Day 119/120 - Windhoek, Namibia

RobC:  This blog entry takes us through the weekend we spent in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. We are both rather surprised about the level of sophistication and infrastructure of southern Africa up to this point. Nevertheless, we still have to get used to the way they handle WiFi and Internet connections at hotels and public places. Apparently, in this part of the world communications businesses felt that Internet connections should not be free or included in hotel fees, etc., and they have come up with a scheme whereby they sell vouchers for x-number of minutes or megabytes of data transfer. This makes our blogging work a bit tedious and expensive, but we will endure this and continue to log our experiences and pictures and share them with you. 

RobT:  Day 119:  Not much going on in Windhoek, other than trying to dry our gear, clean the motorcycles, get some rest and do some maintenance.  It is hard to dry out the gear when it is still pouring rain outside, although our hotel room has a carport roof where we can hang things out.  RobC did some camera shopping, as his Canon G9 did not survive the dunking in the river.  His Blackberry may still be repairable - we'll see on Monday when we take it to an expert.  I went to a post office and mailed some items back home that I had accumulated during our recent weeks. I had to go to the grocery store, get a box, tape and parcel wrapping paper.  After getting all my supplies, I had to reshape the box to fit the items I had to ship.  I found a table outside a pizza joint and started my box customization.  A few minutes into the process the lady at the post office called me into the office and offered the table in the back room.  She even helped with the wrapping.  I doubt you would get this kind of service from Canada Post.

Day 120:  Sunshine, finally!  This is exciting!  Maybe we can finally get that damp, musty smell out of our riding gear. The bikes look good and are ready for the next adventure. 

Our neighbour at the lodge was a guy by the name of Ralf and his 3 dogs, a Jack Russel and two Rhodesian Ridgebacks (lion hunters).   Ralf manages a lodge about 80 km from Sossusvlei and tames unbroken horses as a hobby.  Another one of those great characters we met along the way.  The three of us decided on dinner at the most interesting establishment in Windhoek: Joe's Beer House.  What a place!!!  Very unassuming on the outside, as all you could see was a wall with some electric wiring along the top.  The inside, however, was a maze of open-air nooks, crannies and areas filled with tables and chairs under thatched roofs and all sorts of African paraphernalia displayed around the place. There were two kitchens and several individual bars to accommodate all the customers.  It also had quite an extensive menu, particularly game.  I had zebra, medium rare.  I apologize to all you animal lovers ... but it was very good.

Part of Joe's Beer House, an incredible place.

Tomorrow, "God willing and the creek don't rise" (funny how true the latter part of that saying is here), we will be on our way again heading directly east into Botswana.