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Our first day in Swakopmund was amazing
- in the late afternoon a dense fog rolled into town off the sea
obliterating the warmth and blue skies, replacing them with a chilly
greyness, turning the place into a scene straight out of a Charles
Dickens novel. Local folk tell us that they do not have this
kind of weather everyday and we consider ourselves very lucky to
have experienced the oddity of cold fog in a desert, especially as
the weather changed within the next two days, back to glorious warm
sunshine.
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Amid the billowing fog
on our second day we travelled south to Walvis Bay; a surreal
experience as hot fiery dunes rise up within metres of the road on
the one side and the waters of the cold Atlantic Ocean roll up the
beach on the other, again just metres from the road. Once
at Walvis Bay we were treated to the amazing sight of over 35 000
flamingoes, sandwiched between a perfect blue sky and the cool
blue waters of the bay. Their numbers will grow to 70 000
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While there we took the opportunity
to visit some of the large dunes in the area, and Alan even
climbed one! If you squint really hard you can see him in
the red circle in the photo below. I didn't climb the dune because
someone had to stay behind and take the photos (well, that's my
excuse and I'm sticking to it!)
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There is a well-known
restaurant in Swakopmund called The Cape to Cairo Restaurant which
serves food typical of many different African countries, from
Moroccan delicacies to Tanzanian delights. We, of course, just
had to stop the traffic so that we could have our photo taken along
side the restaurant sign!
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After enjoying the delights of civilisation, we headed north along
the West Coast, where we stopped at Cape Cross to see one of the
world's largest colonies of Cape Fur Seals. We didn't expect
to see so many thousands of seals, or that they would be in touching
distance. However, just in case one of the seals mistook
our fingers for fish fingers, we refrained from actually
touching one. Phooey!! They may look cute, but they sure
smell bad!!
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After a night on a desolate beach at
Mile 108, during which Alan and I cuddled up warm and snug inside
our vehicle enjoying hot chocolate and playing CD's while the surf
pounded just a few metres away.
The next day we headed north again
and entered the Skeleton Coast National Park; I just love the signs
on the gate!!
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It is absolutely no surprise that so
many sailors lost their lives along this piece of coastline; getting
shipwrecked would have only been the first of their problems!
There is nothing of any kind that humans require for survival; no
shelter, no shade, no food, no water; mile after mile after
gruelling mile.
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We eventually turned east and headed
for Damaraland, a vast semi-arid region in northern Namibia.
Instead of white gravel, stubby bushes and red rocks dominate.
We began to see other humans again; we were beginning to wonder if
they had all been "beamed up" somewhere! Alan
stopped to support a local entrepreneur who had opened a
"bar" on the corner of two entirely remote gravel
roads.
Right: The "dummy" (part
of their advertising display) was just too late to get that last
drink, so Alan offered him some of his.
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We found our "home" for the
next three nights at Palmwag Lodge; where huge palm trees are lit up
at night creating a magical feeling. Our reason for being here
was to find the famed Desert Elephants (or desert-adapted to be more
correct). We didn't have to go looking for them, because they
came right into camp!
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After three days of relaxing, watching
Oryx, Springbok, jackals and many, many birds, we headed east
again. The road between the Palmwag Lodge and a town named
Khorixas, has to be every geologists fantasy! Red rocks and
hills give way to hills in which the rock itself looks green.
Then around the next bend, desert sand climbs up the side of
mountains, while sandstone outcroppings soon abound.
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We stopped to see some of the petrified
forest and Welwetschia plants found in the area. It is just
amazing to see trees that have turned to stone; their age is
estimated at being between 250 and 300 million years old!! The
Welwetschia plants were equally fascinating; they can live for up to
6 000 years! (no wonder they look a little wrinkly!)
And that pretty much brings us to
where we are now, in Ojtiwarongo, where we will attend a Rotary
meeting before heading north again; this time our destination is
Etosha National Park.
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The towering palms
at
Palmwag Lodge.
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There are many
spectacular moments in Africa, but a sunset behind a typical African
tree is amongst the best.
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Highlights
of the week:
Best meal: Seafood Chowder at the Spitzkoppe Restaurant and
Bar in Heintjies Bay
Best campsite: Alte Bruke Restcamp - brand new camping
section is superb!
Best moment: Watching 35 000 flamingoes in Walvis Bay
Worst moment: When Sandy realised that she was developing a
dreadful cold, thanks to the generosity of Norman (our friend you
met in Update 8)
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