Day 14, 12 February: The Road to RunduWe left Namutoni in time not to pay another day's park fees and raced to the Wimpy in Tsumeb for breakfast (Malicious Margaret led the way).
On the way to Tsumeb, we stopped at Lake Otjikoto, an unfathomable hole full of water. San name translates to 'Ugly Hole'. I found it quite pretty. It is a sinkhole, and is unfathomable. Some WW1 German soldiers very unsportingly threw their German engineered weapons into this hole rather than to surrender them to the South Africans or the British, when they were overrun after a siege of about a year. Very unlike the Long Tom canons in Mpumalanga, which were most kindly left by the Brits for the Boers to use against them (they claim of course that the Boere stole them, but who believes that?).
Next stop, Tsumeb Wimpy.The bandwidth battle started again, as the Wimpy had - you've guessed - ACCESS. After some more time faffing around with websites in the Tsumeb Wimpy (the battle for bandwidth generally leaves the offexploring site updates last in the queue), we left for Grootfontein, taking a detour to see the ever underwhelming Hoba meteorite (see other's comments for different views) along the way. The Hoba meteorite is unique in that its proprietors have converted the hole that it made when it landed, into a small amphitheatre. Sitting there, one can watch the fallen meteorite lie there. It is made of nickel ! (I hope you are not so-whatting - you philistines). I grudgingly left Hoba to carry on to Grootfontein.
At Grootfontein, we turned left onto the Trans-Caprivi highway and my spirits lifted. The narrow tarmac with a very wide grassed road reserve stretches over 700 km from Grootfontein through the Kavango and Caprivi into sub-tropical Africa. My last drive along this road was 24 years ago on the back of a truck. It is truly a wonderful road trip. Time and climate become softer, gentler as the surroundings become green, more humid and rain clouds gather. We approach the Africa that I love most. Friendly, gentle people, large trees and lush vegetation.
Sarasungu Lodge, on the Okavango River in Rundu, is a stopover that we can recommend. The huts are lovely, campsite is beautiful, and the riverside surrounding is tranquil, especially compared to the hustle and bustle of Rundu town). Rundu, like other Namibian towns, has been re-colonized. South African retail chains (and mini-malls) have grossly sprung up everywhere, and towns now resemble medium-sized South African towns (Jet, Pep, Shoprite, Spar, Ackermans, Beares, Mr Price's etc). The 'general' dealers, with their idiosyncratic items relevant to local environments and people, have perished under this bland attack. They are less interesting than the Hoba meteorite, but obviously hit the mark in terms of delivering what people need. Sarasungu serve a good meal and service is friendly. Windhoek draft is safer to drink than tap water, surely healthier than a fizzy drink, and environmentally superior to bottled water, so in health interests I have converted. Sarasungu have them very cold.