Day 24: Livingstone, Zambia
I crossed Namibia over the last two weeks, with Mike until Windhoek and solo since. Namibia feels starkly different to South Africa, clear as soon as you cross the border. A big one I noticed right away: there's Maged drinks here.
Namibia is vast. It is an enormous country, mostly desert, with a population of just 2 million. Britain considered using it as a prisoner colony in the 18th century, but a fact-finding mission found it inhospitable with no equal except the "deserts of Arabia".
It gets hot in Namibia. So hot, our thermometer overheated and misreported 59 C. So hot, my toothpaste exploded. We took breaks from the midday heat in whatever shade we could find.
We spent the first 4 days biking through Ai-Ais Canyon Park: we saw scorpions, snakes, and plenty of baboons; went to a hot spring; climbed dunes; and wild camped for the first time this trip.
I had an unfortunate critical tent pole failure that led to this sad state of affairs for my tent for two nights.
Other than the camping, we were generously hosted by a park ranger one night, and I was generously hosted another day by family friends in the northern corner of Namibia. They took me for a swim in the Zambezi, then we drove a few kilometers downstream to watch some hippos doing the same.
Mike and I took a sleeper train (the Starline) into the capital, Windhoek.
Windhoek is a place I would easily spend a few weeks in if I was without a time constraint. It has the comforts of a big city and intimacy of a small town. We met some students who showed us around, and they recognized people everywhere they went. It gave the sense that we were already friends with the entire city.
From Windhoek, I made my way to Zambia. Here, at least 10 - 20 times a day someone excitedly calls me Moh Salah. This started with kids in Namibia and has slowly grown the further north I've gone. Not sure the resemblance is that strong (he's on the billboard!).
I'm in Livingstone now, near Victoria Falls. It's also close to the corner of four countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. I'm lucky to have been to all four over the past two days.
Today I biked across the border to Zimbabwe for a better view of the falls. The route to the border is an elephant crossing area, and I saw a family cross the road.
From Livingstone, I will take two buses then a three-day train to Dar Es Salaam. And should be back on the bike from there.