Today it’s off to Windhoek on a British Airways flight, which proves a conundrum. Check-in at OR Tambo airport is at Terminal B, yet my boarding pass says Gate A00, and the Terminal B check-in gates are all numbered C to E. A helpful BA ticket sales agent needs to enlist the help of three colleagues to ascertain that Gate A00 is actually in Terminal A. Of course it is. Check in at Terminal B, depart from Terminal A. Makes perfect sense.
Terminal A at OR Tambo International is looking a lot like Sydney International. Scaffolding everywhere in the duty free precinct makes it hard to find the gates. I also find out that I can’t buy hand cream duty free in OR Tambo and take it to Windhoek. Something about shared passports and economic zones. I’m assuming it is related to the fact that South African currency is legal tender in Namibia and therefore there isn’t any ‘duty free’ to be had. Never mind.
I’ve splashed out on a business class fare to Namibia – at $600 return I thought it was worth the extra leg room and space. It turns out to be a good call – economy is full, and business class with seating for 19 passengers has 3 including me. It’s an easy 1 hour 50 flight that departs 25 minutes late.
Arrivals at Windhoek is a long and winding queue, which takes at least 30 minutes to navigate. Picking up the car is relatively painless, and the vehicle turns out to be a Honda CRV, a newer model than the one I had 12 years ago, so at least the odd placement of the gear stick is familiar. My Victorian Driver’s License is accepted without question.
I meet my first challenge driving into Windhoek at the formal checkpoint at the outskirts of the city. The Namibian policeman who asks for my driver’s license has never seen an Australian driver’s license before, and we have quite a discussion until I point out that Australian licences don’t have A, B or C etc as the license type, they say ‘car’! I’m on my way soon enough, and arrive at the lovely Olive Exclusive Guesthouse in the suburbs of Windhoek, which is my location for two nights.
