Advertisement
Published: April 27th 2019
Edit Blog Post
Hi,
Continuing in Swakpmund with our rejigged plan we had four nights in total. It is a big tourist coastal resort with colonial links to Germany so some of the architecture was different. It is in the desert,the oldest in the world, and the town is built on sand but because of the air flows across the Atlantic there are 300 days when there is a fog or mist. If you are lucky it clears if not it stays all day. To be honest it was bliss , an escape from the relentless heat. I am not a person who is too bothered about their looks, makeup is a rarity for me and I have my hair short and an easy style but the time in the tent had made my hair like straw. I had picked up a shower cap in a previous guesthouse, to put my shoes in in my bag and it came in very handy. I coated my hair in conditioner, put on the shower cap and waited an hour, hey presto back to normal. Chris thought it was hilarious!
On Monday we had a fabulous relaxing breakfast, there was so much choice. We decided
to walk into town, it was the first time it was cool enough to walk any distance. We walked along the jetty and had a cuppa in the restaurant at the end where you felt like you were in the sea, sorry the ocean. We wandered back into town and booked a table for dinner at a Portuguese restaurant. A quick snack lunch and a walk back to our guesthouse. The evening was great with delicious food and for probably the first time on this trip genuine friendly and attentive service. Our host Frenus has described the Namibians as essentially a chilled nation , a bit workshy and some of them downright lazy, and he's Namibian. It was certainly our experience and when you are paying UK prices for most things , apart from beer and wine, and they expect a 10% tip it does irritate me. The most service orientated people are the guys who fill your tank at the petrol station, they always got a tip. When we got back to Alternative space we had a bottle of wine in front of the log fire, a nice end to the evening.
For Tuesday we organised a trip
to Sandwich Bay. We drove to Walvis Bay to be met by Erckert who was our guide and driver. We were in a land rover and set off across the bay going south past a huge lagoon with pretty flamingos. We passed an enormous industrial site for producing salt, mainly for use in the chemical industry. Then we were on the beach heading up to sand dunes, the beach drive was exhilarating and we got out a couple of times to enjoy walking on the sand and I even had a paddle. It was not too bad, much warmer than the North Sea. The real highlight of the trip was driving through the dunes, at times it felt like we were almost vertical but apparently never more than 36°. We were dropped off to clamber up a dune, and I knew from my experience in New Zealand the easiest way was on all fours. The views were stunning and the dunes an amazing colour, topped with garnet. Looking out to sea, next stop Rio de Janiero. We then descended to have a glass of fizz and some nibbles. We had al least another 40 minutes of dune driving until we
wound our way back to Walvis. Its a pretty inhospitable place but supports ostrich, springbok and jackal and hyenas. The latter often killing the baby seals. A great trip but, as with many things in Namibia, expensive-£90 for a half day. On the drive back there were armed soldiers at every junction, apparently a sign the President is in town. We arrived back tired but had had an enjoyable day. Our lovely peaceful guesthouse had been transformed by a big family group, the breakfast tables were set for 15 and there were people everywhere.
Our evening was spent in the only Indian restaurant in town and the veggie selection of dishes were tasty and a real change . Namibia, like South Africa, is a place where meat portions are large. We got back and the lounge had been invaded so decided against more wine.
Wednesday and we were woken early by people leaving for a kayaking trip so we decided to get up and have breakfast in peace before the hordes arrived. Frenus popped in and I did say that the ambience had been spoiled and he said, yes and to make it worse they are German! His wife is German! We packed up, paid our bar bill , said our goodbyes and headed into town. First stop the laundry to get everything clean for Zimbabwe. I wanted to spend some time in the afternoon having either a pedicure or massage or facial and I thought I had found a place but it was out of town. A lady in a shop suggested the Strand hotel. It was pretty busy, diplomatic posh cars outside as there was an oil and gas conference. We went and had a pot of tea and I arranged a massage for the afternoon. We often pop into places for a drink or coffee which are way too expensive to stay in, this place was £245 a night. Next stop the Swakopmund museum a fascinating and eclectic mix of exhibits and memorabilia. Everything from someone's toy car collection, and it was huge, to old medical, dental, office equipment to tribal pots and jewellery. We had a quick lunch at the cafe on the front and then headed to our B&B, All African Colours. Our room was fine, we were sharing a bathroom but it was cheap and breakfast was included. Chris decided to have a nap and I headed off for my massage, it was bliss, a one hour hot desert stone massage. It was worth every penny and helped my tired old body recover from clambering up and down into the tent and the work of putting it away.
I had been quite apprehensive about that bit of the journey and part of me thinks Chris did it our of devilment. The facilities were much cleaner than I expected, sleeping so close to nature was a fascinating and enriching experience and it was cool enough to sleep in the tent, as it has openings on all four sides (with mosquito nets) so a nice natural air conditioning system . I think I enjoyed it more than Chris!
For our evening meal we headed back to the Portuguese place and had a fabulous seafood platter. Preceded by a drink in the Hansa hotel, which was like stepping back in time. The decor, the staff uniforms , the ambience all smacked of the 1940s. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening and got back to the guesthouse and finally got to our room through 5 different locks!
We had a good breakfast, our fellow guests were an American girl working as a volunteer teacher and a German girl working for an NGO organisation and she was visiting projects. We picked up the laundry and had a very easy drive to Windhoek, the fog lifted in about 5k and then the relentless heat was with us again. We were back in the same place in Windhoek, but this time I had asked for a downstairs room and it was huge and very cool. We had a quick lunch and I retrieved my bag from the luggage room and we set about sorting our stuff. We had left things here while we were in the camper as there was not a great amount of space for bags. We had dinner in the courtyard, more game , this time eland. Delicious! I did see a review on TripAdvisor for a restaurant at Vic falls with lots of game on the menu and it said something like “After two weeks of safari we felt like we were being offered it all on a plate to eat" .
So today we are flying to Zimbabwe, to Victoria falls, the country is too unstable to think about anywhere else. Another different dimension and I am looking forward to it Iguazu falls were amazing. It is Chris birthday on Monday and I have booked a dinner and cruise on the Zambezi.
Apologies all photos now are on my phone and there is a bit of a theme with this set xx
Till next time
Norma
Advertisement
Tot: 0.059s; Tpl: 0.02s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0284s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb