Saturday, June 14, 2025

We got up at 6:30 and showered and packed. We went to breakfast around 7:45. Reinette made vegetarian omelettes that were quite tasty. 

I also had coffee, juice, yogurt, and toast with honey. We finished getting ready and left a little after 9 for the airport. Here are some pictures of where we were staying:

The ride to the airport took about 20 minutes. We turned in our rental car and went to look for where we checked in luggage. Tammy’s mom and I got separated from Tammy and her dad. We eventually met back up at the check-in counter. My suitcase was the perfect weight after leaving things with Courtney. I even have a packing cube of Tammy’s shirts in my suitcase! Tammy and I left our backpacks with Tammy’s dad and walked around for a half hour. Then it was time to board the shuttle bus to take us to our gate. It was not a full flight. I had the window and Tammy was next to me. We got a snack box with a chicken mayo croissant, delicious and moist dried fruit, and a yummy chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bar. We also got a bottle of water. We enjoyed looking out the window!

When we landed and got off the plane, it was a free for all. You could just walk from the plane to the airport however you chose. I’ve never seen anything like that!

We got in line to enter Namibia. The line for people who had gotten e-visas was a lot longer than those who were going to apply upon arrival. The interview process was more extensive than it is to enter most countries. Tammy went through first and by the time the rest of us had completed our interviews, Tammy had already collected all five of our suitcases from the conveyer belt and had then arranged in size order. We went to the bathroom and got our rental vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner. We got loaded up and Tammy’s dad and Tammy worked on getting her phone set up to work in Namibia so we could use GPS and stay in contact with Kelvin and Sandra.

We had trouble getting out of the airport, but after a few trips around a roundabout, we headed out. We drove for about three hours. We had barely left the airport when I spotted two giraffes! We saw 4 springbok and then 3 more. I saw a warthog, but no one else saw it. We saw at least 6 baboons crossing the road. We also saw cows and a horse. We saw one ostrich. 

It was getting dark as we approached Stofpad Lodge. Kelvin and Sandra were already there and saved a table for us for dinner. We arrived at 6:15, right as the sun set. As we pulled in, we saw an animal that we thought was a jackal. We took pictures of it. Later, we asked and found out that it was an aardwolf. 

We checked in and headed up the hill to our rooms. The rooms were huge and had a beautiful sliding glass door onto a porch. We quickly dumped our stuff and got ready for dinner. The dinner was super fancy with candles and a beautiful table setting. I ordered bobotie, which is a traditional South African dish that was brought by Malay workers. It is a casserole that has ground beef and egg in it, along with vegetables, raisins, and spices. It is served on rice. I liked it more than I was expecting. It is one of the foods I wanted to try here. 

We had WiFi in the dining room area but not in our rooms. Because we were eating and talking with Kelvin and Sandra, I didn’t get a chance to post anything. On the way back to our room, we enjoyed seeing tons of stars in the dark sky. I think Namibia is the most remote place I’ve ever been. They had motion sensitive lights that would light the path ahead of you on the way to the rooms. I was going to shower, but it was really cold and I didn’t want to go to bed with wet hair. There was no heater at this place. I worked on my Johannesburg pictures and a paragraph to post on Facebook the next day and then we went to sleep.