Excelsior

This is the last morning in Africa outside of Cape Town and we eat our eggs (what else?) on the terrace overlooking the bay. Unfortunately the cat doesn't do a repeat visit of the laptop bag while we check the weather forecast and are a bit dismayed by the fact that there is a 50% chance of rain for the day. As we start to move the luggage to the car we see a bit of movement in the foliage next to our door and checking a bit more carefully we discover that a penguin overnighted there and is unhappy that we discovered him. He does all kind of movements which should be threatening but we think are quite cute. Now we know why we heard donkey-like noises all night in front of our door. photo=729055 ... read more

After waking up we start packing and then go to breakfast which is a bit later in South Africa compared to Namibia. We are the first people in the breakfast room so we get very personal service in the small breakfast room. There is also a small souvenir shop with interesting souvenirs including rooibos tea. Everywhere on our trip we had rooibos tea for breakfast so being in the heart of the rooibos producing area we splurged on a few packs of tea. Stepping outside we have time to admire the bird feeding area with lots of interesting birds and the huge tame parrot that is the mascot of the inn. There are also the three dogs that try to eat the scraps that fall from above when not running outside to play in the main ... read more

We are awoken by the birds that overnighted in our bungalow as they sing for a short while and then leave. After about an hour we also go outside and walk the 10 min walk to the main cabin for breakfast. The red mountains are nicely illuminated by the rising sun and there are birds in almost every tree chirping and looking active. The lodge has one of the largest breakfast rooms that we have seen on this trip however the offer is very similar a buffet plus an a la carte egg dish. There is a nice large mural on the wall next to us showing the area that we have driven through the prior day and we can even see the ruined train stations where we stopped on our way. However what we like ... read more

As we wake up in the morning we are surprised to see two balloons in the distance just starting to rise towards the sky. For one we can see how it is filled with hot air before being launched. Our deck appears to be a magnet for various birds singing or just preening. As we finish packing we enjoy a nice sunrise, this time from our cabin and not from the road as the day before before going to breakfast. As usual the breakfast consists of eggs and a buffet of various cheeses and hams and fruit juices and is quite good. Afterwards we try to get a porter to carry our bags to the shuttle as we were instructed to do but in the end we decide to carry them as it is easy on ... read more

Today there is no hurry so we wake up later and eat the regular breakfast out on the terrace. There are lots of birds singing in the trees around us which is quite enjoyable. Again we eat eggs but at least we had a break the previous day. After that we pack and start south towards Walvis Bay and then SE towards Sesriem our next stop where there is a huge accesible field of sand dunes which is well known in Namibia. Passing through Swakopmund we take a few more photos of the town including of the lighthouse as we have to pass through the entire city again. Right after leaving Swakopmund in the direction of Walvis Bay we notice a row of camels close to the road, probably a tour of the dunes in the ... read more