhoek was frankly spectacular. After a month or so of flat roads, we rose up into the mountains and witnessed some spectacular scenery which we will continue to see more of us we head towards south Namibia. The dusty mountains swelled up on either side of the road and across the horizon.
We reached the town of Rehoboth and sought out a comfortable bed in the knowledge that the next day would be our first full day off the tarmac, a 100km on gravel road. Unfortunately, this was not what we found... The hotel we got for the night was hosting a 21st birthday that night. We were assured that the noise would be minimal. Our room was literally 5m from the party. The noise was not minimal. And the party lasted till past 2am. We were not happy. Plus it was the world’s worst 21st from what we could hear - not worth keeping us up. But the show must go on, so the next morning we turned off the main road and onto gravel. We knew we had 5 days of cycling and over 300km of gravel roads to contend with and we were nervous. We had no idea how good the roads would be, with the condition constantly changing due to the rainy season and how recently they had been graded. It was slow progress on our first day on gravel. We travelled 90km in time it would normally take us to do 150km. The road was almost constantly corregated, and the brief moments of respite from this meant soft sand / gravel that required us to get off and bike push 10m to some rideable terrain. The road also had defined tracks from the cars, so it was constantly about choosing the right lane to reduce the bone rattling.
When we finally hit our planned destination of the small village of Klein Aub, we were done. We weren't sure of where we were to stay, but had heard rumours of a restaurant that would let us pitch a tent. We rocked up at Conny's Restuarant and Bar and all our dreams came true. A lovely man by the name of Gunther welcomed us and promptly offered us a choice of a coffee from Rwanda. Bururani or Kenya, a coconut muffin (dairy free!) and a room in the guest house he was putting the finishing touches on. We felt so lucky, particularly when Gunther told us a cold front from Cape Town was expected and overnight temperatures of -5°C were expected. Not good for our summer sleeping bags. We cooked up in Gunther’s kitchen and the three of us enjoyed our pasta-sauce-from-a-bag dinner by candlelight. Day two on the gravel was a shorter affair, only 55km, where the roads thankfully improved somewhat (still not good) in the second half of the day. It was still necessary to get off the bike and trudge at times, and the cars whizzing last kicking up gravel in our faces wasn’t all that fun. We arrived at Bullsport Guest Farm and asked for a room, instead of camping given the expected temperatures. Disaster. They were booked out. After some calls with some nearby lodges (40km) to see if they had any room, we settled on staying at their campsite about 3km away from the main house. But only if we could take a couple of extra blankets with us!
The campsite turned out to be a in a beautiful spot, at the foothills of Naukluft mountains, and we had it all to ourselves. The stars were out in full force once again, and we braved the cold a little bit longer that we might have to do some gazing. We spent time collecting wood and lit a fire to keep warm and cook up some pasta before a chilly and restless nights sleep.
Our third day on the gravel was our last for the week (thank goodness) and we will have two non cycle days to rest and visit the sand dunes of Sossusvlei. It was a damn tough day so we will need the rest. We turned onto our first D-road and it was straightaway worse than what we experienced before. The corregation was worse, bigger dips and relentless bumps. There were less good spots on the road and no opportunity to get any speed up. Mix into that a very strong and freezing gale brought by the cold front that threatened to (and actually did) blow us over throughout the day and you have a recipe for tears. And we got some. Naomi was blown over twice and really struggling with the constant pummelling from the rocks and the road - stand up and your knees start to buckle, sit down and your bum and back feel like they’ll break. The mental strength of both of us was tested as we slowly chugged along at snails pace with our joints, bones and brain rattling along the road. Naomi at times felt like she couldn’t take any more and threw down her bike (yes, true tantrum style). Charlie picked Naomi and Stevie (the bike. Think Nicks. Although Wonder may be apt - the blind leading the blind) up, dusted us off, gave a rousing pep talk and got us on our way, somehow laughing.
In contrast to the struggle that was the day, the landscape was breathtakingly beautiful. The region is a desert and we were able to see the entire landscape full of orange and black mountains, rocky plains and white gravel roads. Considering we started the cycle in the lush, green highlands of Kenya where mangoes and avocados grew aplenty, it is amazing the differences in African scenery that we have seen across the 3+ months on the road.
The wind kept howling as we rolled up to Elegant Desert Lodge, and we almost cried tears of happiness when they said they’d put us in a main room and not in the tented camp some 7km away. We are ready for a warm and restful night before we head right into the desert to climb the big dunes.
***THREE GREAT REASONS TO DONATE*** 1. Support us as we battle the wind and cold on our final days on gravel and corregated roads next week; 2. You’ve read our blogs on the African charity partners, and agree that the work they do is incredible and that they deserve as much funding and support as possible; 3. We're so close to raising £5,000! Do a great thing, hit up this link and support The Egmont Trust https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/equatortocape
