30C and sunny today in Windhoek. We were pretty tired yesterday after all of our flying. Departed at 1850 from Kigali, got to Nairobi at 2130. Long layover there - 5 hours. The flight at 2 in the morning was 90% empty, so we each got a row of seats to ourselves. After that four hour flight, we had only 70 minutes to make our connection in Johannisberg, but we made it with no problems. I should have booked a later flight, but the early one was hundreds of dollars cheaper! By the time we cleared immigration, got money and took the 45 km cab ride into Windhoek, it was 1000. The Hilton let us check in early.
Had an unfortunate experience with dinner last night. We went for sushi at the hotel, and it took us an hour and a half to get our food. The poor chef was just a bit overwhelmed. He apologized, but I sent a note to the hotel manager last night suggesting that they get waiters to help him deliver the food so that he could spend more time slicing raw fish and less time walking around with sashimi. This morning, the head chef dropped by our table at breakfast and told us that he would send up a fresh tray of sushi and a bottle of champagne to our room this evening. The hotel manager dropped by later to thank us for the feedback. Got to love the Hilton!
Windhoek is a lovely little city. 250,000 people. Feels a lot like Red Deer or Regina, but the terrain is just like the out skirts of Las Vegas. Feels very friendly and safe. For the first time since leaving Canada, we are in a place where you can drink the tap water! The Hilton is located right accross the street from the Supreme Court. Jackie has pictures of court houses in every country we have been in - our drivers always knew that they should point out the court buildings to Jackie and slow down so that she could get a shot. She even observed court in Rarotonga for a short while. So far, I think that the Supreme Court of Bhutan was the prettiest edifice.
I told many people before this trip how I (Steve - some of the blog words are mine, some are Jackie's, most of the photos and especially all of the really good ones are her's!) was dreading turning 50, and how being 50 means that I am not 25 anymore - meaning that I am no longer interested in staying in a room that only costs a buck but is smaller than I am! Now I realize that turning 50 is AWESOME and being fifty means that I can enjoy a lot of guilt free luxury!
Getting my hair cut this afternoon and then buying a few groceries - mostly lunch stuff. Pick up a rental 4x4 tomorrow morning and then we are off to the desert to celebrate Jackie's birthday at the Hoodia Desert Lodge in Sossuvlei.
And here is a picture of Windhoek and the Supreme Court from the roof top pool at our hotel.
Ya, sorry, not as cute as baby gorillas. Did I mention that most of the really good pictures are Jackie's?
Although these are mine! Mama in the picture above is eating a combination of nettles, thistles and sweet bamboo shoots. I would like to know what her mouth is made of! Gorillas get all of their liquids from consuming plants; they have been observed going up to five years without drinking any water. This juvenile female gorilla below brushed Jackie's leg after Jackie jumped out of her way. We were told not to get closer to the animals than 5 m, but nobody explained the rules to the wildlife.
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