Swakopmund

Leaving Spitzkoppe for Swakopmund today. But unfortunately, it seems that the fridge has been using the battery rather than the mains power, so the battery is flat. Not long after I open the bonnet, three local guys huddle round and help me. I assume that they are mechanics from the petrol station, and let them poke around. One of them starts fiddling with, and loosening, the battery connectors, but says "Go ask in the petrol station for a mechanic!" Luckily, they don't do too much damage.

Fortunately, the Dutch couple we met come to our rescue, Bart quickly jump starts our car, and we're off to Swakopmund.

The first stop is a curious little rest stop in the middle of the desert. It looks like a 1950's American gas station, and is full of rusting old pickups. They have a famous apple pie, which is pretty good.

The next leg of the journey takes us deep into the heart of the desert. We enter a strange, almost alien landscape, which is completely flat as far as the eye can see. The occasional canyon or rocky outcrop punctuates what is otherwise extremely inhospitable desert. You would not want a flat tyre out here.

We arrive into Swakopmund mid Afternoon, after briefly stopping to take pictures of a few Flamingos outside town. Swakopmund is a strange German-looking town in the middle of the desert. It could almost be in the middle of Bavaria. We stop into a German Beerhouse and order tall, frothy Weisse beers. There is German beer memorabilia on the walls, and they sell good-looking Pretzels.

The couple next to us strike up a conversation. We talk about Coronavirus, which is all anyone is talking about nowadays, and the husband of the couple tells us to "follow the money". "You'll see," he says, " they already have the cure, but couldn't sell it. Now there's a global pandemic, people will buy the cure!" It's a good way, normal way, to start a conversation.

Steering the conversation into more normal territory, we talk about our plans here. We had thought about driving to Sandwich Harbour, where the giant sand dunes plummet straight down into the ocean. They warn us against this, though, by saying that a local guide drove out there recently, and the tide swept his truck away. We're put off the idea.Read more