25 April: Rest day 1 in Windhoek

I enjoyed not having to get up at 5:30 am, and was also great to have a leisurely breakfast. There was a nice selection of cereals and yoghurt, plus whole grain bread to toast, and marmalade and butter. Plus, you could order a dish off the hot menu. I ordered crumpets with jam but these turned out to be pancakes with jam and covered in melting cream.  Not quite what I was expecting.

I wanted to get a SIM card for the phone but first I had to go back to urban retreat camp to get my passport, as every SIM card I have needed to show identification. The camp site is very hot and all the tents are jammed together and I am very pleased not to be staying there.

I went off to mall, it was very flash with good quality shops, certainly the flashest I have seen since I arrived in Africa.  I found the SIM card store, and got glasses, then went to the chemist to get sunscreen etc. I then went into a gift store to look for a birthday card for Fritz, and while I was there looked at some reading glasses as I am getting low.

We looked around a few more stores and went into a supermarket to get a few supplies. Then it was time for lunch.

I found to my horror, when sitting down at lunch, that I had taken a pair of glasses from the shop without paying for them, plus left a pair of mine in the glasses rack! After lunch, which was pasta with Tomato sauce and chilli, I went back to make the exchange. It turned out I didn’t have to tell the shop people what I had done, I just walked into the shop, took mine back out of the rack and then lined up and bought the pair I had accidentally shoplifted.

Then back to the hotel to catch up with emails and the blog etc.

For dinner we were going to go to the steak bar on site but it was full, so we ended up going to the rooftop bar and had an amazing meal. The menu up there is Tapas. We had fried and stuffed Jalapeños, a really nice  mushroom and truffle risotto, and really nice salad. Brett had pork belly which he enjoyed, and we shared a very nice bottle of Syrah and a yummy Crème brûlée with a shortbread biscuit. I was very full after the meal.  Yay another rest day tomorrow.

Windhoek hotel bell tower