Wednesday 20 November: Windhoek to Sossevlei

 We wake feeling refreshed and enjoy breakfast on a terrace with goldfish in a pond nearby. We pack our bags into our Toyota jeep and say our farewells. Simon is driving and we’re both relieved it’s an automatic. I’m navigating. With a map and written instructions. Windhoek is fairly sprawling and the roads are not busy. Most houses have walls and security gates. We stop at a Shopping Mall to get big bottles of water. Having to negotiate the barrier and multi storey car park is hopefully the most difficult challenge we’ll have! Onwards out of town. Baboons by the side of the road and the occasional herd of goats. It becomes more and more rural with terracotta scrubland and finally tarmac becomes grit road and we switch to 4x4. The scenery is spectacular. The roads very quiet and occasionally we are overtaken by more intrepid trucks or minibuses that engulf us in dust for a few seconds. The magnificent Spreetshoogte Pass takes us up into mountains with some spectacular viewing stops and a steep descent. The terrain becomes more sandy as we approach the Namibia desert area. The Desert Homestay Lodge consists of small private huts with unbroken views of the deserted landscape. We swim and rest before preprandials listening to the sound of barking ghekos as the sunsets. Very good supper with some local Namibian Syrah wine. An early ish night as our desert tour starts at 5.30am tomorrow!