Map coutesy of www.theodora.com/maps used with permission.

But you all know how to find this sort of information on the internet so why am I wasting my time telling you?

Well we arrived in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, after about 27 hours of travelling from Sydney and checked into the Kalahari Sands Hotel. By the time we arrived it was about 10.00 pm local time which equated to 7.00 am our time so the thought of going to bed was not really in our internal body system! However, after a few drinks in the bar we were ready to hit the sack and start the holiday in earnest the next day when our mate Roy should meet up with us.

Kms driven: 40

Cum. Kms driven: 40

The main drag (Independance Avenue) in Windhoek with German style architecture and modern day concrete matchboxes.

Despite telling Roy that we would want a long lie in bed, we awoke at about 7.00 am after a good nights sleep. A hearty breakfast in the hotel and then we waited for Roy. He was due to meet us at 9.30 am but that time came and went. We had no means of communicating him so we hung around the hotel as that was the only point where he could contact us. He eventually rocked up at 10.00 am and headed off for Bedesta Rest Camp, via Rehoboth. Shortly after leaving Windhoek we stumbled across the Aris Hotel so we just had to stop for our first coldie of the trip. Called into Rehoboth for last minute supplies and fuel.

Rehoboth is really a town that does not have much to commend it. It is the home town of the Bastars (Bastards) people of mixed decent from European farmers and the local Khoisan natives.

Kms driven: 320

Cum. Kms driven: 360

The Lutherian Church in Windhoek is quite a landmark sitting on a hill behind the central area of the city.

Early morning sun on the Namib-Naukluft Mountains from Bedesta Rest Camp.

We stayed the night (the first of three) at Bedesta Rest Camp and in the morning drove to Sesriem and Sossusvlei.

Sesriem is a deep gorge of about 1 km in length and about 30 to 40 m deep and was formed between two and four million years ago by the Tsauchab River which only flows after exceptionally good rains. The same river, on the rare occasions that it does flow, then flows into Sossusvlei. The vlei (or pan) is surrounded by huge sand dunes towering hundreds of metres all around you for as far as the eye can see. If you like deserts you'ld love this place but even better is the nearby Sossusvlei Lodge Hotel where ice cold draught Hansa is served.

Sesriem Gorge (including Rona and Roy for scale)	Sossusvlei

Kms driven: 218

Cum. Kms driven: 578

Today we went for a short drive in the mountains of the Namib-Naukluft National Park where there is some quite rugged and barren scenery to be found.

Kms driven: 161

Cum Kms driven: 739

Part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park with Springbok in the foreground.

Set off from Bedesta this morning to drive to Ai-Ais (which means "burning water" in Nama) where the eye of the hot sulpherous spring reaches the surface at about 60 deg C. Our route took us through Maltahohe, Bethanie and Seeheim. We stopped off in Maltahohe for a while to get re-stocked with essential supplies, such as, bread, bacon, beer, etc. Maltahohe is basically a town dying where it stands following the decline in the farming industry as a result of serious droughts in the region over the last couple of decades. You know things are rough when the native huts have razor wire erected around them! The hotel in Maltahohe is very pleasant with helpful staff and great cold draught beer at about USD 0.90 per 500 ml. Seeheim which is just off the main road (if you can call it that) has a very interesting hotel with lots of character, however, the beer is a bit pricey here at nearly USD 0.80 per 340 ml.

Kms driven: 612

Cum. Kms driven: 1351

The road approaching Ai-Ais.

Today we took a drive to view Fish River Canyon which is the third largest canyon in the world and the largest in the souther hemisphere. If you want to hike the 85 kms of the main canyon you better book in advance because this very popular hiking trail is booked out months in advance with numbers limted to 30 people per day. The biggest canyon in the world is somewhere in the USA and the second biggest is the Blue Nile Gorge in Ethiopia.

Kms driven: 184

Cum. Kms driven: 1535

Off on the road again today - this time we were heading for Luderitz (named after an early 20th century German merchant - Adolf Luderitz) on the south west coat of Namibia. Guess what? We had to go via Seeheim, so it was time for a refreshment there again. A couple of hundred kilometers later we arrived at the town of Aus which had an hotel called the Rainbow Hotel so we stopped there for another stretch of the legs. Whilst stretching our legs we discovered that the 750 ml bottles of beer only cost USD 0.70 so we had a couple.

After driving all over Luderitz (which only consists of about 10 streets) the driver at that time (Roy) eventually found our accommodation on Shark Island overlooking Luderitz Bay.

Kms driven: 467

Cum. Kms driven: 2002

The Rainbow Hotel in Aus.