I am in Namibia at the moment and doing a lot of night driving (this place is big!). I’ve only came across one rabbit and that was on my way here (close to Zeerust). So where are they? I remember seeing quite a few as a kid at night on the road and those were short journeys. Are we wiping them out or have they learned to stay away from the roads? I came across two Kudos and many Warthogs so far. Wish they can learn that trick.
What’s the weather like? Scrub hares for one are sensitive to cold and wet conditions*, and will presumably easily stay indoors with a good book and a packet of smokes.
Rigil
*Ref: The Mammal Guide of Southern Africa by Burger Cillié (1997)
Mmm Yes Rabbits prefer stews in the winter.
I am back! 7058 km for the two weeks. Got up at 12pm on Sunday the 2nd and drove to Windhoek. Slept that night in a tent but discovered that I forgot my sleeping bag at home. Slept in my clothes and jacket with a tarpaulin over me. Got up at around 3am to put my shoes on to help with the cold - it didn’t work. Worked Monday in Windhoek and went back to Gobabis to work on Tuesday. Packed up after work (2pm) and travel to Grootfontein via Windhoek (tar road) 670 km. Worked on the Wednesday in Grootfontein and stayed there in a guesthouse where I had my first proper meal since Saturday at home. I had a box of Ouma till then. Thursday I went to Tsumeb (only 65 km) down the road but then had to go back to Okahandja for Friday. Saturday I went to Ondangwa. Here I camped again. By now I got myself a blanket. Problem was that the campsite also had a motorbike rally. Very noisy with frequent “doughnuts” performed by not sober elements of the rally. One of them was a Dominee and there was supposed to be a service on Sunday morning but he was too hung over, so that got called off. They left during Sunday but was replaced by an Overland tour group. The bar was open, so that got a bit noisy as well. Monday afternoon I went to Otjiwarongo, worked there on Tuesday and then on to Rehoboth. Just slept there, got up at 4am to travel to Stampriet. If you ever need to go there and you are using a Garmin GPS, do not trust it. It will take you on a dirt road to a tree. At this tree you are out of cell phone signal and there is not a soul to ask directions from. I also never saw any signs with the word Stampriet on it. I traveled further on with this road and found it, 60 km from where the GPS said it was just after my phone got a signal again. Stampriet is the home of Rugby. Don’t know if this is true but it says so on the school gate. Back to Windhoek in the afternoon where I worked on Thursday. I then went to Walvis Bay, (via Osaka,tar road) worked there on Friday. Traveled to Gobabis in the afternoon where I slept (600 km). I hit the border at 6am (Namibia time) and was back home by 7:30 pm on Saturday. If you look on a map you will understand where the 7000 kilometers fit in. The word whirlwind spring to mind.
Glad you are back safe an sound after what sounds like quite an adventure. I’ve seen only the Southern part of Namibia once when we hiked the Fish River canyon back in '97. Did it feel safe enough to travel alone what with the towns being so far apart … I mean is there enough traffic on the roads to flag down if one gets stranded?
Whoa … hope the bikers weren’t too upset. What if the service formed part of their rally registration fee? The town of Ondangwa can count itself lucky that it did not go down in an uncontrollable Hollisteresque outrage! 
As for the dominee, it sounds like there is hope for him yet! >:D
Rigil
No problem. Very friendly people. I suppose it might be a problem if you were to go into Kaokoland, that is the North West of the country. I don’t know how many people are up there. In 2010 I crossed the Namib on a dirt road (Brandberg to Hentiesbaai) and even then someone would pass every hour or so. In fact I had two flats and only one spare but was helped within 20 min.
I grew up in the areas you travelled: born in Winhoek: 2 yrs in Okahandja; 2 in Luderitz: 8 in Tsumeb etc.We used to do bicycle trips into the bush and stay away for a whole week…that was before the ‘troubles’ started. What ‘work’ did you do, Tweefo? almost sounded like you were a traveling minstrel >:D
The mobile planetarium. Every day a different school.
Wow, your work sounds like a kickass holiday. Then again, it’s different when it’s “work”, huh?
Problem is that I do it alone. So you get to a nice place sometimes but no one to share it with. I also have some 16 gigs of music on a flash drive but are getting sick of it.
Have you seen Sean Penn’s Into the Wild? Its a pretty good movie, and explores exactly this theme.
Rigil