After a lovely light breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and met Tim & Venessa and the girls for the drive back to Windhoek. The road follows basically the same route as the train, heading east toward Okahonja and then south into Windhoek.
Leaving the coastal desert, we headed back into the brush. There were some very interesting mountains off in the distance. The road passes through some hilly country. There are also a few small towns on the road. We stopped in at the OK Market in Karabib for a coffee date. This is a typical town in Namibia, just a wide spot in the road.
After we parked near the market on the "wrong" side of the road, a friendly gentleman from the town let us know to move the cars, because they do ticket you for that violation. After re-parking, we headed into the market for our coffee date. It was an interesting place, since it was really a General Store with a bit of everything in addition to the groceries and coffee bar.
A little down the street was an African crafts store, which looked a bit like a museum, too. They had many of the usual things we had seen many places, and a few unique items. A couple of blocks away was the church in town, a Lutheran one of course. And across the street from the store was the Club Western, a bar with loud country-western music. It seemed a bit out of place.
We continued toward Windhoek. There was road construction going on, and I managed to hit one of the posts to mark the edge of the road. It cracked the housing on the rear view mirror on the left side. Now we had two problems with the car, since we had lost the front license plate in Etosha!
The rest of the drive was good and uneventful. We arrived back at the Foundation House in Windhoek with time to rest a bit, and get cleaned up for our final dinner in Namibia.
That evening we went to Orapoko Game Reserve for dinner and a chance to see lions, even if not free range lions. The lions range free within a compound, and come to be fed in the evening. After some late afternoon libations, we rode out to the feeding area in safari trucks and then hiked a couple hundred metres. There is a built up barrier with viewing openings in it for viewing the lions. They have added electrical fence at the openings since the last time Tim & Venessa were there. Which is a good thing, since you are only about five feet from the lions when they come over to look at you.
At first there was only one large male waiting for his dinner. The females stay back until he's had most of his dinner, an antelope leg. After the two females show up and look over the people, the workers throw them some meat which they grab and head off to eat without the male bothering them. They are all magnificent animals. And a lot safer than if you met one in open range.
We rode the safari trucks back to the lodge where we had dinner reservations. Dinner was a grand celebration of Tim's birthday, and the wonderful ten days we had spent with them in Namibia. It ended with a flaming dessert. It confirmed that I really like the taste of African game, especially Kudu.
Back at the house, it was time to pack our bags for the next part of the adventure in South Africa. We stayed up late for our last evening with the girls.
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