Bermuda?s players were treated to a free desert safari during the journey from airport to hotel yesterday, with the bus having to slow down as a primate sauntered across the highway.

The team, already staring wide-eyed as the bus passed through the barren desert with houses and any sign of civilisation scarce to say the least, were intrigued as to why the vehicle had slowed down.

But once the creature had been spotted, the cameras began flashing out the window as the team?s anthropologists described the animal.

?Look at the chimp,? said one. ?Wow, a monkey,? was another comment.

And then South African native and no stranger to the southern African flora and fauna, Saleem Mukkudem, piped up with the correct analysis. ?I haven?t seen a baboon for a while,? he stated. ?This brings back memories.?

Impala were also spotted on the roadside as well as some gaudy-coloured giant game as the bus passed a roadside taxidermist and gift shop.

The strike bowler also appeared particularly animated as the bus passed through Windhoek?s outskirts and he recognised a Nando?s restaurant ? a fried chicken establishment of some repute.

?That?s South Africa?s best export,? he grinned, clearly desperate for a night off to go and sample their goods.

There was a certain amount of envy on display from one of the Irish fast bowlers when told of the rapturous reception Bermuda received on their return from World Cup qualification.

The player, who admitted there was no such greeting and barely any newspaper coverage when his team also qualified for the 2007 World Cup, said the Bermuda players had expected a few people to turn out to welcome them back.

But when he was told of the crazed scenes of celebration, he admitted he was a little jealous and also wished his Government ?would give us $1 million let alone $11 million.?

?It?s all Gaelic games, rugby and football in our papers,? he shrugged. ?We never really get a mention. And we certainly don?t get recognised and stopped in the street.?

Soccer and rugby take up more of the Namibians? time than cricket does ? and not just since they failed to qualify for either the World Cup or the ICC Intercontinental Cup finals.

The bigger stadia dotted around the nation?s capital are for the playing of rugby while the instant recognition that the Bermuda players are used to from back home is non-existent.

But worse, some people don?t even know anything about the sport.

While the players were filing into the lobby of their hotel to get ready to depart for yesterday?s practice session, complete with bats in hand, a couple of receptionists looked bemused.

?What sport is that?? one asked the other out of earshot of the burly, bat-wielding man in a Bermuda shirt.

?I?m not sure,? replied the other. ?It can?t be football or rugby ? maybe it?s hockey.?