After we had passed the gate (and the fence which extends over huge distances, preventing animals moving rom one area to another) the land use on either side of the road changed dramatically - before the fence it had all been large farms or game lodges, after the fence there were many small settlements with huts and rondavels - much more "African".
Many more kilometres later, on the approach to Rundu there was the second "excitement" of the day - a police roadblock. Here we were asked "where have you come from, where are you going?" (sound familiar? - these seem to be the 2 questions everyone is told to ask).
Our first impressions of Rundu were of a town with quite a selection of shops, a lot of activity (it is Saturday), but not very attractive at all. The road to the campsite descended from the town into what appears to be the riverbed with most of the 3km being sand, the welcome at the campsite being very "NWR-ish" (you'll have to read previous posts for an expalation of that!) - so we booked in for just one night - tomorrow we'll cast an eye over the other options before deciding. The weather was HOT and HUMID but it's starting to cool down now, we're plugged into power so the aircon in the box is on (but it's not pumping out too much cold so if I spot a refrigeration shop in town I'll see about getting a recharge done).
We're here for just one reason - to sort out a few truck -related bits such as new domestic batteries, Rundu isn't known as a tourist attraction apart from the riverside lodges.