Namibia
So we left Dusternbrook farm with many
accomplishments.
Rich finished his
playground and I left the Kindergarten in the care of another.
We had a slight
change of plan due to Rich’s fall on the day before we left, and spent the day
in hospital as he’d cracked two teeth and bruised is cheek slipping down some
steps. We then went to the dentist in
Windhoek and stayed an extra day there where I could laze by the pool whilst
Rich had his teeth dealt with.
We took the bus to Swakopmund and stayed 2
nights in the apartment of the owner of the farm who was kind enough to let us
stay for free. Swakopmund is a very
German town, a lot colder that what we were used to, and very foggy most of the
time.
But, we enjoyed runs along the seafront, and German Bakeries,
and a
lovely meal at the Tug Restaurant where we could watch the
sunset and enjoy
some good fish.
We picked up our campercar from Swakopmund
and began the drive to the dunes. We
drove through Walvis bay – not much there but flamingo’s, and then on to
Solitaire.
An interesting little place
with a grocers and a bakery known for it’s apple pie – which was pretty good.
We cooked our own dinner with our camping equipment and enjoyed peace, a desert
sunset, a sky full of stars, moongooses and ground squirrels.
The next day we drove another 100km to
Sessriem campsite closer to Sossusvlei.
For sunset we drove to dune 45 and climber a little up it for a
beautiful sunset.
We woke early for a sunrise drive to actual Sossusvlei dunes and Deadvlei area and joined the masses in seeing the ultimate
colour changes in the dunes as the sun rises and the shadows disappear, the
trees long shadows appear over the salt flats.
We then climbed another dune as it was
getting hotter, for a lovely view over the area.
Then it was time to drive back to Windhoek
where we camped in a lovely place called urban camp and chilled for our last
day & night in Namibia before flying to Capetown.
Capetown
In Capetown we needed to get our Mozambique
Visa, and also see the main sights of the city, but also we were reacquainted
with family. We stayed with Patrick,
mum’s cousin, Jane and their daughter Harleigh, who had lived in South Africa
for nearly 20 years. They have a lovely
house near Nordhoek and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay with them. During the
day, we went out exploring, V & A Waterfront, Robben Island, Table
Mountain, Cape Point etc. We were very
lucky in that all our sightseeing plans never really went to plan, but then it
worked out better weather wise and did everything when the weather was better
than it would have been, had we actually done it on the planned day!
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View from Table Mountain |
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Ostrich almost ready to strike |
One of our favourite evenings with Pat,
Jane and Harleigh was visiting Cape Point Vineyards. Each Thursday, they have a food market, and
sitting in a vineyard, overlooking the ocean as the sunsets with good wine,
delicious food and good company cannot be beaten.
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Tribute to Mandela - his prison number |
Then on Friday, for my birthday, we went to
the Diamond Museum and then Robben Island.
I was a little bit disappointed in the tour of the prison, we are all
sat on a bus and driven to points, you can’t see if you are on a particular
side of the bus, and then you get out at the maximum security prison and speak
to a former prisoner, and then you see Mandela’s cell, but I though there would
be more to the place and tour than what was offered.
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Former prisoner |
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Mandela's cell |
On a plus side, the view back to Capetown was
outstanding.