Namibia

[better late than never]

 

Of all the countries that we have visited over the course of our bike ride, Namibia is high on the list of places that we would return too.  It is a truly stunning country with some amazing desert landscapes. Whilst we did not ride much through the Kalahari, we spent a good deal of time in the Namib Desert, enjoying the harsh landscapes, surprisingly varied wildlife and the iconic sand dunes (including the world’s biggest, imaginatively called ‘Big Daddy’). Given the entire dearth of scenery throughout Botswana, having something, anything, to look at has been a treat, but the contrast meant the beauty of Namibia felt even more spectacular.

 

Namibia was colonised by the Germans originally and there are signs of this dotted around – random Colditz-esque castles in the middle of nowhere, amazing bakeries and long unpronounceable (to us) place names. Unlike some other colonised countries, the German language was never forced upon, or even really taught to, the local people, and so Afrikaans prevailed as Boers from the South moved North to settle in Namibia. However, due to the association between Afrikaans and Apartheid, Namibia chose to make English its official language, even though it is the first language of only around 5% of the population (most people do speak it).

 

The prevalence of white people in Namibia meant that we (a bunch of pasty lycra clad folk) were of little interest to locals. This, accompanied with the sheer absence of people to meet, resulted in less engagement with Namibians, a trend which began in Botswana but which leaves us feeling less intimate with a country. 

Up to the end of Zambia, locals would smile, wave, engage and be fascinated/incredulous/outright disbelieving of what we are doing.  By this stage on our journey, whilst people may be impressed, they tend to counter our bravado with the fact that they once cycled 100 miles in 1963, a feat that prevented their eyes popping out of their sockets as they have done in previous countries.

 

 

The upside of heading back towards Western civilisation has been the return of (usually) warm showers, well stocked supermarkets, efficient restaurants and cracking (in the good sense) tarmac. Long may these smooth rides continue to South Africa!

 

*Disclaimer: Given that Lizzie spent the vast majority of the time that we were in there propping up Namibia’s private health service, whilst Ali enjoyed his new found freedom on the bike, this is solely his narrow view of this beautiful country.