Lisa writes: Went out to the shops again today – but this time to buy groceries. I am cooking tonight for me, Simon and Dionisio a risotto – but it was difficult to find all the ingredients that I need – despite the fact that it feels very European there are very many things you just can’t get food-wise.

Spent the rest of the day using the washing machine and trying desperately to catch up on other odd jobs.Even though I say it myself – the evening meal was great – and it was so nice to have a real fridge and proper kitchen to work in.

Lisa writes: It was strange being in a house again and being able to do a real ‘special’ breakfast - we made the most of the kitchen.

We left the house at around 5pm in order to go back to House Acacia of C.A.N. and get ready for our evening with Mr Johannesson. He came to pick us up at 7pm and we ended up having a lovely relaxed evening with good food, wine and conversation. In fact the evening went on into the early hours and Kurt and Irene asked if we would like to stay the night.

This morning it was difficult to wake up – the late night and wine having caught up with us. Today was going to be another busy day – we are going ‘begging’……..ready to make a move and get back on the road but we still have a few more days here before we can do this – I want to see the rest of the country and in a way I miss the camping and being outside!

The last few days have gone well, new friends and jobs done.

Several times on the way down we’d considered getting our kit ‘branded’ with the 2 Ride The World logo, as much for the sake of good PR as putting off would be thieves who wouldn’t want gear that could be easily identifiable. We’ve already had several pieces of clothing go ‘walk – about’. Enter…Mariana and William who own the T-shirt Company. Finding the T-Shirt Co through recommendation we quickly explained to Mariana our predicament…”we have very little time and oh, even less money”, I bleated a little sheepishly. Mariana just grinned.

We explained our ideas, none of which seem to faze her. It wasn’t long before we discovered Marianas interest in our trip as her and William had been bikers for years. Even mentioning the time when she’d taken Williams special edition vintage Honda Goldwing for a…’little ride’ and ended up writing it off. Now that’s a strong marriage. Forgiveness a wonderful thing.

As we need to head South soon to meet up with Caroline in Cape Town Mariana has arranged for our logo artwork to be sent to Alan at Purple Circle Embroidery in Cape Town, where he’ll organise the digitizing of the artwork ready for stitching. Mariana and William have offered to sponsor us the cost of the work. We ended up enjoying their company so much that we spent two day s with them, when we really should have left Windhoek, heading South. For good measure they also reprinted our ‘2 Ride The World’ pannier stickers. It’ll be hard to say good-bye.

But say good bye we did. The bikes felt heavy as Mariana and William waived us off. Our plans have changed again a little, as we’re heading West to the beautiful costal town of Swakupmund.

Deciding to take the gravel road West instead of the longer tar roads. We quickly found ourselves on the outskirts of Windhoek and heading for the mountains. Like earlier the gravel road was smooth and fun to ride and as the time flew by the landscape became more rugged and mesmerising.

Riding a long fast straight section, my attention was grabbed as the front of the big GS shook and steering became sluggish, more like riding through marsh mellows than on gravel. Pulling over it wasn't long before the cause became evident; a 2cm slash in the side of the tyre. The Ultra Seal liquid I’d put into the tyre in Morocco had at least helped to control the deflation. Lisa had already pulled over and was coming to inspect the damage. Our leisurely 4 hour ride to the coast had taken an unexpected twist.

With the GS unloaded and the tyre repair kit dug out from the bottom of the bag we started the repair. Roughen the edges of the hole, pop in some glue, and shove in a rubber plug and wait…and wait…and wait. After almost two hours at the roadside and having used three plugs to try and fill the hole, I was getting frustrated. The hole was more of a slice, which made it difficult to seal. With the day getting hotter and hotter, the glue was taking an age to harden. After two and a half hours we loaded up and got back on the road, nervous that the repair wouldn’t hold. The bright side of all this was realising that after almost 1 year on the road and having ridden some pretty rough ground, this was our first puncture. Not bad we thought. Although odd that it should happen on such an easy track. Sod’s law strikes again.

With our speed reduced we took in the magical surroundings, mountain ranges, lush green hillsides and deep valleys. By 5pm we still had almost 250 miles to go. It was going to take some time as we were being forced to stop every 30 minutes to re-inflate the front tyre, which was still leaking air. Time dragged.

As darkness came so did the bitter cold air. Just to make things a little more difficult, Lisa’s headlights packed up and so meant she had to ride close in order to see. By now we were relying on the Hella Xenon Auxiliary lights as my headlights had also decided to give up the ghost several days earlier. By 9:30pm we had the distant lights of the coast in view and had hit the freezing sea fog which was creeping inland. We’d had enough and wanted to stop. An hour later and having pissed off every oncoming vehicle with the ridiculously bright Hellas, we pulled over having found Kuckis pub (at GPS: S22. 40. 792 – E14 31. 525), peeled ourselves off the bikes and popped inside to warm up and grab a bite to eat.

This was the place that Sharmaine and Chris from Otijwa were taking over, unfortunately they weren’t in. The food was good and cheap none the less.With warmth again in our fingers and food in our bellies we found Gruner Kranz Hostel(at GPS: S22 40. 754 – E14 31. 677). We’d spoken to the owner who was also enjoying Kuckis and he’d offered us 50% off. We’re looking forward to exploring Swakupmund tomorrow.

The day didn’t start early but after grabbing a bite to eat we headed down to the sea enjoying the crisp and salty air. The sun was battling to shine through the cold fog that had cloaked the town.

It feels strangely good to actually feel chilly. We realised we haven’t been cold for months, with the exception of last night, when we were actually too cold to see the romantic side of it.With some diary written this afternoon, it was nice just to wander, relax and enjoy some time on our own.

With yesterday being a Sunday much of the town was closed up, including the tyre repair centres, so that was our first job of the day, find a centre and get the large slice in my front tyre sorted. By mid day the wheel was off the bike and a heavy duty patch was being glued in place with some serious rubber compound. 20 minutes later and it was like new. With air back in the tyre and a smile on my face we’d found a car wash and had decided to wash off the dirt and salt which was encrusting both bikes. We’ve never seen so much foam!!! Just look at the photos, you’ll see what we mean.

The afternoon was just spent strolling round this quaint town and repacking the bikes in readiness for our departure tomorrow.

Today was going to be long, as we wanted to get as far South as possible, so starting early and having fuelled up we rode out to find the main road North East back to Windhoek, where we would turn due South and ride for as long as possible. By early afternoon we’d reached Windhoek and ominously dark skies unleashed their load. This time there was no escaping the downpour. As we pressed on the temperature dropped and the driving rain turned to large hail stones. The constant heavy impacts were painful, even through our heavy biking kit; this was getting a little scary.

The hail was coming down in such quantities that it was collecting on the ground. This is bizarre we thought, this is Namibia, the land of heat and water shortage…Ow, Ouuuch, Ow, shit that hurt…OOuuuuch!

By 6:30pm darkness was coming quickly and so were more storm clouds. Hardap Dam Camp was going to be home for the night (at GPS: S24, 29. 319 – E17, 50. 873). Putting up the tent for the first time in a while was a battle as heavy winds caught the canvas and vision was made difficult as dusty sand blew into our eyes. The vicious storm finally subsided at around 4:30 am.

Bleary, sore eyes slowly opened at around 8 am and by 9 am we were ready to get back onto the main B1 South.

The heavy wind from yesterday was back again, making headway slow and tiring work, not to mention eating up the fuel, but by mid afternoon and after having been soaked more often than we’d have liked, we reached the town of Keetmanshoop and were riding the gravel track out to the Quiver Tree Forest Rest Camp (at GPS: S26, 28. 904 – E18, 14. 574).

What a great find! The site is small and doubles as a Cheetah sanctuary. With feeding time at 5:30 pm with threw up the tent in record time and walked the 100 metres back to the enclosures where the 3 resident Cheetahs’ arrive for food. Today’s menu ‘wild big bunny’. The opportunity to stroke these beautiful animals whilst they feast was so unexpected…a real privilege.

Soft velvet fur eased between our fingers as we buried our hands deep into the Cheetahs luxurious coat, mindful not to disturb them to much whilst their thick jaws devoured the remains of the rabbit. Grinning like nervous idiots was mandatory.The high from that experience lasted well into the evening as Lisa and I discussed the past weeks events, cooking on our stove again outside, whilst watching the sun sink behind distant storm clouds.