Day 96 Tuesday April 16 Bus Transfer to Windhoek

By Henry

Because it was a bus transfer day, our daily bags were  not due until 6:45 AM today with breakfast at 7 AM. Buses were scheduled to arrive at 8 AM to transport us to Windhoek, but they were on “African time” and did not arrive to retrieve us until 10 AM.

From prior years, TDA riders and staff deemed that it was too unsafe to ride into Windhoek with the non-existent shoulder and high-speed traffic on a narrow two-lane road, so the decision was made to transport us into the city via bus. 

Bikes all loaded on top of, and behind, the two smaller vehicles. Both of the larger trucks have bicycles on top, and also inside the trucks.

We rode an old bus that was falling apart. It was incredibly cramped and we had a minuscule amount of legroom. Our 2+ hour bus ride was rather uncomfortable.

TDA had packed sack lunches for us, and our caravan pulled in to UrbanCamp in Windhoek at 1 PM.
Linda and I upgraded into a lovely property across the street, the Sand Rose Bed-and-Breakfast with “self-catering accommodations”.

The owner Paolo is an Italian immigrant who moved to Namibia 40 years ago. He designed the structure himself.

For unclear reasons, Paolo upgraded us further to an executive suite on the second level with a balcony.

Unique architectural details drew the eye.

Communal kitchen and lounge area that opened up to the pool deck via a 6-panel double bifold door system.

Our suite was spacious and quirkily designed.

After settling in, we rode our bikes 2.5 km to MTC (Namibian cell phone company) to obtain a SIM card for Linda. This is a complicated process, requiring a queue, presenting a passport, creating an account, then physically inserting and activating the SIM card.

We headed back to UrbanCamp to swap out our tires to wider versions in preparation for the next 9 days of Namibian sandy roads. The process went reasonably smoothly. The riding is going to be a challenge.
Because we had a full kitchen in our suite, we decided to cook in. We took a taxi to a nearby Spar grocery store and purchased provisions to prepare our own dinner.