Leaving Swakopmund

We leave Swakopmund today. Bruce told us we would pack the truck at 8:00, but have until 11;00 to meet them at Pick ‘n Pay. He suggested we buy some things for the Bushmen we will visit as a sign of hospitality. His suggestions were rice, sugar, fresh fruits, tobacco, crayons, and coloring books for the children.

This was the final good-bye to the Rasmussons and Ron and I were feeling the loss already. Lena had said that Anna was a bit tearful; she was not the only one. On the bright side, we gained a new member Germine, from The Netherlands. She is a bright, attractive young woman who we believe will be a great attention to the group.

Ron and I rode to the Pick ‘n Pay with the truck. My hip was really bothering me this morning. We did our shopping and then helped Bruce and John load up the supplies onto the truck. We took off for our last 1 ½ hours of walking around the town, going to a coffee shop, and having a meat cheese pie. The café was like a little piece of Germany inside, making it difficult to remember we were in Africa.

As we were leaving, we ran into others of the group also doing their farewell walk around the area. We headed for the ocean for one last look, and then returned to the bus for a two hour stint before the next break for a stretch. After another hour of driving, we stopped for lunch under an accommodating tree that was large enough to shade all of us. We set up our chairs and enjoyed Bruce’s lunch fixings.

Two hours more of driving brought us to our next accommodations going to Kamanjab where we are staying at the Oase Guest House (www.namplaces.com). After dropping our things in the rooms, we headed to the little grocery and liquor stores around the corner to stock up on our snacks and beer. There is nothing else around here, so we are basically held captive here, having to entertain ourselves. We are also the only guests at this place.

Bruce, John, and Thomas were staying at another property 20 km away, due to space. We had our own rooms here once again. While we were sitting around the patio talking, Ron and I found out that Inger and Anders are avid Geocaching enthusiasts. http://www.geocaching.com/. They explained this hobby to us in great detail and we were enthralled in their adventures pursuing it. They also confessed that when we were in the Kookerboom forest, they had quietly wandered off to find a cache that they knew was there. They had downloaded all of the locations onto a Palm and Anders had his GPS device with him at all times. They assured us that they have seen many places, towns, and villages that they would never have known about if it had not been for Geocaching.

In the evening, we all gathered at the property where Bruce was staying. There was a vast rock circle with a fire pit in the center. Bruce cooked on the truck and we ate sitting around a fire. The night was cool enough to warrant it. The sky was lit with stars, but without a moon, it was quite dark. When our little group, Jean, Omo, Ron, and I wanted to return to our rooms, we realized we did not remember a flashlight amongst us. John was good enough to walk us part way to where there were some lights to shed light on the street, but as we walked, he teased the women with stories of things that were going to crawl or leap out of the brush along the path. By the time we were on our own to make it the rest of the way, both Omo and Jean were ready to pummel John.

It was a great evening of sharing an laughing around the fire.
We covered 650 km today and we are now at 2940 km for the trip.

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