The Bus Journey From Windheok to Luderitz & Finally to Kolmanskop

Tuesday morning my first point of action was to find a bus heading down south. The accommodation I had wanted to stay at was booked out for the night so I had to go to a different backpackers, which while a lot cheaper, wasn’t that nice so I decided to leave ASAP. I took a cab to ‘Rhino Park’ for N$10 (less than $1aud) where I was told I would be able to find a bus.

Swakopmund & Back To Windhoek ... Somehow En-Route to Keetmanshoop

So, as to be expected in Africa not everything has gone to plan, which is fine of course, because my plans are quite flexible - I just have to be in Kimberly (South Africa) by next Sunday to catch a train from Kimberly to Cape Town (these train tickets sell out fast so I bought one a week in advance). I was supposed to be on a train tonight towards Keetmanshoop, however when I reached the train station I was surprised and disappointed to find out that the workers are on strike so no trains are running at the moment!

3 Day Sesriem & Sossuslvei Tour: Namibia

I had decided several weeks ago that I was planning on going to Namibia as soon as I finished all my university work and had said goodbye to all my friends. It was only five days before I actually left that I finally decided to book a plane ticket to Windhoek, and 3 days before I left that I confirmed and booked a desert tour. After being in the city for the past 4 months, it felt like a good time to disconnect from it all and head into nature. I booked a three day, two night camping tour with Wild Dog Safari's, and arrived on a wet Monday afternoon in Windhoek (via plane ... I opted for a two hour flight over the 24 hour bus journey) to leave Windhoek early Tuesday morning on my tour. There was a group of 13 of us and we had a 300km+ drive to Sesriem ahead to where we would be camping the night.

Neighbourgoods Market & Vintage Shopping in Melville

The Neighbourgoods Market is held every Saturday in Braamfontein, a suburb in inner city Joburg, close to Witwatersrand University. Having been to Market on Main and the Rosebank rooftop market, it was time to finally go to the Neighbourgoods Market for food and drinks! While smaller than Market on Main, it is bustling with people and almost impossible to get seats to sit and eat. We had a nice afternoon at the market eating and enjoying the atmosphere, before heading out to Melville to check out some second-hand stores.

 

LIFE UPDATES POST EXAMS

As was to be expected with this blog, I've been a bit slack with keeping it updated. As soon as we got home from Cape Town uni work just started to pile up and before I knew it, exams were approaching. The past few weeks have been spent finishing off the last few assignments, studying for exams, finishing those exams and doing a bit more exploring around Johannesburg. The university year is officially over for me and I can now say I've completed my second year of university - only one more year to go! 

Everyone is leaving Johannesburg at the moment, which is quite sad. Most of my friends from the Malaysian campus will be returning home and several of my friends from South Africa will be heading off as well. There are few people on campus at the moment, and although I'm glad to have a break off of study, it is bittersweet as I've had a really great semester studying here and I'm going to miss some of my classes and teachers and the friends I've made. Nevertheless however, this is one of those moments where I'm glad I had to foresight to apply for a whole year abroad and I'll be looking forward to returning in February!

I'm planning on leaving Johannesburg in the next week or so and beginning my summer of travel. Over the rest of November, December, January and February I shall be exploring southern Africa (and returning home to Australia for Christmas of course). Anyways, here a quick look over what I've been doing for the past few weeks (that don't involve study ...)

CAPE TOWN

 Cape Town in 4 mins!