Never did the world make a queen of a girl who hides in houses and dreams without traveling - Roman Payne

24 April 2019, Windhoek to Okahandja, 74,2km
Smarties Guest House N$350

We had a quick, easy ride to Okahandja, the garden city, much of it downhill or flat, with no wind to speak of. Even getting out of Windhoek was essentially pain free. Leaving our backpackers, we turned left onto Bach, right onto Sam Nujoma, and right onto the Western Bypass, which… er… bypasses the city to the west. A double-lane highway with more traffic than we like, the bypass has a wide shoulder making it more than bearable to cycle. Leaving Windhoek, the Western Bypass, effectively a continuation of the B1, becomes a true national highway with blue road signs, renamed the A1. The A1 is still under construction, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say the B1 upgrade is still underway. Some detours narrowed the road in places, but mainly the unfinished parts are already widened and tarred, though not yet painted. The increase in traffic only became a problem around 20km before Okahandja when the A1 narrowed again into the shoulder-free B1 to which we have become accustomed. We were a little concerned we might be barred from cycling the highway, but the police at the police stop on the road, something that looks to be a permanent setup, made no comment beyond asking questions based more on curiosity than security.
I had passed a man working on the road who had greeted me. When Charl passed him a little later, he told Charl “Your lady looks strong”, explained that he was the road engineer, and gave him his telephone number, saying if we got into any trouble in Angola, he was our man.
About 15km before Okahandja is an enormous housing development, the houses steel-framed. And about 5km before town, opposite NamWater, is a formal squatter camp, homes newly constructed of corrugated iron. On the verge here we chatted to two young women selling butterflied dried fish, bought fresh from Swakopmund.
Our well-priced guest house is sited just behind the mall which sports several eateries, including a Spur where we dined both at lunch time and dinner.

For today's route see below photos
For overview route, click on ROUTE tab above…