08.06 It is nice to take a shower. Now it's time to set things in order here in the room. After that, we will set off on a voyage of discovery and straighten out some questions from yesterday. We are staying at Etosha Cafe (http://www.etoshacafe.com), Tsumeb, Namibia.

09.06 It's time to go out to orient, register ourselves and have breakfast.

09.25 We've left the room and went to the front desk where there was no need to show our passports at the check-in. We have arranged so that we can stay in the room even on Monday afternoon. It's good because we will travel in the evening. The radio announces that Andy Murray is in the final of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. We'll just step outside the door and get familiar with Tsumeb, our new hometown. The entire courtyard outside the room is a part of the café, a large garden with tropical plants, caged birds and plenty of tables to eat/snack on.

09.59 We sat down by one of the tables here and bought us a nice breakfast. We have also seen that you can eat lunch here but the choice is limited. We may take lunch elsewhere instead.

Outside our room at Etosha Café.

On the pavement in front of our new home. The old mining tower is visible in the background.

10.39 We have left our room, walked through the kitchen, a souvenir shop and finally out from Etosha Café and walked along Main Street. In the intersection at Santa Barbara Church, we saw two rally cars waiting at red lights. This is because there is an ongoing rally in the city today, Azurite Rally. Now we are outside Tsumeb Museum. An event is going on in the park behind us. There is guitar playing and singing and food is served in various tents. All participants seem to be white farmers. Some have come here with their tractors.

10.56 Tsumeb is a small town with about 16,000 inhabitants. It is an old mining town but also an important place for tourists who want to visit Etosha National Park with its stunning wildlife. Etosha National Park northwest of Tsumeb has been around since 1907 and is equal to half of Denmark in size.

11.24 Our little urban stroll has given us information about what the town has and has not. There are simple places offering food, grocery stores, more rally cars and teens. They are acting just like the ones we got at home. Even the "LOL" is used when they talk to each other. Now we have made a room stop before we structure the rest of the day. We have also tried to find a place where we can visit the internet but when we went into the house marked with the sign "Internet Café" we found just a nice woman and a few construction workers. This place is, according to our guidebook, offering internet and tourist information. But nothing of that is offered right now. It had just changed ownership and was under renovation.

Main Street in Tsumeb.

Rally cars are waiting for green light.

The evangelical-lutheran church in Tsumeb.

Farmers gather in town.

Christer is walking past the best hotel in town, Makalani Hotel.

It's time to pay our beers. South African money works in Namibia too.

12.07 Something is falling from the trees here at Etosha Café, four women sit and talk and smoke, music in Afrikaans and German can be heard and between Christer and me are two bottles of half a liter of Windhoek Lager in each. Our friends on the bus might possibly have reached Livingstone in Zambia by now. We will, as soon as we emptied our beer, find ourselves a lunch place we have seen on our town tour.

12.50 We found an Internet café on our way to the restaurant Sindano Court Café & Nursery. But they were closed, shut down. Now we have ordered Wiener schnitzel and bobotie here at the restaurant. Chris de Burgh is singing about his Lady in Red. Next to us is a small artificial waterfall. Now we got the bottled beers and an opener. It's good, now we can wait to open until the food comes.

13.29 It was very delicious. We must inform the guidebook Lonely Planet about this place and also about the Fusion Restaurant in Windhoek. My dish, bobotie, is a traditional South African dish of Dutch origin with spicy mincemeat with rice and onions and a cold potato salad alongside. Now I end it all by enjoying an espresso. We have seen people carrying around houseplants, why?

Sindano Court Café & Nursery

Peter makes some travel journal entries outside the Tsumeb museum.

Tsumeb

It is safe to stand in the middle of the street in this quiet town.

Various flowers thrive in the sunny climate.

14.12 We are back in the comfort of your home. It is quiet, if not dead, in the streets. It's Saturday afternoon and most places have closed for the weekend. Now we will take a short break before returning out to shop.

14.59 After some relaxing, we´re ready to go out to buy something for tonight and tomorrow.

15.46 We have been in the grocery store Pick'n'Pay and bought some stuff. At the entrance a man was standing wearing red clothes and he said "Guten Tag" to us. After this he went home, perhaps home to the red-robed lady Chris de Burgh sang about, who knows? It is very much German left in this country. Sure, the country has been a German colony but not since 1918. In the store there was a note that said that they did not sell alcohol after 13.00 hours on Saturdays and not at all on Holy Sunday. Evening snack and breakfast is purchased. Christer's South African sweets are also sold in Australia, Portugal, and on the French island of Réunion.

17.15 Now we have come into our room after sitting out in the garden here at Etosha Café where we´ve been reading in our books. We were joined by the nice grey cat that lives here.

Peter with an animal friend.

18.44 Here things happen. We have listened to Christer’s radio where Family Radio has read from the Bible about Moses and the Swedish company Telia have texted me that thunderstorms are moving into the central parts of Sweden. I should, to protect sensitive electronics, pull cords. Good thing I did so before leaving.

19.23 We are on our way out to find something, someone or some that are ready to give us food. We'll see how it goes.

19.36 Two chicken dishes have been ordered. We are in the hotel restaurant at Makalani Hotel (http://www.makalanihotel.com). Now I'm going to pick me some salad from the salad buffet.

20.12 My chicken dish was tasty but Christer pulled the longest straw, found the winner, Chicken Sophie. It was chicken fillets stuffed with shrimps and with a peach sauce. At the table next to us there was a small group talked about a little of everything. One thing they discussed was the snakes. Who is Sophie who gave name to Christer's food? Not much happens here in Tsumeb but they can cook.

21.13 We're at home, both full and satisfied. In the garden we met some German-speaking men who were about to check in. Now we are not the only guests anymore. Now we listen to different channels on Christer’s radio.

22.10 Both Christer and myself have read from books by Carin Gerhardsen. Now my eyelids begin to become heavy. It's time to brush the teeth and crawl under the covers.

Chicken Sophie, simply delicious!

Sunday 8th of July

08.26 The wind is strong out there. A new morning is born. The day lies ahead of us as an unwritten sheet.

08.43 The breakfast is finished here at the Sunday-closed Etosha Café. In the absence of glasses I cut up a 0.5 liter PET bottle. The lower part became a glass. Of the neck I cut the yogurt spoons to us. The man who let us in sits in the garden and smokes a pipe. He said "Guten Morgen" as we passed him.

10.32 There is not much happening. We are doing basically nothing. But it's Sunday, the day of rest.

11.33 We have, to combat the room coma, trotted out aiming for a grocery shop, a Spar supermarket. We didn’t find it. However, we found the Engen petrol station next to the Wimpy where we arrived the other night. Here we have taken the opportunity to refresh us, myself with a coffee and Christer with a soda. We have also seen the place where the cars in the Rally Azurite Tsumeb had its finish. It really blows in the treetops today.

Etosha Café.

Peter is resting at the Engen petrol station in southern Tsumeb.

12.05 It was a quiet walk back to our room. The wind has calmed down. It is so peaceful here in the garden with birdsong and the wind in the trees. Really relaxing!

12.40 We can not sit still. Sure we can, but we will be hungry and infirm. We also need to solve tomorrow's problems. The keys will be left but the iron gate must be locked from the outside when we leave the accommodation. Hmm, let's hope that someone is here tomorrow.

12.53 Once again, we are at the restaurant Sindano Court for lunch. We ordered food, what else? There are two reasons why we are here again. One reason is that no other restaurant is open. Another reason is the good food here.

13.58 I am satisfied and debt free. We shopped a bit in our local supermarket and are now back in the room again. Now we get to continue relaxing. What else can you do on a Sunday in this town? There are a number of lending institutions in the city. Is it a good sign or?

You are not allowed to buy alcohol on the holy Sunday.

Christer is spending time with the Etosha Café cat.

The cat doesn´t like that we are in our room.

16.20 We've been sitting out in the garden and we read in our books. At the table next to us sat Jon Lord from Deep Purple or at least a man that was very similar to him. Around us, the Etosha Café cat wandered, sat, laid down. Now as we have entered our room it sits outside our door. It doesn’t want to enter. It probably wants us to come out again.

17.20 We listen to a poor radio transmission from the final of the tennis from Wimbledon. It's a final played between Roger Federer and Andy Murray. BBC World Service broadcasts on shortwave. It is 1-1 in sets and Federer just broke to 4-2 in the third set. The game had six break points for Federer. The poor transmission and disruption prompted us to stop listen to the match. We also thought about who was Olympic champion in tennis in 2000 and 2004.

18.15 Wimbledon is over for this year. For the seventh time, an equaled record, Roger Federer has won on the grass at Wimbledon.

19.05 Enough is enough with room sitting. Now we go and sit in a restaurant instead.

19.27 It's a new evening, a new dinner and a new hotel. We are at Minen Hotel (http://www.minen-hotel.com) tonight. At a long table ten older German-speaking white people, most likely Germans are sitting.

20.06 It was a good meal. Both of us got a half each of spherical fruit/vegetable with dark green skin and a yellow soft flesh. In addition to this we had meat dishes. It was a German theme at tonight's dinner. This hotel has the most German guests so it is not so unexpected.

20.39 Under a sparkling starry sky, we walked home. Through it all ran the Milky Way. I do not know of a single constellation here in the Southern Hemisphere. I do know that the Southern Cross is here somewhere.

22.10 The refrigerator hums and out there reigns the night. We prepare ourselves for the last night on Namibian soil. The night that comes after this offers time in a moving vehicle.

Kvällens middag på Minen Hotel.

Monday 9th of July

08.37 For the last morning for a while I have got out of a shower in Namibia. Today is one of those days which are filled with hours of waiting.

09.35 No sooner had we sat down at the table in the garden house when the cat came to visit us. After we had ordered breakfast from an anything but cheerful waitress, it jumped up on my lap. I lifted it down and now it tries to sit with Christer instead.

10.17 We have done what was expected of us. Breakfast and accommodation are now paid for out at the reception. As it comes to the evening, we will leave the keys to, as the girl at the front desk said, "the old man". Now we have freshened up and will have a final day in quiet Tsumeb. The accommodation has been quiet and peaceful. Here we rested and gathered energy for what's to come.

Breakfast at Etosha Café.

11.17 We have time to do some things before we leave Tsumeb later today. Now we are at the Tsumeb Museum. Here we have seen everyday objects from the different groups of indigenous people and right now we are looking at various items from the First World War. Germans dumped a lot of guns and other things in the Lake Otjikoto in 1915. Divers have since taken up the objects and they can now be seen here. A fire engine passed us on our way here.

11.53 Now we have wandered through the ethnographic, philatelic, geological and historical parts of the museum. This area in northern Namibia is world famous for the unique minerals found right here. We looked at them and a lot of other interesting things such as old medical equipment and typewriters. We are now back out in the wind and sunshine. Outside the museum there are also some interesting things to look at, including a locomotive and carriages used in mining.

12.21 For the third day in a row we've walked to Sindano Court to eat lunch. We have varied us when it comes to food but the drink is the same kind of beer as before, Windhoek Lager. Besides the food they seem to have some kind of plant nursery. That explains the houseplants we saw on Saturday.

Tsumeb Museum

Some interesting hours at Tsumeb Museum.

Christer and old German artillery.

Unique minerals from northern Namibia.

Malaria medication from days gone by.

Anesthetic equipment.

The entry to Tsumeb Museum.

13.47 Now we're back home in room 2. It is time for the final preparations before the evening´s departure. We have already arranged with the snack we will have with us.

15.40 We have, to kill a little time and to spend the remaining Namibian currency, treated ourselves a cup of coffee here at Etosha Café. During the coffee break we heard music through the speakers, a German popular tune "Ein knall rotes gummiboot" and a song we heard last year, "Have you ever seen the rain". This year we have so far not seen any rain. Now we're inside the room for rest and book reading.

17.22 The clock is ticking on. Within the next hour, the last things will be packed, the keys will be handed over and we'll get to the place where the bus arrives and departs. The question is, when will it get in? Will there around 19.40 on schedule, 20.30 like it did when we came here and it will be a completely different time?

18.08 The darkness has begun to descend upon Tsumeb. Suddenly someone knocked on the door and Christer went to open in the belief that it was our friend who let us in that were knocking and wanted room key. It was not. It was a middle-aged white man in a white jacket. He asked something, excused himself and left. He looked for the old man. Christer directed him to the room where he is located.

18.38 We locked both the room door and the iron gate and rang the bell. The key was retrieved and we walked slowly through the dark deserted city. Now we are back where it all began, we are on the Wimpy. In one of the corners here at the restaurant a young couple are sitting. Beside them are their bags. Are they also going with the bus? It seems so.

19.24 We have finished our meal and we paid. Now we sit and wait. The girl in the couple asked us if we would go with the Intercape bus. Now our question is, when will the bus arrive?

20.25 The bus arrived and we boarded. We sit down, one in front of the other. It is pitch black outside. I think I'll try to get some sleep. This is the second of the trips we had a telephone call about when we travelled around the Mediterranean earlier this year. The bus is new and the seats very comfortable. This can probably be a pretty comfortable ride.

21.06 We have stopped in Grootfontein and picked up a Dutch couple. Now we travel further north on a dead straight road through the wilderness.

Tuesday 10th of July

00.16 The long straight road finally came to an end. We have never been this close to Angola before. We are in Rundu in northern Namibia. It's cold outside. In front of the bus, in the glare of the headlights, is what we first thought was snow. However, it is white sand. We made a short stop for the toilet and any purchases at gas station here. It's good to stretch our legs.

00.38 Some passengers got off. Possibly, some got on. It is in any case quite ample seating in the bus. We are travelling to the east in the dark along the narrow strip of Namibia known as the Caprivi Strip. When we reach the end of this strip, it's time for a border crossing, but it still remains quite a few hours before that.

03.42 There has been a new stop, this time in Kongola. Most of the bus passengers seem to sleep. It is difficult to write in the dark, will I be able to read this?

06.07 A bright red, not inflatable boat, but sun rises in the east. The bus honks and brakes sharply.

06.24 We are in Katima Mulilo, a border town between Namibia and Zambia. It says Mini Magic on a low apricot coloured building to the right of the bus. The bus host has sprinted off in the direction of a Shell petrol station. Here, people are early risers. Even at six o'clock, there were people moving towards the day's activities and outside of a few small buildings some hairdressers sit and wait for customers.

Early morning in Katima Mulilo.

07.01 Now things are going slowly. We have driven out a short distance and are now standing still again. I see people talking on cell phones. Are they/we waiting for something? Has the border post not opened?

07.13 Finally we are on the road again. We are lagging behind schedule.

07.35 So our time in Namibia over. It's time to set the clock one hour forward and prepare for our stay in Zambia.

ZAMBIA

09.14 The bus stopped at the Namibian border post Wenela and we were quickly and smoothly stamped out. We saw great contrasts when we left the relatively prosperous Namibia behind us and reached the poorer Zambia. The border policemen in Sesheke sat in a small wooded shack and there was little space when we were queuing. Visa for Zambia is now paid (50 USD) and passports are stamped. Soon the last part of this long bus ride will start. We will soon have been on the road for twelve hours.

09.24 Now we roll again. At the moment we pass on a bridge over the mighty Zambezi River. It feels good to be on the way. If we don’t leave, we will never arrive.

Zambezi

Traditional houses near Sesheke, Zambia.

10.22 We passed Sesheke and now travels eastward through southern Zambia on a path of dubious quality. The landscape is dry and flat. Some of the grass is burned. Here and there one can see houses and single houses / huts. It seems very sparsely populated here. It does not show much development.

10.59 The bus has stopped in the middle of nothing. Something seems to be wrong. Hope we will leave soon.

11.26 The bus seems to be ok. Now we have been on the road for fourteen hours. This is our longest bus journey time, ever. Of the trip remains 60 kilometers according to a sign we just sighted. The bus ride is comfortable but it all starts to feel monotonous. It will be nice to have a shower and some sleep later today.

11.51 We have just entered the small National Park Mosi-o-Tunya outside Livingstone. Christer has seen two things through the bus window. Not surprisingly, he saw a few antelopes. What was more unexpected was that a man was walking in the middle of the wilderness with a suitcase. With rapid strides he was on his way to an unknown destination.

The police station in Victoria Falls, completely surrounded by baboons.

12.13 We've traveled straight through our final destination, the town of Livingstone. First, we will drop off some passengers at Victoria Falls on the border with Zimbabwe and then turn back into the town again. In Livingstone a liter of diesel cost 7566 Kwacha, around 1,53 US-dollars. A baboon ran right past the outside of the bus, cool!

13.09 The bus went back into Livingstone and we got out of the bus to retrieve our luggage. Out there, it was hot and plenty of people who offered transportation and more. We took our baggage and went resolutely away from any nagging people. A guy in a pink shirt shouted stubbornly for us that he knew the way to our accommodation. Since we knew it as well we went without his company. On the way to the accommodation we were offered to buy a 50-trillion bill from Zimbabwe. Now we are in the Elephant Room/Elephant House at Jollyboys Backpackers (http://www.backpackzambia.com). I do not know what happens next. The Elephant Room is actually more a small traditional hut. The last guest has left behind a pair of shorts. We´ll leave them at the reception later. Now there is a shower and sleep.

Jollyboys Backpackers, Livingstone.

The Elephant Room/Elephant House.

14.34 So, we have showered and are now ready to briefly find an ATM and then pay the accommodation for our stay here. We will also leave the pants. Not our own but those who were left behind here.

15.21 Once again, we are millionaires. We have withdrawn 1,2 million Kwacha each or around 245 US-dollars, money for our days in Zambia. The value of the notes is 20 000 Kwacha so it's a huge amount of notes in the wallet. It is around 60 notes. We are unable to close, fold the wallets. This will be fun.

15.41 Now we paid for ourselves and the wallets have eased a bit. Now, I have all sorts of different denominations in my possession. This must be arranged. First, however, we will drink our soft drinks. It is a currency reform underway in the country. They should remove three zeros. That information was given by our reception girl.

16.15 Now things are cleared on the economic front between Christer and myself. Now we treat ourselves a rest. We need it.

17.30 A nap is good but a real night's sleep is welcome. We are aiming for an early evening.

18.52 Mosi has run down our dry throats. We are waiting for our eland stew. There will be dinner at the accommodation. Mosi is the country's beer and eland is a type of antelope.

20.27 During the meal we talked to a nice couple who came with the same bus as we did. They are from the Netherlands. Those were the two that got on the bus in Grootfontein yesterday. Honours to the Dutch people that show up wherever we are in the world. Eland meat was good and most likely even tastier in grilled form. The sweet potato in the stew was not to my taste. After dinner we surfed for half an hour on the internet before we returned to our hut.

21.44 Time flies. We have read a little about the area around Livingstone and what it has to offer. Christer received a text message that his car has a serious defect. Something is not working and it will be too costly to fix. Soon we will hut-sleep. It will be the first of many nights in Zambia. Jollyboys have received an award for being the best backpacker accommodation in the country and is a great place to stay. It has a pool, restaurant, plenty of helpful staff, a free ride to Victoria Falls, fresh showers and different types of rooms, ranging from standard rooms to the traditional house that we live in.

22.14 Good night!

The bar/restaurant at Jollyboys Backpackers.

During another part of the year, it might be nice to swim here.