Day 196: Ruacana Lake (Angola) – Ongwediva (Namibia)

We have a quiet night and a relaxed breakfast. As we were packing up we see a crocodile swimming by in the lake. So they are here after all.

Crossing the border is easy, but a lot of foreigners don't seem to have used the border yet. The customs officer doesn't really know what to do with the CdP. And unfortunately we can't pay the road tax here and have to go to the next border. Not bad, just a small detour, but Ruacana itself is not the ideal border crossing.

The route north of Etosha towards Oshakati is rather desolate. But we actually drive at a hundred or even 120 km/h!!! And there are rest areas along the road. We haven't had one since Morocco.

The towns are lined up close together, livestock farming, agriculture, irrigation canals, shops with everything you need, hardly any motorbikes, the many cars (mostly Toyotas) in good condition, even if some of them are old. All in all, significantly wealthier than Angola and everything we've seen in the last few months. 

We already know driving on the wrong side, but driving on the left side with a left-hand drive car takes some time getting used to. A passenger is definitely helpful for overtaking!

What proves to be difficult is purchasing a SIM card or corresponding credit. In Namibia you now also have to register for mobile communications. Everyone had a year to do this and since hardly anyone cared, the deadline has been extended another three months. Now the first numbers are being blocked, everyone is waking up and the queues in front of the MTC shops are very long. In the third shop the situation is not that bad, we want to queue, but find out that they were running out of SIMs in the shop. So off to a street vendor whose “convenience store” is a shopping cart and first buy two SIMs. After about two hours we are wired again.

In the afternoon we arrive at Veronica and Bernd's house in Ongwediva, whom we met at the Calandula waterfall. And what a surprise: Since Bernd made an entry on iOverlander, Julian also arrives here. We have a very nice evening and enjoy the hospitality.