We spent all of the previous week in Oshakati, visitng the Angolan consulate (almost daily) and arranging invitation/reference letters from our ‘friend’ in Angola. By Friday we were finally allowed to submit the application. We should have an answer after the upcoming Easter weekend.The Angolan consulate is a nightmare! One of the worst we’ve seen (and there’s been a few).

Needing to kill a bit of time, we left Oshakati and headed for the north-western corner of the country known as Kaokaland - home of the Himba people. Following the border with Angola, we soon left the tarmac and continued on a track only passable in a 4×4. Hugging the Kunene river it was as ‘off-road’ as you can get. Sand, rocks, mud, steep inclines and almost vertical drops into impassable rivers made the going slow and tough.

We covered the 150km’s in just over two days!! Spending a lot of time fixing punctures, digging the bike out of mud holes and dragging it across flooded sandy riverbeds. Sometimes with the help of passing locals…

Along the way we passed villages of the colourful Himba people.

Totally exhausted we reached Epupa Falls. We spent two nights camped right by the river, within throwing distance of the falls themselves. The town (make that village) of Epupa is like an oasis in an otherwise harsh and arid land. It has one shop and a bar where the locals hang out from dusk till dawn.

We’re now in Opuwo. We’ll head west again into the wilderness before heading back to Oshakati.

We wish everybody a Happy Easter!