Hotel Furstenhof Windhoek

Die letzten Tage haben wir im Süden Namibias verbracht. Die Tierwelt war nicht mehr so aufregend wie im Norden, dafür waren die Landschaften bezaubernd und die Leute gastfreundlich. Einige Campingplätze waren unglaublich toll und mit sehr viel Enthusiasmus erstellt.<br> Im Red Sand Dune Camp hatten wir unsere eigene rote Sanddüne. Die Aussicht war atemberaubend. Es war aber nicht nur die Lage, die dieses Camp so einmalig macht. Unvorstellbar hat man in diesem Nichts sogar ...

... no water, electricity or food; for the unemployed which is almost 50% of Windhoek and all-black). I was in shock after the tour. I learned about tribalism and how that has replaced racism here. Let me try to dish out a brief history lesson that won't be half as detailed as it should be to completely understand the dynamics of south African politics and government --<br ...

... www.opodo.com - Petrol (estimation) = 230 &euro; The total budget should be around 4 700 &euro;... I'll tell when I'll be back if I was right... I had contacted travel agencies for this trip, and their proposals were around 5 000 &euro; without food and petrol... So I think it worths it to do it alone ! And such a pleasure to organize everything!!!

... going down and up and down and up, so on and on! Eventually we had enough time on the sand as we are all covered in sand! Yukiebukie! Anyway, we all had a drink by the sea. It was very nice and then we quickly went back to the hotel and had lunch. After we had our lunch, we went to the quad biking base. It was amazing. I LOVED IT so much! It was sooo relaxing and seeing the desert so far and far away! I have had the most amazing day but something was bothering me ...

... to get Rands ground-side, we immediately went through passport control to return to airside. There are NO ATMs airside at Oliver Tambo airport, and Bureaus De Change don't post their exchange rates or fees (which I find very dodgy), so we had no spare money. Good thing I ate like a pig in the Clubhouse and on the flight... Next a short SAA flight to Windhoek. As I'm stowing my bag into the overhead locker, I catch ...

... anthoer desert - the Kalahari, which stetches right across Botswana into Naminia. Here amoingst the red sand plains and gentle dunes you come across the occasional lonely farm house, eeking out a living, and workers on rickety wooden carts being pulled by two or up to four donkeys. At the tiny town of Gobais, I walk in the tin-shed township where perhaps a thousand Nama people settled in aparthied times and now just while away their days. The young girls i meet speak ...

... any that can not be released to educate locals (and entertain tourists). We watched a beautiful leopard from a hide which had been orphaned, and then raised by the owner in his bedroom. Eventually the leopard became territorial and tried to kill the owner, at which point he decided it would probably be best to move the cat into a large outdoor enclosure. After a visit to the wild dogs, a fierce and endangered species we headed towards the cheetah enclosure. We watched the ...

... with a massive bonfire in the courtyard. The menu was also very interesting as you could have almost any type of the game that we had been spotting for the past few weeks - zebra, springbok, kudu, crocodile and ostrich just to name a few. Most popular with our group were the mixed kebabs with several different animals on the skewer. After the meal most headed back to the hostel but Tim, Alex and I decided that we'd see what a Namibian casino was ...

... was wrong. It was larger, and cleaner than any supermarket I have shopped at in Vancouver. There was lots of fresh food to go and the deli was superb. All this for prices a fraction of what I am used to. However, I knew that there is another side to this city. So in the afternoon, I set out to discover how the other half live. With the recommendation of the staff at the hostel, I hired a guy to take me to the townships (his name escapes ...

... and had a nice long evening visit that night after work. By that time we had moved to Beth's old haunt "The Cardboard Box Backpackers". The atmosphere was much more inviting and it was nice for Beth to get back. Nani invited us to her daughter's first grade graduation the following night. Beth held Ndepewa (Nani's daughter) when she was first born. It was strange to ...