An Africa delivers! So, last night the girls and I spent dinner in our courtyard at the hotel talking….and read this, laughing like mad! That doesn’t happen often back home due to our very busy lives. And Europe is a very…serious part of the world. As quick as you get out of plane, enter Africa all this laughs, jokes and laughter are abundant!

So we laughed like mad and it is such a relief of whatever tensions one has! Because there’s been fair amount of anxiety lately getting the Expedition onboard! And I was worried waking up yesterday morning…

Caleb came to pick me up in the morning. Nights are cold. Even inside the room. Caleb and Bernd will work with us during our time in Namibia. Great guys. Caleb was born in South Africa, likes his beer, he has an Afrikaans farmer back ground with a big heart. He drove me the long way back to the airport and told me about his dramatic life. A documentary for sure.

The bikes had arrived and the folks working there where incredibly helpful. All these great smiles, jokes and laughter, it is a great case for defrosting the serious Swedish character!

As quick as Caleb dropped me at the hotel, I woke the girls, took them to breakfast. And even though it was past the time, they took care of the girls and fed them whilst I started assembling the bikes. We have so much gear! The girls came back and said:

“You just left us there”.

“Yes, time for you to feel comfortable around yourself and folks here. Was it a problem?”

“No, they were so kind to us and fed us more than we wanted.”

I stopped assembling bikes and equipment at 6 p.m and went shopping food at a nearby SPAR shopping centre. Good selection and Caleb said, buy biltong and try it! So we did that. I ate a lot of biltong when I cycled through South Africa back in 1989. Girls like it, especially Dana who went up in the middle of the night and ate the dried sausages! I found me vegan stuff.

But the highlight was us being together, talking, laughing. Girls subject today was gays, lesbians, transexuals and how people saw them here. And what I thought about it. First time this subject was brought up. They had had it as a subject in school before the holidays. Obviously I told them, love is love and people have to be who they are. Explorers are openminded and never judge. But observe. One can certainly have opinions about everything but with an open mind. They asked me about racism in Namibia too. So we dealt with many subjects!

Just let me tell you I have spent 5 years all together in Africa. So I am not ignorant as regards to this wonderful continent. And after my first day I see servants are as before and the owners as before, so far. Not much of a change. We will see.

Wonderful being back!