Place: Windhoek
Tunes: Armin van Buuren, Ali & Fila
Today more good progress. Seven hundred and something km. We started in Maun and ended up in Windhoek in Namibia.
The border crossing to Namibia was a breeze. No stamp for the carnet as there is this customs zone thing with Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. So we only need to stamp the carnets when we take the bikes out of South Africa. This saves a lot of time for us so it’s all good.
There were no piss-ants, beggars or random people at the border station. What is going on? There are supermarkets, ATM’s, petrol stations and all sorts of things here. Are we even in Africa anymore?
There are fences on the sides of the roads keeping the animals away. Well, at least the cattle, which is a big improvement. What's next, speed camera's?
We saw very big antelopes jumping over the cattle fence with ease and warthogs – you gotta love these guys – scooting across the road and through tiny gaps in the fence without even slowing down. It looked like they were playing with fire – just for fun. Riding here feels a bit like a video game. Can you anticipate will the next little piggy hit you as it launches itself across the road on a suicidal course towards you.
Markus lost his rear shock today. On a flat straight road! So much for BMW reliability. He is now also bouncing around like the boys were in Kenya. I'm riding behind him, it looks pretty wild in the corners... He decided to try and limp the remaining 2500 km with just the spring and this means skipping the last off-road bit to Sossuvei on the Atlantic coast.
I was planning to head straight south even if I have no problem with the bike, so there's now two of us. I do not want to ask for further trouble on those sandy gravel tracks to Sossuvei especially when we are so close to the finish. It's a pathetic decision to make, I know. The bike has taken some hits and the panniers are in a pretty bad shape.
Ari decided to join us as he is also not looking forward to smashing his bike. So, the three musketeers will race towards Cape town and the off-road gang will go to Sossuvei, get stuck in the sand, break their bikes and swear a lot. We will win this race for sure as Markus can drive almost normally (= normal speed) on straight roads and there will be plenty of those ahead of us.
Peter had a little drop on the ramp to the hotel and damaged his wrist. Let’s hope it will not bother him too much. Those things can take forever to heal.
My rear tyre now so worn out that it must be replaced. It is just spinning no matter how gently I try and start moving (it is raining a little as we reach the hotel). The Continental has well and truly served its duty from Hurghuda. Thanks again to Gunnar for the tyre.
So, I changed my rear to the Anakee 2 I bought from Sweden with some help and the rear brake pads too. This was pretty much routine by now and it was more fun to do it now in the rain rather than in the sunshine yesterday.
Riding in Namibia in the countryside is dead easy and dead boring. The straights are loooong and there is basically no traffic. But in the cities it changes completely. The cars are new and the roads are good but people drive like complete idiots. Or maybe it is against the law to change the lane when you are overtaking. People have no concept of keeping a safe distance between themselves and you so we got the Middle Eastern experience again where people drive two centimetres from your panniers as they drive past. This time – unlike in the Middle East – they have plenty of space around them, but they still do it. Only in Africa can you still fuck up something as simple as this. This is not as dramatic as it may sound as we are already pretty used to it.
They also have these lights in random places on the road. There are red, yellow and green lights and I am sure every colour means something. I think I have seen these before somewhere but can’t remember where.
Windhoek looks like any European or American city pretty much except it’s dead quiet, even on a Saturday evening! It is nothing like the cities in Africa we have seen so far. I think it is fair to say that we have left Africa and entered something else.
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