Sorry no photos today, as I had to create some space on the C drive and have moved all photos to my memory card, otherwise know as Sd1-laptop D. Having got a f......  clue how to get these back but hopefully tomorrow all new photos will go to C drive and normal service will be resumed.

Too much information?????

 06/03/18

So we have left our beloved Ngolide Lodge and all the activities of Livingstone. It has been a memorable few days, but back on the road we must go. We plan to do about 400km today which would see us comfortably inside Namibia if all goes well.

Well it hasn’t gone well, the road to the border is quite simply the worst road I have ever driven on. For a 100 km we have had to deal with almost impassable tracks and pot holes so big that it makes everything that we faced before pale into insignificance.

It has though perversely been really enjoyable and was what I thought we would be doing a lot more than we have. The area that we covered, which we are sure is much poorer than the rest of the country we have seen, but the villages along the way seemed to have more of a heart or soul.  

We have also seen a dramatic change in the landscape, with more and more sand, a consequence of the Namibian desert. It feels like we are near the beach, alas we are very far from any coastline.

As Namibia is one of the wealthiest countries in Africa we expected the customs clearance to be a relatively easy experience, as in fact all the other border crossings have been. Alas, this was not to be the case. The paper work was just as chaotic as were the ques at the various counters. We also had our first vehicle search which was a real pain as everything had to be unpacked and then repacked. It took us about an hour and a half to clear the border.

Additionally, as the journey took us so long, due to the road conditions, over 4 hours we have decided to stay in the first town, Katima Mulilo just inside Namibia. Without any planning we scouted for a motel and came across the ABC Guest House, a very basic but suitable resting place for the night. Let’s hope for better progress tomorrow.

Finally, Betsy has taken a real pounding today and there will need to be some running repairs where screws have popped out and the plastic fan casing has broken to name 2. But that is job for the morning.