Renting a car in Windhoek, Namibia

I was flying out for Windhoek, Namibia today, however it was not until the afternoon, which meant I awoke to the standard 5:30 “Good Morning”. This was a safari camp and you are going on safari. We first watched a few reruns.






We found then a pack of lionesses just finishing up their breakfast.






I guess they don’t care for the horns.


You could see the heavy meal hit them hard and it was time for that late morning nap.






As they napped the scavengers came out, first a jackal.


Then the hyenas.






They waited.


And waited….


I had a plane to catch so we headed back to camp so I could pack and get ready.




We went to the airstrip and I said good bye to Prada as my plane landed. With only two seats I flew co-pilot.


As co-pilot I was ready to help out and take over at a moment’s notice. Unfortunately my services would not be needed today as we safely made it back to Maun without my help.


I had a direct flight to Windhoek in just a few hours and the departure immigration/customs seemed to operate on the honor system. I basically just went to my gate and was now technically out of Botswana. While I waited for my plane I played 2048 on my phone, a game that Riley turned me on to. I would spend many hours playing it while waiting in airports on this trip. We took off on the little over one hour flight on Air Namibia to Windhoek. At Windhoek I went through the standard immigrations, customs, and now standard quarantine until my health form could be reviewed and temperature taken. Ebola free I was allowed to enter Namibia around 10pm.

I would be renting a car at the airport and driving across the desert. I got an information packet from the company I booked with that outlined a number of helpful tips to remain safe. The first tip was that they recommend that I do not drive at night. Well, ok, that one is going to be broken before I even leave the airport. They also recommended that I get an International Drivers Permit. So before I left I went and took the International Drivers Permit test, which is really just one question. “Do you have fifteen dollars?” Answer yes and give them $15 and you pass. At least the picture looks like my normal driver’s license picture. I might have been hung over that day.


I went to the Budget counter at the Windhoek, Namibia airport and they took me to a car that was registered and had plates from South Africa. Their currency was directly tied to each other so I thought this was probably ok. I looked at the registration sticker on the windshield and noticed it had expired. I brought this up and was told there is a 21 day grace period and I would be fine. So yeah I’m driving at night in a foreign county in a car with expired tags and my only defense is that the rental guy said it was ok. How much more fun can this get? Well, the steering wheel is on the right and you drive on the left, and it’s a stick. I actually prefer a stick, however I was on the right side of the vehicle which meant I would have to work it with my left hand. So with everything reversed I left the airport in to the darkness on my one hour drive to Windhoek in a car that may or may not be registered. Now if I only had a co-pilot to read the map and tell me where to turn once I got in to the city. Hey this is going to be a lot of fun, I should probably use nature’s restroom before I get downtown. I arrived at the Elegant Guesthouse and this place was perfect for my overnight stay. I had a few Windhoek Lagers, showered, and went to bed as I wanted to get an early start in the morning.

VIDEO: Botswana To Namibia - Day 14