jfkeze

really, I always remember seeing it all over Germany and a few times in Poland and just assumed it was German... learn something everyday!

quirrow

That is what I call a road hog! LOL!

Anyway great updates from the safari, and you got some really amazing shots there! Are there really no rooms for 3 persons or family suites in the safaris? I was wondering what happens if parents travel with their kids...

Calchas

Has no one else noticed that the lead vehicle doesn't have a driver???!

want2fly4less

If it would be German Influence, it would either be Lidl or Aldi ...

Shorthairfrancis, these are some amazing Safari Pictures .

Short hair Francis

Thank You FlyinTigerSc, great to hear
I had no problem with Bosnia whatsoever. Wasn't a place I'm sheepish about, now Syria or Somalia, now that is a yes.

Couple of days, wow, sounds like I've done a great job of writing and taking in photos if I can keep people's attention that long this day and age.

Glad you've enjoy the Safari pics jfkeze, took me a long time to sort out the ones I want to use in the TR.

Those huge trucks I believe are for use in the Rössing uranium mine (70km away from the coast), weirdly as those trucks were driving Windhoek - Okahandja - Swakopmund, and I passed those trucks the next day again when I drove towards the coast.

Bahaha, don't feel too bad for the car, was a expensive rental for a Corolla.
Then again, I gave that new car a good push, pretty sure I was driving an average of 140-150 km/h on those long Namibian road.
I'll reveal the pic of the speedometer in the last Namibian section as to how many kilometers did I exactly put on it in 98 hrs.


Good Call GmK, I always thought SPAR was German also


Thank you Quirrow, glad you've liked the pics.
My personal favorites would have to be the female lion and the elephant taking a sip, I thought those were my best.
Family Suites, they do have them in limited quantity, doesn't help when you planned with T-14 days.
Secondly, rooms they usually allowed 2 adult and 1-2 children under 18, and hell I haven't been under 18 for awhile.
Guess you learn something, if you want to do safari, make sure to take the kids before they grow up.

Haha Calchas,
In reality, that pic, those yellow cars were bringing up the rear.
They had motorcycle cops way out front to tell opposing traffic to get out of the way.
That said, I can't 100% make out if those cars had no driver, remote control maybe?

Thank You want2fly4less, need to save up for another safari, those things are super pricey and I went for the economy plan already

Short hair Francis

Part 53 – A small Former German charm, Windhoek, Namibia


Coming back from Namibia, the plan was an overnight in Windhoek, the parents would fly back to HKG via JNB in the morning while I would be driving to Swakopmund that same day for a 1.5 day trip prior to leaving myself for Sydney, Australia.

For the quick overnight, I chose the Villa Moringa guesthouse which is located in Ludwigsdorf, on the Eastern Side of Windhoek and slightly closer to the airport.

Villa Moringa Guesthouse





The Property Pet


Guestroom



After a long drive back from Etosha, we simply ate dinner at the guesthouse, nothing super fancy but overall good







Another ungodly wake-up call at 4:30am, time to drive the parents to the airport. If there is a good thing about driving at night, nothing but taxi at 130 km/h makes for easier driving

Talk about a cold start to the morning, -2C and I’m wearing shorts and flip-flops

*Yes taking a photo while driving 80 km/h isn’t so easy

As to how we went on touring Windhoek, they were separated into 3 different times, when we first flew into Namibia, before and after the Swakopmund portion.

That said, here is the combined photos

Firstly some introductions to other interesting street names of Windhoek



Christuskirche, Christ Church






Part 53 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Tintenpalast


Parliament Gardens



A Namibian Wedding Celebration

*The Ladies doing “La La La” on top of their lungs in quite interesting, sounds liked a battle cry

Prime Minister’s Office



Windhoek Station




Heroes Acre




Talk about being the only one there








Surrounding Windhoek




Part 53 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Alte Feste, Old Fortress


Reiterdenkmal, Equestrian Monument


*The story behind this is quite deep and rather controversial

The rest of Alte Feste








Inside gives a perspective to the formation of Namibia after the War of Independence






Flag of Namibia


The Namibian Charter


Bank of Namibia



That is all the 3 little Windhoek parts put together. As to how the timeline really went, I went back the guesthouse after the airport drop-off for an extra rest, breakfast and fuel prior to leaving Windhoek around 9am for Swakopmund.


Next Part
Part 54 – The Heart of the Namib Desert Playground, Swakopmund, Namibia

jjangoo

Come to think of it I never use mine either, a bit too bulky. But I sure love collecting em. Have you been selling them off?

Short hair Francis

The problem with the Rimowas is they are hard shell and fixed space, I prefer them soft so they can be extended or collapsible as necessary.
For now, I've been using a LX F Bally soft kit from 2012 as my spare electronic bag during travel.

I try to keep 1 of each new one I keep but some of the cheap/useless ones I won't bother bringing home
My spares I give them to my friends as gifts when they go traveling or I donate them to the shelter.

sriegert

I liked the Tumi kits Thai was giving out awhile back. Flexible yet sturdy.

If only LH Bogner kits were bigger i'd use them.

brumbrum

OK, I thought the Spar is Austrian :-)
Usually don´t read reports from higher travel classes, as they are only about eating in aircraft, but this one is really nice (and pretty time-consuming too) :-)

worldtraveller73

Namibia looks awesome. It has escaped me on my last two trips to South Africa (as Mauritius and Victoria Falls got in the way).

You saw a much larger quantity of animals in Namibia as we saw in Maasai Mara in Kenya in late November. Well done on your part!! ^

Short hair Francis

Hmm sriegert, I see your point about the LH kits, way too tiny to be of use.

Indeed brumbrum, very easily to confuse the origins of Spar
And thank you, and I admit it's a bit of an irony since I'm probably one of those that have the most amount of eating in Premium Class and around the TR forum
Must have written my other parts very good to keep your prolonged interest


Namibia was awesome worldtraveller73, friendly, less crowds, great temperature.
I still need to get Victoria Falls, Mauritius isn't really on my list.

When I originally saw your report, I thought you had more varieties of animal, like more lions, cheetah, leopards.
I didn't have many if any of carnivores on my 1.5 day viewing.
I had alot of springbok and other similarities in terms of quantity.
I think August being dead in the dry season really helps with the viewing, the streak was 105 days without rain when i was there.


Have had to step away from the TR the last couple days, need to find time to finish it soon, thanks for all the Continual Support

Short hair Francis

Part 54 – The Heart of the Namib Desert Playground, Swakopmund, Namibia


As I said in the last part, after dropping the parents back at WDH for their flight home, I have about 30 hours prior to my own departure from Namibia and onwards to Australia.

As such, 9am departure from Windhoek to cover the 361 km drive “according to google maps” on the B2

Firstly, passing those huge mining trucks yet again on the way to the coast



And then Kilometers upon Kilometers worth of driving through the desert




What was my motto in some of the previous sections, “Fly Global, Drive Local”
In lieu of “Think Global, Act Local” in an environmental context.

In this case, I was averaging 140 km/h during the entire drive and topping out around 170 km/h

Getting close, the famous Fog creeping off the Skeleton Coast


Welcome to Swakopmund



Cornerstone Guesthouse





I got to the guesthouse around 12:15pm, so 3 hrs 15 minutes from Windhoek to Swakopmund which according to the Guesthouse host was really driving like a local
For my one night stay, I decided to stay at the Cornerstone Guesthouse, and the host, Peter was easily able to call up the sandboarding company for a set up a 2hr dune buggy/sandboarding section later on in the day. For now, I went to touring the little town of Swakopmund.

The Not So Warm “Palm Beach”





National Marine Aquarium



Part 54 Continues Below