Day 18 – 21/08/2017 Keetmanshoop to Gobabis
Another early start, a quick breakfast of rusks and a hot cup of tea, muesli with long life milk before heading off at 6:30am. Our destination today is the town of Gobabis via Windhoek. Originally we were going to take the shorter route to Gobabis but Karel recommended that we stick to the sealed road instead and go via Windhoek.
Filling up in Keetmanshoop
“Open road and a full tank of petrol”
We traveled through Tses, Mariental, Kalkrand and Rehoboth on a good sealed road.
Arriving in Rehoboth
Crossing over the Tropic of Capricorn again
Mats made out of animal skins displayed on a fence
No hitchhiking allowed
Subtle changes in the landscape
One of the many car wash bays
Coming into Windhoek we realized what a big sprawling city it is. After being in mostly isolated areas for many weeks, Windhoek was very overwhelming. The hustle and bustle of city life, large office buildings towering over us, it felt very claustrophobic. Everyone is doing their own thing in haste!
Windhoek is the social, economic, political, and cultural center of the country and although there are many historical buildings around we couldn’t get out of there quick enough.
By now we were starting to get hungry and just past the airport situated about 30 kms from the city center, we pulled off near the railway line to have lunch. Had left overs from the night before on Provita, washed down with Grapetiser. On the farm running alongside the railway line grazed a herd of horses. We also saw a lone black backed jackal slink past in the distance.
Herd of horses on the farm
On the way we passed a camp that looked interesting so we turned around and popped in. The manager was happy to chat to us about the animals there. He told us he had killed 10 black mamba snakes in a year found in close proximity to the tented accommodation.The black mamba is a venomous snake and is endemic to parts of sub-saharan desert.
In the grounds surrounding the reception area roamed two Himalayan goats which seemed so out of place. After a short visit we were about to leave when David discovered a foreign set of keys in his pocket. It turned out to be the room keys from the previous accommodation in Maltahohe. While sorting out the spare tyre dilemma, David had forgotten to hand them back to the receptionist who in turn forgot to remind him. We received a desperate email asking us if we still had the keys as they had no spares! We had to find the nearest post office to return them before leaving Namibia the next day.
While passing through the tiniest town called Witvlei, low and behold we spotted a post office! After a few phone calls to the camp to find out where to return the keys, they were bagged and couriered back to Mariental at a cost of $5.50 AUD.
Driving into Gobabis
We arrived in Gobabis at about 4pm and located our accommodation shortly after. Gobabis is a small, neat town and it wasn’t difficult to find our way. While checking in at reception there was a parrot in a nearby cage with the most piercing high pitched screech. We wondered if this was going to be a noisy night? We were assured that the parrot would not disturb us.
The owner Coenraad was very pleasant and helpful and told David that if he ever visited again he would personally cook him a steak Gobabis style.
The receptionist told us we might be able to see some wild animals at a nearby luxury lodge called Goba. As it was still light we decided to go and have a look. It was a lovely place but we only saw one gemsbok and an ostrich.
We headed back to our accommodation, had a light dinner of leftovers from the previous night, a hot shower and retired early. It had been a long day, having traveled more than 550 kms!
A conservation artist's journey 