Don't mix spirits with a metre of beer!

Day 4
Distance Travelled: about 370km

At A Little Sossus Lodge we found the Cool Squad pumping up Dixie’s tyre – legend has it that the Dixie boys managed 5 flat tyres/blowouts in one day!

A Little Sossus Camp Site

 

We were greeted by the manager, a lovely strapping young man called Jan (what else would he be called?) who warned us of giant crickets and hungry hyenas that wouldn’t hesitate to pay us a visit if we left food out during the night.

 

The camp site is in the middle of a flat plain that the wind loves to race around in. They have very kindly constructed hollow structures that can fit your car and tent inside to protect you from the wind.

We were expecting windy, but you’ve never experienced anything like this before! Even in our shelter I felt like we’d fly off the car and wake up in the middle of nowhere. The hyena warning didn’t help either – with every strange noise or rush of wind we were convinced the hyenas were ransacking our belongings. It was a VERY long night!

 

 

Eventually the sun came up and we ventured outside to a scene as calm as a lap pool in a MacDonald's.

We tiredly packed up and wearily plugged  ‘Engen’ into the GPS, said a small prayer and set off. Luckily this Engen did exist and we found coffeeee, food and loads of terrorists. We had heard about the legendary red sand dunes in the area, and decided to go have a look. The guard at the gate basically told us to go away, that we wouldn’t see anything because of the wind and that we were wasting our time there. I wish we hadn’t taken his advice – SlowZu decided to chance it anyway and have some amazing photos!

 

photo (c) Che Overmeyer

 

Moral of the story – don’t take the advice of someone who clearly would rather be asleep and warm and not at work.

Windhoek to!

We pulled into the big city early, splurged on a Mug & Bean lunch and did some costume shopping for the Checkpoint parties. I was fairly alarmed that items we were jokingly buying were being seriously bought by Windhoek citizens!

GPS failed us miserably again in the search for Urban Camp, but luckily we knew it was in walking distance of Joe’s Beerhouse, so we eventually found it. What a cool place! We pulled in to find HQ & Triton settled in as if they’d never lived anywhere else, unpacked and headed for Joe’s.

photo (c) Che Overmeyer

photo (c) Che Overmeyer

The legend of Joe’s Beerhouse spreads far and wide, and not for no reason.

This visit to Windhoek, and Joe’s in particular was especially emotional for me – the last time we’d been here was for Erwin’s funeral. The last time I’d been to Joe’s we’d sat in the bar listening to all his friends tell amazing stories about him, crying and laughing and crying some more. Obviously as I am a Granville I am not good at dealing with my feelings, and so I may have indulged a little too much.

Or a lot too much. Depends who you talk to. And it would seem I talked to EVERYONE. For someone who is normally quiet and shy I made A LOT of friends that night, and somehow, Foxy Roxy was born. Marissa had a pack of locals eating out of her hands, Chadre was scoring free drinks and Zo was gaining admirers left, right and centre.
We had a WONDERFUL time. I believe Erwin would have been proud of our effort that night.

Lord Hamish made an appearance even.

Lord Hamish! photo (c) Che Overmeyer

Mowgli and Zo walked me home around midnight, after a meter of beer (after a shot of every kind of alcohol) had decided it was my bedtime.

Polar Bear Express enjoying a metre of beer!  photo (c) Che Overmeyer

Seems we were all luckier than the Norwegians, who were mugged on their way home. Maybe their team name “Idiots Abroad” was too visible?

 I hear that Joe’s was an EPIC night for everyone – if you’re ever in Windhoek make sure you visit this place – where their house-wine is Jagermeister!

 

A serious babalus and Swakopmund…. NEXT

Yours in adventure

Rox