The weather was freezing and the Kalahari Desert sands were being blow at 26kph, gusting at 40kph, as we managed our first African border crossing from South African into Namibia.  Not ideal conditions but we were comforted, after going through the process of buying Road Tax,, getting an Immigration stamp and then getting the Guzzi stamped and passed through Customs, that without too much of a todo, we were now in Namibia!

With heads down and butts up, we made our evening accommodation at the basic, but very clean and popular roadside stop at Grunau Country Hotel.  We were so dismayed with the strong gusty windy conditions, that we took the next day to re-evaluate our travel plans.  Winds in Namibia come from the north, so any east or west travel meant confronting strong cross winds.  Ruth, of Ruth and John, our friends who had recently travelled down the west coast of Namibia, exclaimed the winds are so strong, baboons are being blown out of the trees!  Our Guzzi had taken the crash during 40kph gusts, so we had firsthand experience of how difficult it is to ride in such winds and what such force can very easily do to a large bike laden with two people and their luggage!

We made the decision that any travel to the west, for the foreseeable future, needed to be avoided.  Additionally, given our load, we were going to have to avoid gravel roads that were anything but hard, and corrugations were just going to be too onerous.

Instead of checking out Fish River Canyon, Luderitz, Kopmunskop and Swakopmund, we took the tar directly north until we reached Windhoek, Namibia’s capital city.  This wind was just relentless!  We found out later, strong winds are the norm in Namibia in August, but unseasonably, they are here now!  

The journey north was long and straight in most parts, and Dale had to hold steady each time a truck passed creating additional turbulence.  Lucky he’s a fantastic, experienced rider and we’re used to the multi-trailered road trains in northern Australia.  Ensuring you have enough fuel for long expanses is cause for serious consideration.  We have a 19 litre tank and do around 15kpl.  We have taken to carrying additional fuel…just in case…  We have had our first “sorry, no fuel today”, so need to anticipate this won’t be the last time.

We carry little Aussie gold pin Kangaroos with us for occasions when say, fuel attendants rush over to look at the bike and ask where we’re from and where we’re going.  I give them a little pin and we become best friends forever.

At our Airbnb host’s recommendation, we ventured an hour from Windhoek to the N/a’an kuse Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation Sanctuary.  We arrived for the carnivore feeding hours and were privy to meeting baboons, wild dogs, a cheetah, a leopard and one very big lion, up close and personal!  This organisation provides a home, food and protection for animals that have been injured, abandoned, or have been causing a ruckus in others parts of Namibia and need relocation.

Our plans keep changing from day to day and the current plan is that we head straight for Erindi Private Game Reserve on route to the famous Etosha Pan.  Even though motorcycles are not allowed into most national parks, the booking lady assured us we could ride the Guzzi into Erindi.  She did append this with “I’ll give you a short cut route to follow.  If you go the normal way, you may encounter lions.  On the shortcut, you may only encounter elephants”.

What could go wrong…