Farewell My South Africa - Again!

The road calls! And so I go.

I will be back in Namibia by tonight!
The time I have had to spend with my nearest and dearest at home, has been a true blessing.
But now I really need to get a move on. The time restrictions that my visas for Angola, DRC and Congo place on me, will force me to have to push really hard for the next few months. I have to uphold a daily average of at least 75 kilometers, or else I won't make it to each border in time.

Whilst on the road, it is not always possible for me to update my blog on a regular basis.

Hanret Snyman, one of my nearest and dearest friends, has been my 'ground control' support whilst on the road and the person who I am in constant contact with. (Also the person that puts in an amazing amount of effort behind the scenes in helping me live my dream). She will be posting regular updates when I am not able to.

So be on the lookout for updates from "La Domestique". :)

Be sure to listen in on JacarandaFM every Thursday for LIVE updates! (I will send out a notification as to what time)

And if you'd like to get involved and sponsor a country: Click here for more information.


A big thank you to FNB Namibia for sponsoring the Namibia leg of my trip!!!

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2 Down - 1 To Go

Okay, I now have a visa for Angola that is valid until the 24th August and a visa for the D.R.C, which is valid until the 7th September. I picked up my passport from the Embassy of DRC in Pretoria this morning and went straight to the Congo embassy, a few blocks down, and handed in my application. My visa for Congo will be ready on Thursday! So....I should be back in Windhoek by this coming weekend! :)

And today marks 2 months on this journey! :)

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Getting There

Thank you all for your quick response, emails, messages and suggestions.
I'm very happy to report that my visa for DRC will be ready by Monday. I dragged Hanret with me to the DRC and Congo Embassies in Pretoria today. Partly because she is far more experienced in 'the art of applying for a visa', partly because she just doesn't take no for an answer (which is helpful :)) ) , partly because her French is much better than mine...and the list goes on! :)

This time round was far less painless than dealing with the Angolan Embassy. I am learning though, and fast. Just make sure you have all the documentation you could possibly need...and voila!

I am now just waiting for my letter of invitation from the Congo and will apply for my visa on Monday. Which means my visa will then be ready by Thursday.

What all of this means is: I should be back in Windhoek by next weekend!!! Wooohoooo!!
Really looking forward to getting back on the road!

Thank you, once again, for all your support!!!

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Look What I Got!!! :)

Yay!! Finally, it's here. My Angolan Visa. All bright and shiny in my passport!!

Now, the technical bit:
The woman who helped me at the Angolan Consulate made a little boo-boo. She had told me that I have 60 days in which to enter Angola with my visa and then from date of entry I have 30 days in the country.
Turns out I actually only have 30 days in which I need to cross into Angola.
This might sound like ample time, but here's the snag...

Because I am now applying for my Congo and DRC visas in Pretoria, it's becoming a hectic time game. Processing time for both can be anything between a week and two weeks. Then, once I have those two visas I have to hop on a plane back to Windhoek. I then have, maybe two weeks, to enter into Angola. The longer the visa processing takes, the less time I have to make it to the border, the harder I will have to push.
Problem is: I don't have letters of invitation for either Congo or DRC. Friends are chatting to friends who might have friends in either of these countries and who might be willing to help. I'm trying to track down anybody/company in both countries, even through social networking. But I am really pressured for time.

So if anybody out there maybe has a friend/ knows someone in either or both countries who'd be willing to help, please let me know!!! Thank you!

The next leg is going to be one heck of a ride!!! :)

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What's happening....

Just a quick update. I am still in Johannesburg, awaiting my Angolan visa. I should have it sometime this week. When I phoned again this morning they said to phone again tomorrow morning! Okidoki then.

In the meantime, I have decided to apply for my visas for the DRC and Congo as well, whilst I am in Johannesburg. Seeing as I will only have 30 days to get through Angola, it would be a big gamble to apply for my DRC and Congo visas in Luanda as that would probably delay me another two weeks. The total distance I will have to cover from the Namibia/Angola border to the Angola/DRC border is about 1 800 Kilometers.  Even if I maintained a 100km p/day average, it would probably take me about 16 days to get to Luanda (including rest days). This would then leave me 14 days to sort out visas for the next two countries plus getting to the border and with rest days...it's just too much of a risk. I have no guarantee that the visas will be processed within two weeks. So all-in-all, it just makes sense to get the visas now.

This way I am sorted (visa wise) all the way to Cameroun. (I don't need a visa for Gabon - Yay!)

In the meantime I'm working on getting a print-media partner on board to publish regular updates and racking my brain regarding potential sponsors/possible sponsorship opportunities. A major potential sponsor, unfortunately, shot me down last week. I've lost count of how many potential sponsors I have contacted, met, spoken to etc. I'm running out of ideas, so if you have any...please feel free to let me know. :)

The question everyone is asking: "when will you be back on the road"?
I can't say for sure. It all basically depends on how soon I can get all these visas sorted.

On a lighter note though, I find it very interesting how I crossed my first border on a spectacular full moon, and now whilst back home...a lunar eclipse. I think my bike (Luna) misses me. She's so far away from me, on her own, in Windhoek. I think she blocked out the moon!! :))

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