Quad Biking and Baboon Bottoms

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There can be few things more exhilarating than speeding at full pelt across the bumpy flats of a desert on a quad bike, then staying at full throttle to power to the top of a dune, before coming gently off the gas to ensure as smooth a descent as possible, while your heart jumps to the top of your throat.

Quad biking was a great way to spend the final full afternoon in Swakopmund, Germany-on-Sea on the African Atlantic coast. Friends who had been to Namibia all rated it as one of the highlights of their trip. I was dubious, but I now see what they meant. I have been quad biking before, but never for so long, or at such speeds, or in such a spectacular setting with the ever rising and falling dunes, and the glistening sea alongside for long stretches. There would be pictures attached, but unfortunately there is no CD drive in this Internet cafe. Maybe next time.

We said goodbye to the overland truck party in Swakopmund on Monday - many of them are travelling on with the same group to Victoria Falls, while some are heading as far as Nairobi. At our departure - three others left at the same time as us - there were plenty of hugs, waves and photos, which wasn't bad given that we had all only met eight days beforehand. There was even talk of a Facebook group, an inevitability in this day and age I suppose.

Gemma and I have been on our own in Windhoek (roughly pronounced "Vinnt-hock"), the capital of Namibia, since Monday evening. We travelled on the InterCape Mainliner from Swako along the Trans-Kalahari Highway, a journey of around four hours. I believe I will not be the first to observe that the Kalahari is surprisingly green, a carpet of trees and bushes sitting atop the dusty floor. This stretch was also lined with termite mounds, deep red and some of them surprisingly tall.

Windhoek is a hot, dry city where clouds seldom trouble the sky. It's some way into the thirties today, and it's like that most of the time. We are staying in a place which was called the Roof of Africa Backpackers when our guidebook wrote about it, and has now morphed into the Roof of Africa Hotel and Conference Centre. The main difference seems to be that the prices have doubled, and they now target the conference crowd. It's been slightly weird, splashing around in the hotel pool - which is overlooked by a mini farmyard with goats, tortoises and ducks - watching conference guests in business dress come out for their tea and coffee breaks, and disappear into quiet corners for business discussions. They remind me of conferences I've attended back home, but the setting is very, very different.

The main thing of note we've done here so far is to visit the Daan Viljoen Game Park, twenty kilometres or so outside the city. The park keepers - clad in safari gear - seemed rather surprised to see us, and it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves as we walked the nine kilometre Rooibos Trail - we didn't see another soul. This may have had something to do with the blistering heat. As we walked along a dry river bed, we were surprised to see what looked distinctly like a buffalo in the shade a few metres further down the track. Knowing their propensity to cause havoc, we were rather relieved when the trail at that point took us sharply left and up the first of a series of gently undulating hills that made up most of the rest of the circuit. We soon ran into mountain zebras, gemsboks and springboks, and towards the end encountered a baboon sauntering along a wall, its rather ugly rear end raised high in the air. There were countless species of trees, birds and butterflies. It was hot, sweaty and tiring, but ultimately rewarding, and at least we had the cool pool to come back to cool off in, along with the conference guests.

We're in Windhoek until Sunday, when our Namibian odyssey comes to an end and we move to Botswana. I'll keep you posted.

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Photos

Quad biker extraordinnaire
Taking to it like a natural...

Full pelt through the desert
An exhilirating experience

The Trans-Kalahari Highway
From Swakopmund to Windhoek

Baboon bottom
In all its glory