Lusaka, Zambia

Lusaka was a pleasant change from the hot 41+ degree temperatures of Livingstone but it was still hot. The bus we caught from Livingstone had 'business class' seats and we were able to pick our seats and reserve them. Once we started they gave us a biscuit and a soft drink as well. The bus was completely full and the affluent passengers spent a lot of time chatting loudly on their cell phones the whole journey.

We passed through rural Zambia passing wheat and sugar cane growing areas where some wheat was being harvested and bagged up.

Once we arrived at the Lusaka bus station we were besieged by touts pushing and shoving to get us into taxis. Once we said we didn't want one they left us alone and we walked to our backpackers not too far away.

The hostel had 'happy hour' at the bar on Wednesdays and Fridays and on Wednesday night dozens of ex-pats working in the city arrived to drink and party at the bar until 3.30am and we had to use our earplugs to get some sleep.

We caught up with Linda and Patrick again and we tried to find a safari tour to South Luangwa National Park together. We both separately chased up leads but could not find any company who could help us over the days we wanted to go. We decided to go to the park by public transport and left a day behind them.

There is not much to do or see in Lusaka so walked about the town several times and managed to buy some air time for our dongle (mobile internet connection). It turned out there are no data bundle packages available here and the air time turned out to be pretty expensive and used up in no time. We were thus unable to keep updating our blog.

The electricity went off several times in Lusaka and one night we couldn't eat at the backpackers so we had to find a restaurant in the leafy posh suburbs. We managed to find an Indian restaurant that had electricity although it went off once we had ordered. When we walked back to our backpackers we noticed small groups of prostitutes on each street corner in the posh residential area and they even raced after cars that came by looking for clients. It was quite a strange sight.

With no electricity there was no water in the toilets or showers and the staff did not even bother to fill buckets or tubs to flush the toilets so it was quite unpleasant. I managed to find a tap in the yard with water and have a bucket shower and wash my hair.

There were several young people staying at the backpackers who were doing various volunteer projects or research in Lusaka. An American guy was teaching kids soccer skills, a British lady was nursing in a rural area for VSA (Voluntary Service Abroad) and lived in NZ, a group of Australians had been helping at an animal rehabilitation place and there was a 40+ year old Turkish guy trying to sell his 4 or 5, 4x4 vehicles that he had imported from the UK. He wasn't having much luck as he didn't research his market properly and discovered that the locals only wanted petrol powered vehicles even though petrol was more expensive than diesel and the same price we would pay in NZ.

On the day we planned to leave we had to get up at 5am to catch an early bus to Chipata, but we were woken at about 4am with loud speakers blaring, shouting, clapping, and vuvuzuelas hooting. No one could tell us what was happening but it was pretty noisy at that time of the morning so we headed out earlier than planned. The touts were waiting for us at the bus station and several started fighting over the passengers that were arriving with big bags. One guy had a bloody nose and it was bedlam. We had got our tickets the day before and even then we were followed by several touts who wanted to show us where to get our tickets even though we already knew where to go. Once we had bought our ticket and left the office we turned back to see the ticket seller paying the tout a commission.

On the street outside the station there are 30 or 40 men camping on the street corner waiting to show customers to taxis or ticket offices as it their only employment. The area is littered with rubbish and they have fires burning to cook food and it stinks from so many men defecating and urinating in the street. The footpaths are not cemented so it is pretty dusty and dirty.

Livingstone, Zambia

The night bus to Livingstone was pretty crowded with only a couple of spare seats. John discovered that his seat did not recline and the bottom cushion kept falling out when he moved on it so had to find a more comfortable seat to try to sleep when there was a vacant one.

In the middle of the night we picked up passengers in Tsumeb and we saw that they were Linda and Patrick who we had met in Outjo. They had spent enough time waiting for their friends' 4x4 to be repaired that they decided to move on without them.

Most of the passengers got off at the border town of Katima Mulilo. There were 4 young German girls travelling together on the bus a few seats ahead of us. One of the girls wrapped her handbag in a scarf and then put it on the floor under her seat and they all went to get something to eat. When they returned to their seats the girl discovered her bag had been stolen. It contained the rental car keys for their car in Cape Town where they were staying, her passport, credit cards, money, and return bus tickets!

The police were called and came onto the bus questioning the foreigners on the bus. After their questioning they concluded that the young German girl had actually left the handbag in Windhoek and had not even brought her bag onto the bus, and no amount of discussion could convince them otherwise! They even wrote this on the police report for the girl! We told the girls that they would not be able to cross into Zambia without a passport but they seemed to think that they could so they were shocked to discover that the bus was going to continue without the girl who lost her passport. As 3 of the girls were sisters they had to stay at the border while the 4th member of their group continued with us all.

Two of the four girls were studying in Capetown and were joined by the other two sisters. Together they all decided to catch a long haul bus from Capetown to Windhoek and then take the night bus from Windhoek to Livingstone to see the Victoria Falls for one day and then do the same the trip back to Capetown. The 4th girl stayed one night in Livingstone and got up at 6am to visit the falls and then 5 hours later had to take the bus back to Windhoek. Even more disppointing for her was the fact that there was hardly any water coming over the falls!

The bus trip took us 22 hours altogether with the extra time being spent waiting for the police to do their investigations.



We checked into a quiet comfortable Backpackers called Fawlty Towers in the middle of town. It was a nice place to recover with a huge garden and green grass lawn, swimming pool, bar and free internet. Unfortunately it had the most un-user friendly kitchen we had ever met. You had to sign for cooking utensils at reception and then return them after as there was only an old stove and a barely working smelly fridge in the kitchen.

We ate a couple of times at an Italian restaurant called Olga's. Olga had left some money to be used to start a training school so the at risk street children were trained not only in hospitality skills but also, sewing, cooking, wrought iron, construction, jewelery, furniture making and art skills. There were not many other places to eat in Livingstone near us other than fried chicken take away places. We were advised not to walk the town after dark so it was convenient to have Olga's across the road.

A young Dutch couple in our backpackers was distressed as they only had Mastercard credit cards and none of the ATM machines would accept them as they only took Visa cards. They were able to leave their laptop with an American lady who lent them money to cross into Zimbabwe and see the falls from there. We had also offered to help them out if the American lady couldn't. Luckily for us we carry carry both cards so have some choices.

Patrick and Linda visited the Zambian side of the falls, but as we knew there was less water than the month before when we were on the Zimbabwean side, we decided not to go. We were quite surprised when we saw their photos of the small falls and lots of rocks.



However we both decided to do a sunset 'booze cruise' on the Zambezi. We were joined by a Greek Australian called Theodore, an Ethiopian American girl, and two South African safari truck guides. There were quite a few cruises and at the end of the day the luxury cruises saw the same animals and sunset as us but had to pay heaps more for the privilege.

We saw elephants and hippos together beside the river as well as a few birds. The zebra and giraffe were probably waiting their turn in the trees.

While Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwean side is built for the tourists, Livingstone is a bustling service town for the area. It has Soviet style grey concrete residential and office buildings, dusty streets, and several government headquarters. The falls are 12 kilometres from the town and along the Zambezi riverfront are several luxury hotels away from the dusty hustle and bustle of the town. Most Zambians are Christians and the supermarket had Christian music playing on Sunday for the shoppers and there were large groups on Friday and Saturday nights attending 'crusades' as the locals call them. The loud speakers would boom the presenters messages in to the night frequently repeating the same messages for 20 minutes or so.

Windhoek, Namibia

We drove through Etosha stopping at as many of the man-made waterholes as we could find but there were not so many animals about.

Once outside the park we drove onto Tsumeb where we stayed at a guesthouse that had some rustic outdoor rooms and better indoor ones. The guesthouse was owned by a German speaking couple. We got the car washed of all the white dust at a more reasonable price than we would have to pay in Windhoek so took the opportunity to do it while in Tsumeb. Tsumeb is quite a wealthy town as they have copper mines nearby. The streets in our Lonely Planet guide were out of date as the whole town has now had the streets all renamed.

Once back in Windhoek we were able to pick up my replacement glasses that I had ordered from Specsavers. When we phoned to ask if they were ready the assistant told us they would be ready by 5pm. When we arrived at 3.30pm she whispered to us to come back at 5pm. We couldn't work out if there was some sort of scam going on that they didn't want the owner or operator to know about. However the glasses fitted well and were made to the same prescription that my lost glasses were and I adjusted to them quickly.

I had lost my previous glasses as I didn't have a small bag to carry the glasses and case in so I was able to buy some material and webbing and hand sew a handbag so I could carry a few small things about rather than lumber my overloaded day-bag about. Some of the young travellers couldn't believe that I had not only made a bag from a small strip of material but that I had hand stitched it. The female Namibian staff thought I should start a stall and sell handbags as well.

Chameleon Backpackers was pretty full but there was enough space for everyone without being too crowded. It is a pretty well thought out place and nice and quiet. Compared with the Cardboard Box Backpackers at the other end of town it was cheaper, cleaner, purpose built and well laid out. There were signs everywhere warning you of theft and muggings. There was not one warning at Cardboard Box.

We had met a few people who had eaten at Joe's Beer Hall restaurant so we drove there to have a meal in the evening. The restaurant is quite difficult to describe, but eclectic comes to mind. It had a quite large pond with huge koi carp in a central open area. There were walls made from small bamboo stakes and grass with thatched rooves. Car parts and number plates were hanging from the walls as well as stuffed antelope heads. It would once have been quite a large house and they knocked doorways through the walls creating different eating rooms set out with benches and large wooden tables like you would find in a German beer hall. There was a circular bar in the courtyard and tables with umbrellas, giving a feeling that you were by a beach and not in a city residential area. John ordered oryx, zebra, and ostrich steaks and Lil had zebra. We both enjoyed the flavour of the zebra although it was pretty chewy. It was a pretty popular place for tourists and we had to make bookings to get a seat.

We got the blog updated, photos burned to CDs, gear cleaned and food supplies restocked and posted a small parcel home. John had to get some antifungal cream for an itchy fungal rash from the hot sweaty temperatures. We bought a bus ticket for the Intercape bus to Livingstone in Zambia. It was a double decker bus and left at 6.30pm and we were told it would take 20 hours. We would have preferred to have driven the rental car across the Caprivi Strip to the Zambian border but the one way charge would have been nearly as much as the whole 8 day charge for the car so we were stuck with the night bus.

Etosha, Namibia

Loaded up the rental car with supplies from Windhoek and headed for Otjo the nearest point to Etosha with a backpackers. We had managed to book a camp site at the Etosha Pan National Park for two nights. The park has 3 rest camps and we were only able to get space in the middle camp called Halali.

At Otjo we met 2 Dutch couples, Patrick and Linda, Anja and Demis, who were camping in the backpackers and had been quite awhile there. One of the couples had borrowed a 4x4 from someone on in SA and it had blown a head gasket so they had to wait for parts to have it repaired. The couple, Jaenny and Deon, who run the backpackers hope to get to NZ for the rugby world cup next year so we may well see them again. It was really hot during the day but there were some big trees that gave us a shady spot to rest and chat.

We headed off early for Etosha and set up camp. The place had no grass except beside the pool and was 42+. Most of the camp was a dust bowl. Lots of the safari truck tours booked out many of the camp sites and they would stay one night and be up and gone around 6am.


This was the only lion we saw and she watched the zebra and antelopes from this log in the middle of a water hole.

A lot of the natural waterholes at Etosha were dry while the ones supplied with water had a mix of animals at the same time. There was always a mix of animals and it was great to see the gangly giraffes doing the splits to get a drink.

This waterhole had a large herd of elephants. They would splash and roll around in the water and then get out and cover themselves in white dust.

There were large herds of wildebeest grazing the veldt.

Spotted this white coloured chameleon in the black branched tree.

Etosha was really hot and dry and being a flat pan it was difficult to see any animals past about 2 or three trees deep from the road. the safari trucks certainly have the advantage of being high above the trees to see the animals that are further than 3 trees in.

At the camp at night there was a waterhole that was open all night as well as all day. We saw a leopard one night and enjoyed watching the rhino and their babies but had problems photographing them which was a shame. It is amazing how each group of animals waits their turn at the waterhole. The elephants apparently hate sharing the waterholes with any other animals and we saw them chase the rhino away. Some rhino would wait in the trees for the elephant to leave and then take their turn followed by the springboks.

After Etosha we spent a night in another backpackers where we did some laundry and had the car washed before returning it to Windhoek.

Sossusvlei, Namibia

We decided to head back to Windhoek but found that there was no Intercape bus running but met two Brits who were taking a shuttle bus. We asked the lodge owner about it but she felt it would be fully booked and we wouldn't get a seat. However, we rushed off to where we knew it started and got the last two seats but they had to put some bags inside the minivan because the trailer was full of bags.

We had booked a VW Chico hire car for 7 days and it had to be picked up in Windhoek. When John picked it up we had been fortunately upgraded to a bigger 1.6 Polo car in which we could fit everything in the boot and didn't have to pay any extra for. This time we stayed at a different backpackers called Chameleon close to the city centre. It was much quieter, more conservative and with more rules that the Cardboard Box but it was also cheaper, newer, and friendlier.

Managed to order some glasses from Spec Savers and were told they would be ready when we returned from our 7 day trip. This is the first time I have ever carried a spare pair of glasses with me as well as a script for my lenses. Hummmm!

There are warning signs on backpacker noticeboards, in guide books, and at tourist offices about ATM scams. We used an ATM machine in the street and while John is using the machine I stand in front of the screen and look away from the machine to keep lookout for anyone approaching. A man was in a queue behind John and he waited patiently but suddenly he and a second man as well as the security guard jostled around us. John had finished the transaction and I elbowed the men away and told them to go away. One man followed us a few paces up the street telling us we didn't cancel our account but we told him to go away. What he wanted was for us to return to the machine and put our card in and then he would tell us to put our pin in and then he would take the card and use it with memorised pin. To avoid this we try to use machines that are in malls where there are lots of people watching you. Later when we had dinner we noticed the same men following the tourists in the street waiting for some to use the ATMs. One of the men saw us watching him but didn't seem bothered by that.

We bought a whole lot of supplies for camping and headed for Sesriem. When we stopped for a bite to eat at a rest area on the side of the road we saw a traffic police man and asked him about the route we were taking. He was very knowledgeable about the roads to Sesriem and was able to give us advice on a shortcut to take as it was a 7+ hour trip.

Beside the main highway is a dirt trail where the locals race up and down with their donkey or horse carts carrying goods between places or transporting people from place to place.

These huge bird nests are made by tiny birds and they love to attach them to power pylons or telephone posts as well as trees. Some we saw were so huge they broke the tree branches. We still don't know what the birds are called but may find out in due course.

On the shortcut dirt road from Kalkrand to Maltahohe we only saw a grader, a truck and a couple of motorbikes. As we came out the other end we got to the Tsarishoogie Pass on sunset and saw several flashes of lightning. We had a small shower of rain that needed wipers but thankfully the dirt road didn't turn to mud.

We didn't make a booking at a camp ground but checked out a couple of places before settling on a brand new camp beside a petrol station. We had checked with the Namibia Wildlife Resorts office but were told that all the camps were fully booked as well as pretty expensive. However the Sossus Oasis camp was pretty reasonable and had a shelter, its own shower and toilet and a sink and bench area for cooking. It also had lighting and a electric switch that took a NZ power plug so we could use our water boiler. In the middle of the 14 or so sites was a swimming pool surrounded by soft green grass. There were no more than 6 sites occupied in the time we were there so it was pretty quiet.


The water was heated by a solar heater and in the evening the ranger came to tell us to put all food away and keep our shoes indoors as the jackals were apt to take them. We were able to see their paw prints around the tent in the morning.

We got up early and drove through the park to Dune 45 and climbed to the top along with several safari truck loads of Italians.

Namibia has the world's oldest and driest eco systems. We also did a 4km hike to Hidden Valley to look over a white salt pan. There was a part where we had to take a 4 wheel shuttle to look at the last part of the park but felt when we got there that it wasn't worth it after having walked the Hidden valley. Saw a few oryx, ostriches, jackals, and our first springboks.

Bumped into Teresa and Daisy at the dunes so had a good catch up with them. They were camped in the Namib-Naukluft National Park but found the people unfriendly, no electricity and no water in the bathrooms so they were not happy.


In the evening we walked through the Sesriem Canyon and watched the sunset then enjoyed a cool swim in the pool before cooking some camping food.



There are lots of thorn trees with pretty thick hard thorns and we had one in our tyre that needed to be repaired so the staff at the service station were able to do that for us. He pulled the thorn and then filled the hole with a rubber plug as the tyres were tubeless.

We drove back to Windhoek after a couple of days and picked up a couple of local lads who were working at the park lodge on the way. They had two weeks' holiday and they were going to Maltahohe to see their families. We cleaned our gear and restocked our camping supplies for the next journey north.

Swakopmund, Namibia

After checking out things to do in Namibia and how to do them we got up early and took the double decker Intercape bus to Swakopmund on the west coast. The bus was very comfortable and there were not many people on it. We met an elderly German woman who works for an Aid organization and has done so for many years. She travelled alone and holidayed and worked at the same time.

We passed through Okahanja where the Herero people have their administration centre. There were dozens of makeshift stalls from polythene and canvas lining the road outside the petrol station where they sold all kinds of wood carvings. Some were half the size of a real hippo and we often see these in hotels and accommodation places. They are not really suitable for backpackers like us.

The next place was Karibib, the service town for the cattle ranchers. It also has large marble quarries and not far away was the Rossing Uranium Mine, the world's largest open cast operation.

We checked into a lodge with a camp ground and separate guesthouse accommodation not far from the city centre where we bumped into Birgit from Christchurch and Matt from New Plymouth but both working in London. Matt is an engineer working on pipelines and Birgit is with a law firm. They were heading for SA where they were to meet Matt's parents and take them around SA with them so we were able to help with their travel plans.

This area was taken over by the Germans from 1884 to 1915 so there are still some historic administration buildings from this time, when it was known as German South-West Africa. Of course it is a popular place for German tourists to visit as well.





These women from the Himba tribe were selling their crafts in the mall near the beach. While waiting for buyers they ground up ochre to mix with cattle fat to smear over their bodies as they don't wash.

Birgit and Matt were heading in their rental car south so we caught a lift with them to Walvis Bay not far from Swakopmund. We had seen a poster in the supermarket advertising an October fest so we decided to have a look and try out the German style beer that is made with only 3 ingredients as it is in Germany. We had bratwurst for lunch and listened to some German tunes. The day was a fundraiser for the local soccer club. We heard a lot of German being spoken and there were even a couple of men in their leather trousers. We found it pretty cool and windy so had our coats on. Later we saw several windsurfers in the harbour enjoying the wind.

This platform, known as Bird Island, was built in the ocean for the nesting sea birds. One thousand tonnes of guano is harvested off the island annually for fertiliser. Walvis Bay is Namibia's second largest city at 54,000 people and has a tanker berth and shipping facilities.

The lodge owner told us that there was no public transport between Swakopmund and Walvis bay and that we would have to hitch hike so when we farewelled Matt and Birgit we got a lift back to Swakopmund. My day glasses, which were new when I left NZ, fell out of my pocket into the mess in the ute we got a ride with. We left details with the lodge in case the young guy cleaned his ute and found them. He was a driller working in the desert north of Windhoek drilling for water and told us several times how much he loved his country.

Back in Swakopmund we signed up to do a morning sand-boarding with a local company. It was still quite a cool 15 degrees. We drove out to the dunes outside of town and were joined by several people from 2 different truck safari companies as well as a family of 4 from SA. We were given a piece of oil-tempered hardboard, as we chose the lie-down version of sand-boarding but others chose to stand up as they do in boots for snowboarding.

Just before the instructor pushed me over the cliff. I had to remember all the instructions: lie down knees on the board, lift the front of the board up from the corners (so you don't end up with a face and mouth full of sand or get buried), keep your elbows up parallel to the ground so you don't get sand burn or flip over, feet up and together, feet down together to slow down at the end. Even though the sand looks smooth it was surprisingly bumpy where the wind had blown furrows in the sand. On the small dune they used a gadget like a traffic policeman to record your speed and I managed to get a record 59kph. When your chin is a few centimeters from fast moving sand it seems really fast anyway.

This is John disappearing down the biggest dune where the record speed was clocked at 81kph. The two dots to the far left are the video cameraman and instructor and if you double click the photo you will see the track where everyone ended up their run, right between the two people. The board cannot be steered and each one follows the same route. Every person on the lie-down board managed to stay on the board and complete the run except one guy from Malaysia who broke his board in half a few metres from the end of his run when he dropped the front and buried it and his face in the sand! One guy on the stand-up board broke his wrist when he went over the jump. His girlfriend who was a nurse didn't seem to know how to help him so I used my Red Cross first aid skills and iced him and made a makeshift sling to elevate his arm using his girlfriend's shirt. We were able to watch a DVD of the trip later and got a copy for our selves. Quite a buzz!

Met Teresa and Daisy, two German women, who were travelling in a 4x4 with a tent on their roof. We had a good laugh with them as they told us about their adventures so far. They were older than the students we usually meet so it was nice to meet people who could laugh at themselves.

Windhoek, Namibia

As we were being stamped into the Namibian side of the border post a truck driver was also being processed. He looked us up and down and then asked if we would like a ride. We could see that there were no buses or shared taxis and it was not long until sunset so we were grateful for the offer. The driver was from South Africa and was driving from Johannesburg to Angola to deliver a load of waterless eco toilets. His name sounded like 'rreahn' but it may well be Ryan and pronounced with a strong Afrikaans accent but we are not sure.

First we had to drive to a nearby petrol station at the Namibian village of Buitepos where Ryan wanted to get some money from an ATM to pay his road tax. We also needed to get Namibian dollars as well and John went first and as he was withdrawing he said he hoped there was enough for Ryan. When Ryan made his withdrawal there was actually no more money left so we had to lend him ours. He needed the exact amount that we had taken out and we would stop later and get more.

Initially Ryan was going to take us to Gobabis, 130 kms up the road but we decided to stay on with him all the way to Windhoek. We learnt a lot about Ryan's family and their life in Krugersdorf outside Johannesburg. His father had been a diesel mechanic and truckie and so Ryan had been around trucks all his life. He found the trucking business pretty competitive and had to do international loads to make a reasonable living. He was not that affected by the American financial crisis as he owned his own two trucks and his wife worked for an insurance company.

They lived on a few hectares with their preteen son and daughter and had a house there for his parents as well. He would often be away for a week at a time but always wanted to be involved in his children's sporting activities so would survive on 3 hours' sleep a night so he would be home on the weekend. His son played rugby and was a boxer. As Ryan was also a boxer they had built a huge gym on their land for the local boxing club. The daughter was also sporty but I have forgotten what she played. Ryan felt that by being involved with his childrens' sports they would not get involved in drugs and other antisocial behaviour.

They had recently got crossbows and liked to go hunting. They would go to a hunting ranch to shoot game. We have met a couple more South Africans who like to hunt. They can choose what animal they want to shoot, be it a zebra or lion, and the ranch would organize it for them. Ryan told us about a giraffe they shot on their last trip. It took 3 days to cut up the carcass and store the meat and it cost 22,000 Rand.

He didn't have any airconditioning in his old non-computerized truck and was so used to the heat that it didn't seem to bother him. He kept an old truck as he had learnt how to repair anything on it if it broke down and said he had met drivers who were stranded for a month or so waiting for spare parts for some small computer component that had caused their trucks to stop. He commented on several new trucks that passed us on the road. They arrived at the port in Namibia as a basic cab and deckless back and were made in America. He said they were not able to be registered in SA as the Scania and other European brands were protected there but more expensive than the American trucks.

We drove through the dark to Windhoek and saw several warthogs and duiker along the sides of the road. We arrived on the bypass road to Windhoek and Ryan dropped us at a petrol station where he was able to replace our money and ask the staff to point us in the direction of some accommodation in the city. We didn't have any bookings as we had only planned to stay at Gobabis or at the border in a tent. A patrolman in a van working for a home security company offered to drive us to a backpackers we had the address of, so said our goodbyes to Ryan and put on some warm clothes, as it was unseasonably freezing, and crammed into the single bucket seat and headed off at 11pm to find a bed.

At the backpackers a nightwatchman was sitting on a seat at the gate. We asked if he had any beds and he said he only had two. A couple who had booked the room hadn't turned up so we were able to have it and counted ourselves pretty lucky not to be wandering around Windhoek looking for a room at midnight in a city where 50% of the people are unemployed.

Windhoek (Windy corner) is pretty small with about 240,000 people. It has a few small hills and you could see the desert not far outside the city centre. The main street is pretty wide with lots of modern shops and a small mall. We knew we would be in Namibia for a few weeks so decided to buy a local SIM card and a mobile modem so we could have internet access to do research and catch up with the blog. Internet shops and backpackers charge about $6nz an hour and with a mobile 'stick' we can use a local SIM card and buy data bundles from street sellers or online and it is so much cheaper and more convenient if you have your own notebook like we do. We have learnt so much about the internet in our travels that others ask us to tell them about how we do it.

The most interesting thing about the people in Windhoek is the mix of races. Although South Africa is called the Rainbow Nation, we would say that Namibia is. People of all shades of black, brown and white mingle together and as they walk by you can hear Portuguese, Afrikaans, English, German, and all sorts of 'click' languages. Some of the click languages have 4 different click sounds that are made by placing your tongue in 4 different places in your mouth to make the click. I can make the clicks but can't connect them to a word. The word has different meanings with a click, without a click and depending on which click is used. I like to ask people we meet how to say various greetings in their language and there are so many languages that they have to use English in some cases to communicate with each other.

We stayed at a place called Cardboard Box Backpackers. It is supposed to be a party backpackers but was pretty quiet when we were there. Several tour guides and drivers stay and several locals come to drink at the bar so it is interesting to chat to them. Some of the safari truck groups stay and they don't seem to mix with anyone except those in their group as they have bonded like a family and don't move outside it. It is easier to meet single travellers as they have no 'family'. We met a man from Bangladesh who studied telecommunications and was paying all sorts of people who knew people who could get him a work permit. He was trying to get a online phone business going, something similar to Skype. The walls in the lounge were covered with photos of nursing student groups from Netherlands, Sweden and other European countries. The groups stay about 3 months at a time from the photos it looks like they take over the place.

John had his eye pressures tested again and they are fine and stable so won't have to have them checked so often now. I managed to get the blogs from SA, and Zimbabwe up to date with the fastest internet in Namibia!