2022 blog
8th March 2022
The truck is almost on the road (the tyres that were supposed to have arrived last week are nowhere to be found, so a plan B is being formulated - welcome back to Africa)
The truck is almost on the road (the tyres that were supposed to have arrived last week are nowhere to be found, so a plan B is being formulated - welcome back to Africa)
11th March 2022
Weve been having problems getting Weebly to work for us using the laptop, but have just found that the phone App is a lot friendlier, hence why weve not been posting much!
The tyres we ordered and were supposed to arrive the week before we arrived had in fact not been processed by Michelin in South Africa, the whole batch having been sold to someone else. Another 9 are due to arrive today, hopefully we'll be able to get our hands on a pair - itll take about a week for them to get to Windhoek
On Wednesday we took the truck to the tyre dealer and they replaced the worst of the 2 bad tyres with the new tyre (bought in Nairobi) on the roof.This allows us to travel on tar to some extent.
We've heard lots of stories of people having trouble getting their carnets swapped in Windhoek - I won't go into what appears to be happening here - but suffice to say that we weren't keen on going down that route, so yesterday we set off for the Botswana border East of Windhoek - 300km of the Trans Kalahari. This morning we went to see the customs officer on the Namibian side (feeling a bit of trepidation). He was really friendly, we chatted about the effects of covid and Ukraine on tourism, explained what we wanted, he stamped and signed and all was done. A quick scoot back to the campsite, photos of the carnets sent to ADAC in Germany and within half an hour confirmation received that the customs claim on the truck is resolved. HOORAY!
Now we need those tyres so we can get to Zambia for the next carnet before the 12th April (including self isolating prior to PCR tests)......
12th March 2022
We've decided to stay out here at Zelda Lodge as we need to wait for the tyres anyway - hopefully there will be news on Monday - and this place is so quiet (we're the only guests here, so have the place to ourselves). We've been for walks across the game farm area, seen zebra and a few antelope that we haven't agreed what they are yet! A tame emu (yes, that is an emu, not an ostrich) comes around every now and then, Sue's catching up with her bird list, we've sorted the inside of the truck a bit and generally taken rest for the first time in what feels like weeks. Tomorrow we'll probably head back towards Windhoek.
Weve been having problems getting Weebly to work for us using the laptop, but have just found that the phone App is a lot friendlier, hence why weve not been posting much!
The tyres we ordered and were supposed to arrive the week before we arrived had in fact not been processed by Michelin in South Africa, the whole batch having been sold to someone else. Another 9 are due to arrive today, hopefully we'll be able to get our hands on a pair - itll take about a week for them to get to Windhoek
On Wednesday we took the truck to the tyre dealer and they replaced the worst of the 2 bad tyres with the new tyre (bought in Nairobi) on the roof.This allows us to travel on tar to some extent.
We've heard lots of stories of people having trouble getting their carnets swapped in Windhoek - I won't go into what appears to be happening here - but suffice to say that we weren't keen on going down that route, so yesterday we set off for the Botswana border East of Windhoek - 300km of the Trans Kalahari. This morning we went to see the customs officer on the Namibian side (feeling a bit of trepidation). He was really friendly, we chatted about the effects of covid and Ukraine on tourism, explained what we wanted, he stamped and signed and all was done. A quick scoot back to the campsite, photos of the carnets sent to ADAC in Germany and within half an hour confirmation received that the customs claim on the truck is resolved. HOORAY!
Now we need those tyres so we can get to Zambia for the next carnet before the 12th April (including self isolating prior to PCR tests)......
12th March 2022
We've decided to stay out here at Zelda Lodge as we need to wait for the tyres anyway - hopefully there will be news on Monday - and this place is so quiet (we're the only guests here, so have the place to ourselves). We've been for walks across the game farm area, seen zebra and a few antelope that we haven't agreed what they are yet! A tame emu (yes, that is an emu, not an ostrich) comes around every now and then, Sue's catching up with her bird list, we've sorted the inside of the truck a bit and generally taken rest for the first time in what feels like weeks. Tomorrow we'll probably head back towards Windhoek.
13th March 2022 A Rainy Day!
We’re still at Zelda - we decided that we are better off waiting out here than in Windhoek - it’s nice and peaceful and there’s quite good birding opportunities for Sue. In fact yesterday we saw a small herd of wildebeest - yes they are East African - Zelda is a game farm, so it looks like they’ve got some exotics too. The nice thing is that we can go for walks through the bush where the animals graze, occasionally getting close enough to get sightings. Sue disturbed a snake that had taken up residence in the rubbish bin the other day - she thinks it was a sand snake, so not too venomous.
We started this morning with another walk, this time taking the new telephoto lens to get some practice using it - it’s immediately proved its value by allowing positive identification of several bird species.
I started to fit the new inverter this morning as it’s cool enough to work inside up to about midday - but around 11 a huge dark grey cloud appeared, followed by thunder - since then it’s rained on and off all day - cool enough to be able to stay in the truck out of the rain al day. The inverter is fitted, just needs connecting up and testing.....
We’re still at Zelda - we decided that we are better off waiting out here than in Windhoek - it’s nice and peaceful and there’s quite good birding opportunities for Sue. In fact yesterday we saw a small herd of wildebeest - yes they are East African - Zelda is a game farm, so it looks like they’ve got some exotics too. The nice thing is that we can go for walks through the bush where the animals graze, occasionally getting close enough to get sightings. Sue disturbed a snake that had taken up residence in the rubbish bin the other day - she thinks it was a sand snake, so not too venomous.
We started this morning with another walk, this time taking the new telephoto lens to get some practice using it - it’s immediately proved its value by allowing positive identification of several bird species.
I started to fit the new inverter this morning as it’s cool enough to work inside up to about midday - but around 11 a huge dark grey cloud appeared, followed by thunder - since then it’s rained on and off all day - cool enough to be able to stay in the truck out of the rain al day. The inverter is fitted, just needs connecting up and testing.....
14th March 2022
Good news! The tyres have arrived at Michelin in Joburg and been booked out to us. The truck will only leave when it’s full - so dependant upon sufficient orders.... Based on this we’ve come back to Windhoek today. On the way we stopped off for lunch at the White Nossob river (dry in spite of all the rain we’ve had the last 2 days). There were hundreds of martins flying around over and under the road bridge - a very impressive sight. It’s cooler here than in the East - and less rain (the downpour yesterday continued during the night and the first half of the trip west was rainy. We worked out over dinner that a truck coming from Joburg would take around 16 driving hours to reach Windhoek, so we don’t have high hopes of seeing the tyres before Friday - but you never know. We have a few things to do in town tomorrow - stock up in case the tyres get here early, get new domestic batteries as they aren’t really holding up and get some sundry supplies for the truck for a few smaller jobs to be done en-route. Some people think we’re on holiday!
Good news! The tyres have arrived at Michelin in Joburg and been booked out to us. The truck will only leave when it’s full - so dependant upon sufficient orders.... Based on this we’ve come back to Windhoek today. On the way we stopped off for lunch at the White Nossob river (dry in spite of all the rain we’ve had the last 2 days). There were hundreds of martins flying around over and under the road bridge - a very impressive sight. It’s cooler here than in the East - and less rain (the downpour yesterday continued during the night and the first half of the trip west was rainy. We worked out over dinner that a truck coming from Joburg would take around 16 driving hours to reach Windhoek, so we don’t have high hopes of seeing the tyres before Friday - but you never know. We have a few things to do in town tomorrow - stock up in case the tyres get here early, get new domestic batteries as they aren’t really holding up and get some sundry supplies for the truck for a few smaller jobs to be done en-route. Some people think we’re on holiday!
18th March 2022
We've had a quiet few days in Windhoek. We got new domestic batteries on Tuesday as the old ones were showing signs of giving up. At the same time we got a few other bits for the truck and stocked up with shopping in case the tyres arrived.....they didn't.
On Wednesday evening a small bit of one of my front teeth fell off....on Thursday morning more followed. Will from the TransKalahari Inn recommended her dentist - he is based in a new shopping mall in the South of the city - no parking for anything over 2.4m (this is actually unusual for Africa), so we parked in an empty building plot and Sue stayed with the truck. All sorted very quickly - it felt worse than it actually was - the dentist knows Manfred (used to fly aircraft with him) and we chatted about Unimogs (loads of people in Africa know about them).
We'd been in regular contact with Christa from Supertyres about the estimated arrival date - she had hoped that they would be here by Thursday at the latest, but the truck got stuck at the border. She was confident that they'd arrive overnight, so we arranged to be there for 9am. By 9:30 the spare wheel was off and it's tyre removed - waiting for the new ones......eventually a Supertyres bakkie arrived with 2 large very recognisable tyres in the back - they'd sent someone to get just our tyres from the warehouse. Simpson quickly fitted one to the spare and together we got the other onto the roofrack (50kg of deadweight up 2.2m isn't easy). Photos taken, credit card hit and we were off....
In the meantime we'd been looking at updates to covid rules as they are changing all the time. Botswana don't require a PCR test for entry, just proof of vaccination. Namibia moved to the same rule this week. Zambia seem to have introduced a rule whereby anyone leaving the country has to have a Zambian PCR test to leave(!) even if the destination country don't require it, this on top of requiring one for entry too. Zim have dropped the requirement for tourists to go into quarantine on arrival (but still require a PCR). The nett result is that we can move fairly freely between Namibia and Botswana, that Zambia has become too complicated and Zim more attractive. Conclusion - change of plan - we're off to Zim across Botswana for the carnet insead of Zambia. As a result we've just driven back to Buitepos on the Namibia/Bots border and are back at Zelda before crossing into Bots tomorrow hopefully.
We've had a quiet few days in Windhoek. We got new domestic batteries on Tuesday as the old ones were showing signs of giving up. At the same time we got a few other bits for the truck and stocked up with shopping in case the tyres arrived.....they didn't.
On Wednesday evening a small bit of one of my front teeth fell off....on Thursday morning more followed. Will from the TransKalahari Inn recommended her dentist - he is based in a new shopping mall in the South of the city - no parking for anything over 2.4m (this is actually unusual for Africa), so we parked in an empty building plot and Sue stayed with the truck. All sorted very quickly - it felt worse than it actually was - the dentist knows Manfred (used to fly aircraft with him) and we chatted about Unimogs (loads of people in Africa know about them).
We'd been in regular contact with Christa from Supertyres about the estimated arrival date - she had hoped that they would be here by Thursday at the latest, but the truck got stuck at the border. She was confident that they'd arrive overnight, so we arranged to be there for 9am. By 9:30 the spare wheel was off and it's tyre removed - waiting for the new ones......eventually a Supertyres bakkie arrived with 2 large very recognisable tyres in the back - they'd sent someone to get just our tyres from the warehouse. Simpson quickly fitted one to the spare and together we got the other onto the roofrack (50kg of deadweight up 2.2m isn't easy). Photos taken, credit card hit and we were off....
In the meantime we'd been looking at updates to covid rules as they are changing all the time. Botswana don't require a PCR test for entry, just proof of vaccination. Namibia moved to the same rule this week. Zambia seem to have introduced a rule whereby anyone leaving the country has to have a Zambian PCR test to leave(!) even if the destination country don't require it, this on top of requiring one for entry too. Zim have dropped the requirement for tourists to go into quarantine on arrival (but still require a PCR). The nett result is that we can move fairly freely between Namibia and Botswana, that Zambia has become too complicated and Zim more attractive. Conclusion - change of plan - we're off to Zim across Botswana for the carnet insead of Zambia. As a result we've just driven back to Buitepos on the Namibia/Bots border and are back at Zelda before crossing into Bots tomorrow hopefully.
22nd March 2022
On Saturday we were off, straight to the Botswana border, which was surprisingly easy to navigate - the only real difference from normal being the need to show our NHS covid passes on our phones before going to Botswana immigration. Within an hour we were through. The rest of the day was travel to El-Fari campsite beyond Ghanzi - we stayed here in 2019 and liked it - very out of the way on a farm. We stopped off in Ghanzi to get fuel, some shopping and a SIM card. Previously we had found fillet steak in the Shoprite here at a good price - this time we found two packs at about £4 per pound. We bought both! The mobile phone shop was closed as it was Saturday afternoon, someone suggested asking in the "China Shop" (a shop that sells almost anything and everything imported from China) - no problem as they had Orange SIMs = however the owner was unable to register a SIM to us after an hour of trying, so we gave up (hence no posts since). We planned to do a short leg on Sunday as it was either that or do over 400km, however we managed to get to the first option by lunchtime so decided to press on and wildcamp if things didn't go our way. No need as we got to Gweta by 5pm. This was to be another overnighter as we were off in the morning for Elephant Sands on the road from Nata to Kasane. We managed to acquire a SIM in Nata along with fuel (85p/litre for diesel here!) and got to the campsite by lunchtime. Dinner was fillet steak done on the fire with a potje of vegetables. More for tomorrow too! This place is in the middle of nowhere - basically a waterhole with a campsite, chalets and a bar. Elephants arrive daily for water (although fewer at the moment as it's the end of the wet season). They are free to wander through the campsite although they do tend to stick to their worn paths. Last night we were woken by 2 or 3 hyenas rummaging through rubbish - our torches picked them out quite well.
On Saturday we were off, straight to the Botswana border, which was surprisingly easy to navigate - the only real difference from normal being the need to show our NHS covid passes on our phones before going to Botswana immigration. Within an hour we were through. The rest of the day was travel to El-Fari campsite beyond Ghanzi - we stayed here in 2019 and liked it - very out of the way on a farm. We stopped off in Ghanzi to get fuel, some shopping and a SIM card. Previously we had found fillet steak in the Shoprite here at a good price - this time we found two packs at about £4 per pound. We bought both! The mobile phone shop was closed as it was Saturday afternoon, someone suggested asking in the "China Shop" (a shop that sells almost anything and everything imported from China) - no problem as they had Orange SIMs = however the owner was unable to register a SIM to us after an hour of trying, so we gave up (hence no posts since). We planned to do a short leg on Sunday as it was either that or do over 400km, however we managed to get to the first option by lunchtime so decided to press on and wildcamp if things didn't go our way. No need as we got to Gweta by 5pm. This was to be another overnighter as we were off in the morning for Elephant Sands on the road from Nata to Kasane. We managed to acquire a SIM in Nata along with fuel (85p/litre for diesel here!) and got to the campsite by lunchtime. Dinner was fillet steak done on the fire with a potje of vegetables. More for tomorrow too! This place is in the middle of nowhere - basically a waterhole with a campsite, chalets and a bar. Elephants arrive daily for water (although fewer at the moment as it's the end of the wet season). They are free to wander through the campsite although they do tend to stick to their worn paths. Last night we were woken by 2 or 3 hyenas rummaging through rubbish - our torches picked them out quite well.