Well, I have to say, I never expected to be hypothermic in Africa. A cold front has come into Namibia and we rode this morning for three hours through heavy winds and low temperatures that with the wind-chill at speeds of 100Km plus, made us feel like we were in Antarctica. The cross wind was so strong and the bikes were crabbing at such an angle, I felt like I was leaning of the edge of a sailboat in a forty knot wind. By the time we stopped at the first town we came to, which was 250Km in, we were shaking so much we must have looked like a blur to Stuart, Andrews friend who met us there. It was all we could do to hold a cup of coffee and get it to our lips without spilling it all over ourselves. I should have brought my Kilimanjaro gear!

The afternoon ride was a little warmer as we turned West and we did our first off road, about 30km of sand and gravel. Andrew is an old hand at off road riding but for me, it was pretty exciting, trying to control a heavy bike as it slid all over the place. No falls today though!

The track led us to the Quivering Tree Forest. With such an evocative name, I was half expecting the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter, but what we found was a beautiful piece of Namibia, a unique ecosystem that is isolated from the world, a serene place surrounded by Aloe plants and the most unusual tress you could imagine. It felt very special to have the experience of walking through it.

Namibia has a wild beauty unlike any other place I’ve ever been. It’s sparsely populated and magnificently desolate. We’ve seen three small towns in 500 Km and if you think that America is big sky country, you need to come here.

It also has a frontier side that makes you feel like you’re in the old American West. The nice caretaker at tonight’s stop in Mariental kindly showed us his 9mm pistol while proclaiming it was “medicine for Skellums!’ Apparently a Skellum is a nasty man and our Caretaker fancies himself as Wyatt Earp. Yep. The Wild West lives on!

Tomorrow we head further West towards the border with Botswana. One more night in Namibia first though. Which is just fine with me. I like it here. As long as the Skellums stay away.

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