On the final morning of my 30 day tour from Nairobi to Joburg, we cross over from Botswana into South Africa.

The sight of several sheep squeezed into the back of this car draws our attention:

Our tour ends just outside Johannesburg at the lovely Belvedere Estate in an area called Midrand. Some people from our group will stay overnight to continue on a tour of South Africa the next morning. Other people go straight to the airport to fly back to their home country. My plan is to stay at a central Joburg hostel for a night or two while I figure out my next move — which is hopefully travel to Namibia, as our guide Soliwe warns that I should visit that country as soon as possible before it gets miserably hot in October.

Belvedere Estate offers a van service to wherever you need to go, so I wait around 5 hours until they have availability to bring me to a hostel… only to find out that I have to fork over $35 USD for a ride. I’m upset because it had appeared that the ride was included as part of our tour (based on what I gathered from the guy running the vans), which is why I waited around all afternoon rather than arrange a cab at my own expense. After speaking to the manager she very kindly agrees to waive the fee. It’s a bummer that Nomad Tours ends their trips in the middle of Midrand instead of a more central location in Joburg — it’s a hidden cost; everyone departing the tour will have to shell out around $35 per person no matter where they’re going next. For what it’s worth, Belvedere Estate is really beautiful and if it weren’t well out of my budget I would spend the night there.

On a total whim I end up at Brown Sugar Backpackers. I stay there for two nights and it totally fits the bill — it costs around $14 for a dorm bed, there’s strong wifi, guests are allowed to use the washer and dryer so I can finally do laundry, it’s QUIET, and it’s easy to order take out meals. My plan is to hunker down and accomplish two things: plan my travel to Namibia and edit photos / write blog posts. I put on blinders and, with the exception of sleep, I only do these things for 48 hours.

Here’s a few shots of the hostel:

I poke my head into a bedroom just after housekeeping cleans up — the private rooms are quite nice:

But for $14 a night I’m in a huge dorm room, the largest I’ve ever stayed in — I think there are 18 beds total. And normally I’d NEVER stay in a dorm room this big, but it’s only me and three other women in the whole room. Both nights are very quiet.

The bunks are sectioned off into semi-private areas with four beds, so we all have our own space within the room. This one is mine:

The kitchen / dining room wall is full of inspirational quotes:

This sign catches my eye: if you need a visa for Mozambique (unfortunately Americans now do) you can arrange for one at the Consulate in Joburg. I file this away for future use.

Two nights in a row I order pizza from Debonair’s, a popular fast food chain in South Africa — it’s not ideal but it’s the only way I can stay focused to get everything done. I fully anticipate retuning to Joburg for a proper visit later in my travels (in about 6-7 weeks) but for now I’m just here to work and plan.

My first order of business is to reach out to my contact at Acacia Africa, the overland company I toured Kenya & Uganda with several months ago. I really enjoyed working with them and they were very receptive to the images I sent them after the tour. I ask if there’s any chance I can get on a 12-day tour of Namibia (ending in Cape Town) that departs in less than 48 hours… and they say YES! And the news gets even better — I’ll have the same tour guides as I did on the previous trip, husband-and-wife team Riaan and Juliana! They are two of my favorite people and I’m over the moon that we’ll reunite for another tour. Plus I’ll get to visit Namibia before it gets too hot there. It’s win/win.

I book a flight from Joburg to Windhoek, Namibia (the capital) leaving in less than 24 hours.

The next morning at the Joburg airport I grab breakfast at Mugg & Bean, a chain found all over South Africa that I quickly grow to love. Their lattes are delicious and so are the salads on their menu. Here’s something I discover: in South Africa, it’s not unusual to serve muffins with a side of cold, shredded cheddar cheese. I do not get it.

We step off the plane in Windhoek and it hits me… I AM IN NAMIBIA.

Something about that seems so exotic. Plus I’m high off the thrill of impending adventure, a feeling that hits me every time I enter a new country. Travel is like a drug.

Upon exiting the plane — before even entering the airport — everyone on the flight must have their temperature taken and fill out the survey below. Namibia is screening for potential ebola patients. (To date, there have been zero cases in Namibia or any part of Southern Africa.)

I’ve scheduled a ride from the airport to the campground where I’ll meet up with the new tour group. The driver is patient as I run to the ATM and buy / activate a local SIM card from the kiosk in the arrivals lounge. Pro tip: the Namibian Dollar shares a 1:1 exchange rate with the South African Rand — the currencies are linked. So if you have enough Rand you don’t need to get Namibian Dollars. (While Namibia accepts Rand, South Africa does not accept Namibian Dollars.)

Shortly thereafter I arrive at camp and share a cold beer (and hugs) with Riaan and Juliana. We trade stories from the past few months — they are eager to hear how my Kilimanjaro trek went, and I want to know all about their overland trip south. We’ve been on a similar trajectory (I even ran into Riaan once at a campsite in Botswana) so it’s fun to compare notes.

From the campground we all walk over to Joe’s Beerhouse for dinner. I think this is the hot spot for tourists in Windhoek, as the place is packed and when I just now searched for “Windhoek restaurants” this establishment is the first result.

Spoiler alert: everything is delicious and budget-friendly, and the atmosphere is fabulous.

This is Julia from Brazil and Janine from Germany:

Riaan orders the Pork Knuckle for dinner — he plans to save the bone for when they reunite with their dogs in South Africa 12 days from now.

They serve a Bushman Sosatie which includes cuts of ostrich, crocodile, zebra, kudu, and oryx meat — many people in our group order this dish to sample a variety.

But I get the Namib Bush Fire which has three cuts of meat: springbok, ostrich, and oryx. I remember REALLY liking one, sort of liking one, and NOT liking one. Later on in my travels I’ll have ostrich and quite like it, so I’m confident that wasn’t the one that turned me off.

Check out this German tour company we run into at our campground — Rotel Tours. Their overland truck tows a trailer lined with tiny coffin-like beds so that their guests don’t have to camp or pay for more expensive accommodation. Surely this is not recommended for anyone suffering from claustrophobia.

Let’s get this party started — our first stop is Etosha National Park. Report coming tomorrow!

So this kicks off a new chapter — I can’t wait to share photos and stories from all over Namibia these next few weeks. It’s easily one of my favorite countries in Africa and there’s lots of good stuff coming.

I visited Namibia on a 12-day tour from Windhoek to Cape Town with Acacia Africa. They discounted my tour in exchange for blogging and photography; opinions are my own.