Here is a map of the first stint - 677km + 686km + 509km + 377km - a total of 2072km in 4 days from Pretoria to the Angola border through Botswana and Namibia.
D1 (2013.06.06, Pretoria - Kang, 677 km)
A first day always is taxing - large distances because you want to get there ...
The South Africa/Botswana border post - remember to declare laptops, cameras, etc.
No meat (cooked or raw or dried)!
No meat (cooked or raw or dried)!
We slept at Kang - behind the petrol station: a camp more geared towards chalets than rooftop tents. However, we decided that on the way back we would try Kalahari Rest Camp (+-25km NW of Kang - a very good decision).
D2 (7 June 2013, Kang - Gogabis, 686 km)
On our second day of travel, we crossed the Botswana/Namibia border post - a breeze.
As usual, we share the road with true Africa transport "vehicles".
Our geological partner pointed out the Calcretes which adorned the road side.
This proud church welcomes weary travellers to Gobabis, Namibia. Here we also rush to 'Die Plaaskombuis' butchery to buy the necessary meat for our trip.
We camp at GobaGoba Lodge in Gobabis - a well-kept site.
D3 (8 June 2013, Gogabis - Otavi, 509 km)
Siep, Eugene & Mrad discussed our route for the day.
We took a short-cut (C30/M57) to Otjiwarongo which turned out to be a well-maintained dust road.
Late afternoon - we were quite tired after 509km. Zum Potjie just north of Otavi - sounded good.
D4 (9 June 2013, Otavi - Oshikango, 377 km)
This is the fourth day on our way to the Angola border. Palms and sand seem out of place so far from the sea, but the ant heap is typical.
Through Ondangwa and on to Oshikati - what will we find at the border? The Namibians got us to fill out a car import form (TIP - why?) and then we entered the brand new Angolan Oshikango borderpost. It's vast - and we got to know it well because we had to fill in various forms in various buildings, change money, make photostats of the ENTRY stamp which we (eventually) received in our passports, the vehicles were searched - although we tried not to make use of "runners", they were essential as none of the official spoke English and the forms were also in Portuguese.
At least the sign said "Welcome to Angola"!
Our vehicles were searched - nothing found. Perhaps it counted in our favour that it was a Sunday afternoon?
With all the necessary papers and our stamped passports, we set off on a dusty road to find the garage which had been recommended as the only possible place to camp in Oshikango.
The garage attendants allowed us to overnight where trucks park. Fortunately, there were guards who kept an eye on us during the night so we felt relatively safe. The truck drivers confirmed that Third Party Insurance was not necessary, although the runner tried to convince us that it was.
This is what lay beyond the fence - a hen and chicks happily clucked through the rubbish (see middle of photo). After our supper we slept like logs.
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