The drive from Ongongo Waterfall Camp to Oshakati take us through Opuwa a town that we recalled from when we were in the area back in 2016. It's changed, we see several overland trucks with passengers and new supermarkets. As soon as we pull up at petrol station, we are surrounded by women all selling the same things no variation. Back in 2016 a totally different experience we never got hassled and saw no other tourists. On exiting the town, we decide to stop at a cultural centre they are selling a range of souvenirs from Himba and Herero communities in the area we decide to purchase a few things. Luca bought a knife used to skinning animals and with it came a scabbard shaped like a fish for design with a metal road to do their hair. I bought a gorgeous Himba child's bum covering to hang in our toilet as a talking point and another Himba doll and spoon. The girls don't seem to keen on purchasing anything.
We arrive in Os***aki at a secure parking guest house which is our home for 3 nights while we do our PCR Covid tests and hope for negative results so we can enter Angola. We also have a number of jobs to do whilst in the big smoke first up the traction control light on the Hilux needs sorted so we leave the kids and head to Toyota Garage to fix it. They advise no problem with car and try to turn off lights but can't do due to the bush wiring we did on the Skeleton Coast, but tell us it's fine to drive. Whilst under the car Maz notices the spare wheel is missing, we go back to the guest house and decide to look through photos to see when we lost it. We pinpoint it down to the afternoon / night of the Jackals but then a debate ensues whether the wheel was stolen or fell off. Me being the cynical one points fingers at the guides unlike Maz who thinks that it's highly unlikely given they were great guides and it's their livelihood. We message Elago with the news who promises to retrace the area as they are redoing the tour in 3 days. At the same time, we send a sturdy email to the tour operator we didn't point fingers but the assumption was made we were blaming the guides. We never heard back from Elago.

We then decide to go for dinner and Elago who used to live in Os***aki told us to go to SOS restaurant and not to walk as to dangerous for white people to walk at night so to drive. Keen for the meal we all jump in the car Maz then follows the directions from the receptionist, we leave the gated security of our home and go round the hotel corner only to find the restaurant adjacent to our hotel - how embarrassing parking the car less the 20 metres away.

Thinking we were going to a real local joint we are shocked how upmarket it is, it is not the local experience we were wanting. We order Mopane worms that have been deep-fried, we force Arabella to eat one and the others were willing to try the local delicacy. Basically they tasted like gritty fishy bacon with crunch definitely not to be had again.
Next day we head to the clinic to get our PCR COVID tests done and now have to wait up to 48 hours at our accommodation. Thank god there is a pool and Wi-Fi the kids are happy with that whilst we do errands filling up gas bottles, getting phone repaired, diesel, collecting Stefan's supplies to take with us to Angola and finally with the results in getting the PCR results printed out.

Feed up with the town and being stuck at the guesthouse we are very happy to be on our way to the Angola border all excited for the unknown. Enroute, we pass "Elago's Autospares" and have a joke wondering if there is any connection between our missing tyre and the business.