There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign. - Robert Louis Stevenson

10 May 2019, Okashana to Ondangwa, 90,4km
Ondangawa Rest Camp N$400

Our run into Ondangwa, though long, was filled with interest. Prior to Oshivelo, Namibia was more or less devoid of life between towns; since Oshivelo, the road has been lined with small neat farmsteads, small unofficial settlements erected on the wide verges, official towns, both named and not on our map. One does not have to travel far to find a bar, or barber, or butcher.
At one of the bars at which we bought two colddrinks in glass bottles, the young woman who served us popped the lids with her teeth! And at one of the roadside butchers, run by Penny for four years, we photographed beef butchered and displayed fresh each day - with no refrigeration, offering only as much as can be sold on any given day is essential. Behind the table from which you could select your preferred cut, was a staff member barbecuing meat for clients who wished to immediately eat what they had chosen.
We delighted in the names of the bars and shebeens and spaza shops, each building small, each name hand-painted. Some clearly advertising their purpose such as the Booze Booze Bar and the Amstel Bar. Some dreaming of faraway places: Coco Bar, Miami Bar, Cape to Rio Bar, Casablanca Bar. Some optimistic: Bright Futures Spaza, Nurturing Ground God’s Pre-School, Good Struggle Never Lose Bar, Vision Bar, Every Year Comes Change Bar. Some promising what the client needs: Good Service Restaurant, No Problem Spares, Let Them Talk Bar. Some named for the owners: Six Brothers Bar, Three Sisters Bar. Some just fun: Groove Station Bar, Thanks Twice Bar, No Curry Bar, Roll Call Bar.
We had been told that “Africa begins at Oshivelo”, with tin shacks and bars / shebeens. The preponderance of drinking holes is a shock. They far outnumber any other endeavour. Are they testament to rampant unemployment? Behind the shebeens, of course, is “real life”. Brick makers, car repairs and spares and car wash enterprises, a thriving plant nursery, funeral services, schools and clinics computer training, accommodation, mini markets, taxi services, etc.
Seven kms before Ondangwa we hit the extraordinarily busy outskirts, as busy as had been Windhoek. Later the road widened into double carriage, which made the cycling less fraught.
Our rest camp is charming. Outside our room is an enormous turkey, lonely for company and chatting to his reflection in the sliding glass door. Charl refuses to allow him in for a cuddle.

For today's route see below photos
For overview route, click on ROUTE tab above…