It was a short 70 km drive from Camp Swamp to the border crossing between Botswana and Namibia at Mohembo. Tidy small customs buildings on both sides at this remote border post. Very friendly and helpful officials got me through both sides in about 30 minutes. On the Namibian side at a security point, as a foreigner I had to enter my details again, and I was free to go. The day before there was only one entry, and the day before that, 6 entries. So not exactly a busy borderpost.

The road to the border post on the Botswana side had been superb. Immediately on entering Namibia I was greeted by a really bad, corrugated and sandy gravel road that required all my attention. Also road signs with elephants started appearing. The bad road continued for about 30 km, and then turned into a pleasant tar road. 

A couple of days before arriving in Namibia, I had looked at the posh Popa Falls Lodge as a possible place to pitch my tent for the night. I went to reception and soon got the impression that bikers are probably not their target market! When I asked to have a quick look at the facilities, pool area and so on, I was told to go and look at the campsites first. If I liked the sites I could come back. Needless to say that I jumped on my bike and left the place. In the end it turned out for the better, as I found a magnificent place called Hakusembe River Lodge, part of the Gondwana collection. Lovely green grass on the campsite with plenty of trees for shade, and private ablution building for each campsite (see pic). Also kitchen facilities with sinks and fridge. Superb! I stayed at Hakusembe for 3 nights, and took full advantage of the facilities, including the lovely pool. It dawned on me that the trip was coming to an end, with only one more border to cross - Namibia to South Africa. The 3 days at Hakusembe were really welcome, and I had time to reflect on the awesome adventure I had been privileged to experience, and to get a bit of rest before the journey to Cape Town.

I left Hakusembe rejuvenated and ready for the 2.000 km to Cape Town. Just as I turned onto the tar road, after about 5 km on a sandy gravel road from Hakusembe, I saw a swarm of insects heading towards me - too late for them to avoid me, and too late for me to react. I just heard a “splat” on my helmet and felt the impact on my jacket and trousers. I presumed it was just some harmless bugs, but when I looked down at my tankbag and gloves, bees were crawling all over the place. I stopped immediately, quickly pulled off my helmet and brushed off all the bees I could see. I think they must have been somewhat stunned by the impact, as - by some miracle - I managed to clear them all off of me, without getting stung. I continued my trip towards Otjiwarongo, a long day’s journey from Rundu.

Namibia is a vast country with a minute population! Distances are really “big”. Namibia is the second least populated country per square kilometer, after Mongolia. Only 2,6 million people to 825.000 square kilometer. Namibia is about 20 times the size of my own country, Denmark with a population of about 5,0 million people, or twice the size of Germany. On a small 650 cc motorcycle, you don’t just “do” Namibia, and I ended up spending 10 days in the country. Add to this the many gravel roads of varying quality you are likely to be using. But what a wonderful country it is - an adventurous motorcyclists dream!

The following day I continued from Otjiwarongo to Swakopmund. I would have loved to visit Etosha before heading west for the coast, but on the motorcycle that would remain a dream. Driving into Swakopmund now, compared to 20 years ago when I was last there, is like day and night. Incredible transformation - from town to city, but still a very pleasant place with a lot of German history. I had booked a room the day before, but when I arrived nothing was ready, and there was some party going on at the place. My host quickly suggested another place for me - Tina’s B & B - which turned out to be a great place, with Tina, a colored lady, firmly at the helm. She was one of the first places to open in Swakopmund, and we had some great talks about business, family, children and so on. Tina’s heart was clearly in it all, and she had created a fantastic business over the past 20 years. Hands on all the way, right down to making me breakfast in the morning. Lovely lady!

My intention the following morning was to drive through the Naukluft to Windhoek and spend a night there. But before attempting the gravel roads through the Naukluft, I needed to change the front tyre on my bike. Incredibly it had done over 30.000 km, and was now barely legal. I had seen a Yamaha dealer in the center of Swakopmund, and called in to see if they could help. It turned out to be a 3 hour stop, with everyone wanting to know about my trip through Africa. The owner, Jan Soderlund, is from the Swedish speaking part of Finland, and we started communicating in Danish/Swedish before deciding to continue in English. I met his wife as well, and their cute Jack Russell puppy dog. Very interesting couple, with lots of touring experience, in Namibia as well as overseas. Jan’s bike of preference, a Yamaha XT 1200 Super Tenere, was parked in the shop. Unfortunately, they did not have the Metzeler Tourance in stock I had been using up to now, but convinced me to take the successor, Metzeler Tourance Next, instead - a decision I really regret now. My old tyre would have lasted me to Cape Town! Anyway, it was a fantastic time with Jan and his friendly staff, and they gave me excellent service.

It was too late in the day to travel to Windhoek, so I decided to spend another night in Swakopmund. Driving around town to find a place to stay, I was suddenly aware of another bike next to me. The driver was signaling to me to stop. It turned out to be a real RTW (round the world) traveler, 27 year old Vincent from Quebec, Canada. We instantly “got on”, both delighted to have found a “kindred spirit”. It didn’t take long for me to realize that Vincent was on an extremely low budget, wild camping most of the time, and cooking his own meals. I invited him for a meal, and we had two wonderful hours together. Vincent has a degree in mechanical engineering, and works “remotely” from his computer, for the Canadian company he used to work for, whenever they need him, or he needs some cash to continue his trip. He had been on the road for 3 years already, and had so far only covered South America. He couldn’t believe that I had covered 20.000 km in just over three months. He was driving an old Suzuki DR 600 off-road bike he had bought in Durban. The length of his journey was open ended. Vincent was really a breath of fresh air for me, and we still keep in contact through mail and WhatsApp.