Blogs from Swakopmund, Namibia, Africa

After leaving Palmwag, we continued our journey. We saw a couple of mama and baby giraffes early on, but after that, the roadside wildlife was non-existent until much later in the day. The new car had more trouble as the battery then died too! very exciting for their driver, but we fixed it and moved on. We arrived at the Skeleton Coast National Park pretty much on time, used the facilities, and took some photos at the entrance. We saw a few other tourists hanging around too. Our first stop inside was a short hike up a small hill to see Namibia's national plant: Welwitschia mirabilis. Generally the plant can be 1,000 to 2,000 years old and only has two leaves. There are male and female plants. It is considered a "living fossil". We also saw ... read more

Gisteren na het eten direct gaan slapen, want de wekker staat op 6.00. De B&B verzorgt op ons verzoek een vroeg ontbijt, omdat we om 8.00 in Walvisbaai moeten zijn voor een kanotocht. Om 8.15 vertrekken we vanuit Walvisbaai met Desert Explorers naar Pelican Point waar we in elegante pakken worden gehesen en een zwemvest om krijgen. Vervolgens bivakkeren we ongeveer twee uur in een kano op het water, waarbij we omringd worden door nieuwsgierige, jonge zeehonden die zich maar al te graag laten aaien. Ze zwemmen achter de kano’s aan en vermaken ons met hun geluiden en koddige gezwem. Eentje presteert het om over de peddel te duiken. Na deze geweldige belevenis krijgen we koffie met iets lekkers op het strand en rijden we weer langzaam terug. We lunchen aansluitend met zijn vieren bij de ... read more

Mitten in Sanddünen an der Atlantikküste gelegen, mutet Swakopmund eher wie eine Mischung aus Nordseekurort und amerikanischem Städtchen an. Viele ältere Gebäude erinnern noch an die deutsche Kolonialzeit, obwohl diese weniger als 30 Jahre gedauert hat (bis zum ersten Weltkrieg). Nach etwas Rumschlendern waren wir am ersten von zwei Abenden portugiesisch Essen (Angola ist nur ein paar hundert Km entfernt). Am zweiten Tag stiessen wir auf ein afrikanisches Restaurant (das einzige!) das auch erst vor zwei Monaten die Türen geöffnet hatte. Der Abend gab uns einen Einblick in die Kultur von jenen, die ja eigentlich das Land bevölkern.... Das Restaurant ist eine Initiative, die ein ganzes Dorf in der Nähe unterstützen will. Am Vormittag unternahmen wir eine Tour aufs Meer (nach mehreren in der Wüste) und konnten Pelikane und Robben hautnah erleben - nur die Delfine ... read more

At present it is actually cold here at Swakopmund which is on the Atlantic coast by the sea and we had a BBQ tonight but were wearing trousers and fleeces. We had a really good laugh. We will be moving inland again in a couple of days so I suppose the temperature will go up again. We had a tailback of about 8 motorhomes yesterday as two had punctures and when they went to put on the spares they were punctured too. We were stopping all the vans and trying to find one with the right wheel size for them. Went on a bit further and then John and Charmaine's van's gearbox packed up. It is an automatic like ours and Christo the mechanic fixed it with the computer and then it packed up again and ... read more

WALVIS BAY, NAMIBIA - 24th April Our final port of call before heading North and crossing the Equator into the Northern Hemisphere. Walvis Bay is the gateway to our destination Swaopmund for the day. It is a curious blend of Ocean and desert, a little like I knew of Muscat, Oman in the early days before being 'touristified' ( if there's such a word) The Natural Lagoon is just a short distance from the docks, it is the largest single area of shallow water on the West coast of Africa and part of the Walvis Bay Nature Reserve. A vast number of birds are attracted to the lagoon, particularly flamingos and pelicans. This was our first stop (for a photo opportunity) before heading for Dune 7 which is the highest sand dune in the area and ... read more