Windhoek to Ghanzi, Botswana 518km

Awake around 5am. Marwaan noted at the masjid that Fajr was at 5:20am. Though that sounded off for what we had been following, we figured if we awoke at 6am, we'd have time. Since I was awake and the hot water was back I took a shower. At some point during a chit-chat with Marwaan we realized Namibia could possibly be on a different time zone! I called reception and a very sleepy guy told me it was 4:45am !

Around 8:30am, we checked out and went to Game to get a memory card. Actually we got 2 just to be safe ! Our first trek was to Gobabis which is the border between Namibia and Botswana. That was around 200km. We didn't realise that Thakadu was so much further from the border making it another long day of driving. Along the road we saw warthog. Marwaan saw a horse chase a baboon.

Very unfriendly border workers !

On the Botswana side, the landscape was savanna – long dry grass – the kind a lion would be hiding in ! We saw cows, birds and either a meerkat or squirrel. One cow reminded me of Ferdinand, as it was looking up at the tree!

Our drive was mostly in an easterly direction and I had the sun on me the entire day. I didn't feel well. My lips were sore and dry!

In Ghanzi we went to Spar for supplies.

Camp : Thakadu Game Reserve – I half expected animals to crawl out. No nice green grass. It was rocky and buck poop was almost everywhere. Since we arrived last we didn't have much choice in where we could camp. The kids were having a city-slickers moment when they kept pointed and said “ew, poop!” Made salaah and then quickly made sausage, samp and mielies. Real camp food ! Muhammad struggled to balance and lost his food in the sand ! The moment the sun set it was cold! Apparently last night it was -6 degrees here. Our sleeping bags are for -5 only!!

We didn't get much chance to meet people before hand. At 7pm there was a communal fire. Since this is a tour group the plan is to have one fire only from which everyone can braai. We sat around for a little bit and then I took Aasiyah to bed. The plan was to do Aasiyah's lessons in the evenings, but with the long drives we are too tired. She managed to do a few surahs in the tent before bed. We'd have to make a new plan for the rest of the trip.