Today we left Swamp Stop and headed to Namibia! We were facing a 5-hour drive over a variety of road surfaces.
We are travelling in a 16-seater plus driver van that is not particularly comfortable or with great windows for viewing. We have taken turns in the back seat, which is a little more cramped andhas less visibility. On this day, Sandi and I took two of the four back seats.
The walk from the Botswana border to Namibia was only about 500 metres, and on the way, we did need to wait for a troop of baboons to cross the road. We were quite cautious.
The border from Botswana into Namibia requires a visa, and it is preferable to have an E Visa, which we had done and printed before leaving New Zealand at a cost of approximately $150 NZD.
Lance and I got through smoothly and were waiting outside. I was a bit concerned that Sandi hadn’t emerged from the building, and it had been quite a long time. I poked my head in and saw our tour guide with her. After a while he came out and shared the problem with us.
The customs officer had done everything and stamped all of the passport. Then tersely said, “You must leave, you can’t come into the country, go!”
Poor Sandi called out to Richard, and they pointed out that she had her visa and it had been paid for. The officer did not elaborate on what the problem was. Richard scanned her visa and noticed that the date was wrong. Sandi had accidentally got the date wrong when doing her online visa!
Another $150NZD equivalent passed hands, and a new visa was issued. Phew! Apparently, sometimes they are offline, and if you don’t have your paper visa you can’t come into Namibia! Another of our party hadn’t completed an E visa at all.
Richard told us that a couple of months ago, he had to leave two people behind to be picked up by his company and delivered to him a few days later when the customs were back online. Disaster avoided, we headed on into Namibia.
The road in Namibia was very good, and we passed loads more villages. The villages are very orderly, and most have bush fences around each dwelling. There appears to be a communal toilet, which I assume would be a long drop.
Along the way we were regularly delayed by goats or cattle meandering across the road. At one stage we stopped for elephants!
It was a long journey with several stops at very clean toilets.
Finally, we arrived at the Zambezi Rive,r where we boarded a tin flat-decked vessel with folding chairs and whizzed along to the Zambezi Mubala Lodge.
Small dwellings dotted the shoreline with families fishing from the shore and in dug-out canoes.
A couple of small crocs glided by with their wicked smile.
The Zambezi Mubala lodge is outstanding. All cabins are reached by boardwalk. Which was a comfort when thinking of crocodiles. That was until I saw the ramps leading up. Hmmm, will be snappily walking whilst here. Also at the bar, we heard another tour guide telling the bartender that he had just seen a black mambo snake!
The cabins were really lovely, and Lance adored the ginormous rainforest shower head.
Dinner was enjoyed under the African-style thatched dining area after a few drinks with our toes in the sand around the brazier.
We slept like babies, and everyone felt that it was a shame that we were only there for one night.
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