Our flight was delayed by several hours. This was an issue, as we expected the drive to Mariental to take more than 3 hours, and the delay was going to force us to drive at night (dangerous proposition in Namibia, where the antelope are known to bound over the roads and critters bed down on the warm tarmac and gravel for the night). On arrival, we were super efficient. Seong picked two local SIM cards, as T-Mobile does not cover Namibia (a first for us, except Ethiopia, which has a bizarre state controlled telecom system), while Jamie picked up the Toyota Hilux DC 4×4, our trusted steed for the next few weeks. We finally arrived at the Gondwana Kalahari Anib Resort well past dusk, just as the dinner buffet was to start. We feasted sitting out on the deck, under the wide open African skies, looking out at the flood lit watering hole, watching the skittish springboks come and go warily. The next morning surprised us with amazing stiff winds throughout the day, which quieted down by the time we did our “sundowner” safari. We were driven through the red sands through Gondwana’s private concession, photographing ostriches, springbok, elands, hartebeests and a lone kori bustard (a huge, gangly, weird but distinctive bird). We spied electric bikes with fat tires parked by the reception, and the next day did a sunrise bike ride through the trail systems at the lodge, scaring up the springboks and other critters that were getting started with their day. On to Fish River Canyon.
Pretty hot in Namibian desert, even in fall (May), but also extremely dry and there is often a wind, so it’s tolerable to pleasant in the shade. They had received almost no rain over the recent “rainy season”, which just ended in April, and very little for the previous five years. We were told that this might be the reason that it was hotter than normal – no rain to cool things off. In any case, I’m glad we didn’t arrive in Namibia any earlier, as it would have been significantly hotter. It’s sort of shoulder season now, and tourism doesn’t really get into high gear until June.
Our rental car shimmied severely at certain speeds, making driving debilitating. After multiple hours of attempting contact with Hertz in Windhoek over sketchy cell connection, we were able to arrange to have the front end aligned in Keetmanshoop, on our way to Fish River Canyon. While the car was getting worked on, we opted to explore what there is to see in town and ran into some roadside vendors selling tasty smelling grilled meat. The vendor weighed the lamb chop, announcing 20 Namibian dollars (about $1.50). After a second glance at the scale, the price went up to 40. A block and a half later, after I had a chance to ponder how tasty the meat is, did we realize that we never got change for the 50 dollar bill we handed him. Ah well.
Evening view from our cottage
