After our last breakfast buffet of the trip we packed up the car and headed south to Windhoek, stopping briefly at a small waterhole just north of the Anderson Gate.

…450km later(!) we arrived in Windhoek.

We checked in to the Protea Hotel by Marriott Windhoek Furstenhof – a bit old but comfortable, and a great use of Marriott points. After a few days of very low water pressure we were happy to have a shower with proper pressure again. More importantly, we were back on wifi networks, so our phones blew up with messages, downloads, etc. The courtyard below our room was hosting a bridal shower for the afternoon with lots of happy women dressed all in white.

We repacked our bags for the multi-day trip home, then drove over to the Stellenbosch Wine Bar for dinner at 6pm.  Earlier in the day we had made a reservation, so we had a lovely outdoor table waiting for us in the courtyard. Once the sun went down the air temperature cooled off quickly, so the portable heaters were quite welcome.

Our dinner was very good. I had a glass of the Beyerskloof Pinotage blend and Eric had a Chenin Blanc and then the Ernie Els red shiraz blend. We split the charcuterie platter to start then I ordered the oryx loin with pickled cabbage and fruit sauce and Eric got the red wine braised oxtail. My meat was overcooked (I think it rested too long under the heat lamps) but the kitchen quickly cooked another one for me that was perfect.

Stuffed, we didn’t have room for dessert, but just enough for some dessert wine!

Parking was easy behind the restaurant, but after dark you can only exit one way. This wasn’t clear to us so we wound up needing to turn the beast around.

On Sunday we woke up at 7am and lounged around the room until about 9am, then headed to the airport to return our rental car and start the long journey home.