Rehoboth – 6 March 2024

Today we sleep in the desert near the town of Aus. Beautiful campsite with large pitches, without power but luckily we have a solar panel. Since Highlanders we have advanced quite a bit and are now on the east side of the Namib desert.

Yesterday we slept in Springbok on a well-known, great campsite. We did some errands and marvel at the rain that fell and the temperature of 10 degrees at night. The landscape here is very rough, a stone desert that blooms in winter.

This morning we drove to the border and only came across a few cars (120 km). The last part of the road was badly damaged by floods but those were well indicated. The border crossing was simple with some running and stamping and then ready. In Namibia we refueled and heard there that there was no SIM card for sale anywhere in the area. Just like in South Africa, the number must be registered and that sometimes requires some talk to the seller.

In the town of Aussenkehr I found 1 who had no intention of helping me. She started with a residency permit, then a booking of the place where we stayed and then she agreed that it could also be a ticket. Well, I had it but I had to have it on paper. Well then I’ll email it right? My big help was that she wanted to have lunch and I didn’t stop. She didn’t get any of e-tickets and then I also signed in the wrong place, pffffff.

But I have a SIM card, with data although it doesn’t work yet.

The drive to Aus was beautiful along the Orange River through a very unfriendly mountain range. We didn’t see a human for 70 km. Then via Rosh Pinah north to Aus where we are now on a beautiful campsite in the middle of nature. I’m already looking forward to the starry sky.

Lisa suffers quite a bit from her stomach and that is unusual for her. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

Slept wonderfully under the desert starry sky. What a silence….

Now that I have been deprived of the internet for 24 hours, I only notice how addicted I am to it.

This morning in Aus I had internet and that was repeated in every village. It turns out that I have a provider with moderate coverage and we just have to live with that.

We drove from Aus to Helmeringhausen where we ate the tastiest cake ever and from there to Maltahohe. There I received an email from the Toyota garage in Swakopmund that the car can get serviced on 14/3 at 07:30. We then immediately decided to drive out of the desert and drive via the main road to Windhoek and from there to the Etosha park. From there we can drive to Swakopmund next week and then north along the coast.

Driving through the desert is tiring because all roads are unpaved and sometimes very bad. You have to brake on time and the steering is extremely indirect and very vague.

We are now at a well-known campsite on a reservoir in Rehoboth. This is a beautiful campsite and we are staying for 2 days so that I can pay my tax and make a booking for Etosha that requires internet.