We had such a good time in Swakopmund! I really love this place. But then it was time to start heading home. We assembled at the oceanside to take a few last photos, and to say goodbye to the Atlantic Ocean…
Richard grabbed a dustbin, and put his iPhone on a small tripod to take our official Tour Photo here…
From left to right: Elaine and Richard, me and Annelie, Francois and Andrea, Magda and Johan.
The sky was clear and blue, unlike the foggy Sunday morning the day before. But when we started the journey back inland, we had a really hard ride ahead of us. This region experiences what they call the “Oosweer”, Easterly Weather, when the hot winds blow from the inland to the ocean. It can become sandstorms, sandblasting everything in its way. We missed the sandblasting part, but from Swakopmund to Aranos I just could not go any faster than 110 km/h, with the fierce headwind. It was hard, hard riding, and some motorists including police vehicles did not make it any easier, passing sometimes with less than a metre between them and us…
This was the day’s route:
When we passed Aranos, the wind became more gentle. But it was still a hard day on the bike. We stopped at Okahandja at a Biltong factory, where we had some coffee. Biltong= the Americans call it beef jerky- wind dried raw meat. I see the old team of Top Gear did not like it. We in some of the harshest parts of the world love it- it was a way to preserve meat in a hot climate long before we had fridges and freezers.
From Okahandja to Windhoek the road passes some really beautiful scenery. But there are some severe road works along this road, and the local motorists can be very dangerous in passing, both directions… Beware of the local drivers…
When we arrived at Windhoek, we found that we have pre-booked at an excellent venue! We stayed over for two days at Urban Camp- just check out their website!
It was lovely. You get to pitch your tent on pavement, underneath a canvas awning.
The bathrooms are hidden behind reeds, but it is modern and very well planned. To combat Southern Africa’s electricity woes, they were also busy installing some wood fired geysers to provide hot water.
Just 500 meters away is the one must see tourism destination for people like us. Called Joe’s Beerhouse, it is one of the largest restaurants I have ever seen. It has a very laid back ambience, with lots of different little corners so that groups can have their own private space. We had a very good evening together, the food and drink, service and vibe in the place was great…
Photo Andrea
That Oryx Schnitzel was really good!
The next morning we first went to have our bikes washed, after all the ocean fog, and the salty roads that we have travelled on the past two days…
Afterwards we all had an appointment at the Namibia Bible House. We all are part of the South African Word Riders movement, which is organized nationally by Francois. So we had a visit to the Namibian Bible Society, and a briefing about what we do when we go out on Motorbikes to visit Schools in South Africa.
After some lekker coffee and snacks with wonderful people, we went to explore Windhoek. We stopped at the German church overlooking the whole city…
Afterwards, across the road, we went to see the new Freedom Monument- Museum…
After finishing these visits, the traffic of Windhoek started to get me under. The locals are not very motorbike friendly, they will not give you a gap to enter traffic, and some aggressively try to push you away to gain space for themselves.
That evening we did experience some genuine Namibian hospitality, when Barney and his wife (He is the manager of the Namibian Bible Society and she is a local pastor), invited us to dinner. We had a beautiful evening around a BRAAI (Barbeque). Again I had some Oryx meat, which I really enjoyed. We had a good evening filled with good food, wine and laughter. And then we had to go off to bed. Little did we know… to prepare for the NEXT day.
I enjoyed Urban Camp and Joe’s Beerhouse a lot. Windhoek might be a special city, I did not feel safe in the traffic on my motorbike.
The Rider 
People out enjoying their lives – such a great thing to see!! What a wonderful switch from those who blog just to rant and rave – keep up the fun and frolic!!