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Namibia

November - December 2019
A 17-day adventure by Sue Read more
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  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 1

    The flight was cancled? And JFK

    November 15, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 3 °C

    Thursday, Nov. 14th, when I was in the office late afternoon and checked on my emails, suddenly a email from South African Airways popped up and said “your flight was canceled due to industrial action”. WTF! I was supposed to fly out tomorrow and you canceled my flight the last minute?! I immediately picked up the phone and called the number given. While holding on the line I told Dale and texted Finn. It was the bed time for Finn but he couldn’t sleep. Dale ran his searching engine high, trying to find me an alternative route. He told me the “industrial action” meant strike. Sure enough the news said SAA was having a strike for the better pay and benefits. Dale couldn’t find anything good that could get me to WDH quick enough. The anxiety was running high in the twenty minutes holding the line. Finally someone picked up. After checking she said my flight from JFK to JNB wasn’t canceled, but the next one, from JNB to WDH was. She then found me another flight run by Namibia Airline that departed from JNB one hour later than my original one, which wasn’t too bad and also gave me more transit time. Finally, the chaos was over. Finn could go to bed with peace of mind. Phew, what a drama!

    Next day I got up at 6:30. Tian Yong picked me up at 7:30 and took me to the airport. I put the backpack on shoulder and took a picture. Wanted to take a full length but only end up with shoulder height.    Read more

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 2

    On the flight

    November 16, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 6 °C

    Flew over the Atlantic Ocean and got to the edge of Africa continent. The route is the straight line as seen on the map, not a curve as going to one of the polars for “shorter distance”. So it must be the shortest distance by crossing the equator.

    The airplane is Airbus 340-600, an quite old version. The low def and pull-up TV. Watched Toy Story 4. Quite like it. The best way for me to like a movie is to know nothing before hand. With an open mind I just go with the flow of the story.

    The food was OK. However, after the frantic experience of the airline strike and flight cancellation last night I won’t be picky anymore. It’s better to let the SAA save a few dollars so it can continue runny, at least through Nov. 30th so I can get back without troubles. The service was attentive. The guy who served my row named John. A very nice guy. He tried the yellow dragon fruit I brought on board and liked it.    Read more

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 2

    Transfer at JHB

    November 16, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Exchanged $200 at the airport, which is all I had. Not a great rate, 13.96 vs. 14.71, plus 5% commission. The guide book said it’s better to have South Africa Rand than Namibia dollar. Rand is accepted in Namibia but it’s not vise versa. So by calculation I am worse off by about $30.

    JHB allowed passengers to go to international terminal directly, but everyone still needed to go through an immigration to get the passport stamped, plus a security check point later. Both were pretty quick.

    Flying to Windhoek takes about 1 hour and 50 minutes. It’s a full flight. I’m sure the strike of SAA sent a lot of customers to Namibia Airline.

    I was supposed to be able to use the lounge by my Jade card but got denied. It sucked.

    JHB and Namibia counter.    Read more

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 2

    Flying from JHB to Windhoek

    November 16, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    The flight provided meal, I was a little surprised. The rice was dry and hard, the fish was ok. The guys sat next to me are from Indian. They came to visit. One of the guys offered to help me taking a picture, unfortunately, the wing covered two-third of the picture. Underneath, it’s Africa.

    I had no picture but Johannesburg looked pretty from above. Can’t believe it’s a town full of crimes and danger. It’s said the U. S. doctors like to come here to practice their skills on gun wounds. The U. S. also have such cities, like Washington D. C. The doctors got the first taste of blood here before sent to a war zone overseas.

    Only slept two hours from JFK to JHB but couldn’t catch up sleep this leg because how bright the cabin as well as the food service.    Read more

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 2

    Windhoek airport

    November 16, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Just landed. The KLM was Finn’s flight. His flight made a stop in Luanda, Angola, then continued on to Windhoek. KLM only runs this direct flight twice a week. We were supposed to arrive at the same time but now I was one hour delayed.

    The immigration officer asked me where I was going to stay. “ I don’t know!” I knew Finn had book a lodge but had no idea of its name and location. I told her that I could only know it when I got out and found my travel partner. I was just standing at her counter in silence for two minutes, really couldn’t give more information. She finally stamped my passport.

    I got out but didn’t see him the first sight then finally found him at the counter of SIM card. He told me his luggage didn’t arrive, I caught it when he repeated again. Apparently he was not the only one. He exchanged a few words with another guy who also didn’t see his luggage. (It was funny we ran into this guy in the parking lot of the grocery store a few hours later. He had a car similar to ours.)

    We had no choice but continued on to pick up the car in the city. As it turned out the luggage didn’t arrive till three days later.    Read more

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 2

    At the car rental place

    November 16, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Finn rented a satellite phone and a GPS. I’m the second driver on the lease. The rep also gave him a map and told him a lot roads are new. It’s better to refer to the map from time to time.

    The satellite phone costs N$ 25/min, to make a call.

    It took at least 40 minutes, even longer, for Finn to get the car. He later told me that he was shown every compartment, equipment like air pump, gauge, fridge/freezer, hot shower, charge cable, batteries, sleeping quarter, storage places, two spare tires, etc. The car also came with shovels, a hatchet, a jack... Finn wanted to get a pair of tracks in case the car was stuck in sand but they were not available.

    I waited in the office and was wondering why it needed so much time to pick up a car. I only understood better after spending a lot of times with it.

    We were the last one to pick up the car that day.

    We then went to shop for groceries in a neighborhood supermarket. Finn asked the security guy to watch out for the car. When we walked out two guys pushed the cart for us. Finn gave them N$ 5 pp.    Read more

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 2

    On the way to Windhoek

    November 16, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Very hot...! Finn’s luggage didn’t arrive. His flight flew from AMS to Windhoek directly with one stop over Angola. There was no reason for the luggage to be lost, but it happened. He was not the only one, another guy, too. It would be terrible if the luggage didn’t leave AMS because KLM only flies here twice a week! Customer service didn’t have any answers for him. He has booked the first five days. Don’t know what are we going to do.

    For a while I thought the guy who picked up at the airport drove at the wrong side of the road, then realized this is what I have practiced in my mind back home, it’s right side driving like UK and Japan! I need to keep training my mind to get used to it.    Read more

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 3

    Windhoek city center

    November 17, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Leaving the reserve we went the city center. On the way there we passed by an area that was jammed with small houses made by corrugated metal sheets or some other materials, very much like the ones photographed as poor area in South Africa. However, I didn’t take pictures of it. I lack the sense of a journalist and often miss the interesting part.

    The bottom pictures are: the parliament garden which was closed to the public that day, the parliament, a church and its plaque, a building I didn’t get the name.    Read more

  • TravelerNamibia
    Day 3

    River Crossing Resort

    November 17, 2019 in Namibia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    First night in Windhoek. The wind blew violently, not like the summer wind at all. Looked like wind in South Hemisphere is just stronger. We learned the same thing when in Patagonia.

    I had a huge breakfast, a bowl of yogurt cereal, some cold cut meat then a big omelette in the hotel. The hotel cost $158 per night, each room is a single “house” even though the house/room isn’t so big.Read more

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