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Saved: November 30th 2021
Dune 7
Kinda self explanatory ...We arrived into Swakopmund early in the day and settled on a backpackers that was close to town, where we could camp. It was a strange place ... the owners were not very welcoming or friendly. When we rang the bell to be let into the yard, the owner opened the gate and said "what do you want?". Gee, I dunno, we are two foreigners with a pile of backpacks at our feet and you are running a lodge ... soooooooo, maybe we'd like a place to stay??? Things improved rapidly as we met the other travellers staying here. We ran into a couple we had met briefly in northern Namibia, Robin and Daina, all the way from Lichtenstein (try to find that on the map!) and also met Bart from the Netherlands and Perry from New Zealand. Later we found out that Matthew, a young Irishman, was also staying. We had met Matthew originally in Livingstone, Zambia, then again at Planet Baobab in Botswana and then later in Maun, Botswana. There was also a small contingent of German students/volunteers down to Swakopmund for the weekend. All in all, we had a great time with our new friends and just ignored
Dunes
Dune 7 from a distance. the frostiness of the owners. The two dogs, Mia and Steffie, and the cat helped too, at least they were friendlier than their owners!
On our second day Perry and Bart decided that we should do a tour of the area, but organize it ourselves. Perry and Bart actually did all the organizing and the rest of us just went along for the ride. They hired a minibus taxi for the day and as there were 7 us to split the cost, the daytrip was very reasonable.
We left Swakopmund and drove along the coast toward Walvis Bay and famous Dune 7. I'm not even sure why Dune 7 is so famous, but it is. On the way out, the mist was rolling around the coast area, making everything very grey and foggy. By the time we reached the dunes, and started climbing Dune 7, the sun was coming out and burning off all the mist. The climb up was brutal, but the views at the top were definitely worth it! We had a lot of laughs as a couple of the guys tried to sandboard down with bits of cardboard and plexiglass that they had found. They
Dunes
Dune 7 from the back side. were not very successful, but as the spectators, we sure had a good laugh! The best part was when Matthew decided that he would roll down the dune. You'll see the photos and laugh, but it was ten times better in real life!
From Dune 7 we headed to Walvis Bay to see the Flamingos, Pelicans and other sea birds that congregate on the shoreline here. The birds were pretty far away, but it was a nice change from the scorching heat of the dunes.
After our day trip of the Swakopmund and Walvis Bay delights we headed out for a meal together and a few drinks. This quickly became a habit with our group, and as people left and others arrived the invitations were always open to whomever should want to join us. We convinced Robin and Daina to stay longer and we too stayed longer than we anticipated, it was hard to break away from the group!
Swakopmund is a beautiful city, but so different from any we had visited in Africa. The German influence is palatable in the architecture, the cuisine and the accents you hear around town. Swakopmund and Luderitz are the two
Dune 7
From left to right:Matthew, Perry, Judith, Peter, Petra and Bart. Benny our driver. main German outposts that have retained their Germanic feel. It has been said that Swakopmund is more German than Germany! This would explain why there are so many German visitors I suppose.
We were in Swakopmund in March, which would constitute late summer or early autumn in this part of the world, but the weather was not warm by any means. Every morning started with a grey, misty sky and a cool wind that chilled your bones. By mid-afternoon the sun would start peeking through and when you were in the direct sunlight, protected from any wind it was downright hot. Unfortunately, this didn't last very long before the mist would start rolling in again and by evening it was cold. We never experienced rain, it just looked like it was going to rain everyday. The nights were quite bitter in our little tent, thank goodness for the heavy sleeping bags we hauled all over Africa - they finally came in handy!!
Toward the end of our stay, we signed up for a Kayaking trip in Walvis Bay to see seals and dolphins. Moritz, a German medical student also staying at the backpackers joined us. Our trip started
Dune 7
PnL on top of Dune 7 late due to a miscommunication between some other guests and our guide, so by the time we hit the water, the wind was gusting hard and we had to paddle into it for most of our trip (my arms ached the next day!). We went in search of the dolphins first, but unfortunately the large, motorized tours were chasing them and getting in close, so they disappeared, we only got a fleeting glimpse of them. We gave up and went to the seal colony instead and had a wonderful time playing with the seals. The seal pups were about 3 months old and very playful. We had them swimming all about our kayak and splashing us. It was great fun. It was difficult to take photos with the kayak bobbing on the waves, but we got a couple of good shots. One couple, Clayton and Tamara from Australia actually had a seal land on their kayak. Tamara was trying to take photos when the next thing she knew she had a seal on her lap! Before she could even say anything to Clayton it wriggled itself off and slipped back into the ocean. We were very jealous!
As we
Dunes
View from Dune7, yes we did make it. were heading back toward our take out spot, the dolphins appeared and swam with us for a bit. We felt very honoured that they came out to see us. Even after we got out of the water and changed into our dry clothes, they swam by very close to the shore, as if to say goodbye. We enjoyed this encounter with the dolphins so much more than the earlier one with the ten large boats chasing them and almost running us over.
On our last night in Swakopmund we decided to splurge on a dinner out at our favourite drinking establishment (which was actually a restaurant, we just never ate there). Moritz joined us for our italian meal at Nonna's, a relatively new restaurant in Swakopmund. Our group enjoyed several evenings drinking in their lounge, swapping stories and also chatting with the owners. The food always smelled so good, we had to try it before we left. We had a fabulous meal, enjoyed great company and said our goodbyes to Swakopmund, a place that will hold a special place in our hearts, more for the people we met than any sights that we saw.
The next morning we
Dune 7
Matthew decided to roll down the dune - not much fun for him, but great fun for us! He is probably still finding sand .... headed back to Windhoek on the minibus taxi and met a fabulous lady during the ride. Almina is originally from Sierra Leone, but is now living and working in the US. She was a gem of a person to meet under such chance circumstances and it turned out we were all catching the same bus later that evening into South Africa.
We had booked our tickets to Upington before we even took off on our road trip tour. It was time to start setting dates and getting things in motion for our final trip home. It took a little getting used to, having dates booked for bus trips and plane rides after pretty much travelling by the seat of our pants for most of our trip. We thought we might spend another night or two in Windhoek, but in the end decided to just come straight from Swakopmund to bus terminal and left our luggage in storage for a few hours while we got snacks and stretched our legs before our 12 hour overnight bus journey to Upington.
The bus trip was very high class for our standards. We had comfy seats, air con, beverage service and a
The crazy bunch
From Left to Right: Peter, Laini, Benny (our driver), Bart, Perry, Judith, Matthew and Petra. toilet just in case. We were a little worried about our border crossing as you may remember, when we left South Africa the last time, we had overstayed our visas and were fined 1000 Rand. We didn't pay when we exited, but were told we would have to pay when we returned. At that point we didn't envision that we would be back! We hoped maybe the South African border post would be similar to the Namibian side, with one lonely fellow behind a huge desk with a stamp. It was not to be. The South African side was all lit up, 4 staff working in a brand new border building with swish computers and scan machines. I started to sweat a little ... when the border guard stated that I had been fined last time and I said yes (not a lie, we were fined, we just didn't pay!), I was feeling pretty nervous, but then she stamped my passport and called out "next". I scooted off quickly and gave Peter a "don't say anything" look which I'm sure he didn't interpret, but he didn't even get asked about the fine at all, so it worked out well -
Walvis Bay
The tiny specks in front of the far shoreline are birds. WHEW!
We arrived late into Upington, much to the chagrin of the passengers carrying onto Johannesburg - the later they left, the later they would arrive into downtown Jo'Burg. After dark that is not a pleasant thought. We wished them well. We had already booked a rental car from Upington, so that we could see more of South Africa before our departure. We were curious to see the West Coast and all it has to offer. There was a slight mix-up with our rental car, but it was settled eventually and we were on the road not too much later than we planned. Our first stop was the bank and grocery store for some food.
Upington on a Saturday is not a pleasant experience in a car. The pedestrians pay no attention to the road signals and cross the road oblivious to all traffic and walking about the same speed as a tortoise. I probably should have conceded the wheel to Peter when he asked if he should drive, but oh no - I had to be stubborn. When we were leaving I ended up laying on the horn and sending several pedestrians racing to safety as I
Walvis Bay
Early morning photo of Walvis Bay, before our kayaking adventure. travelled through my green light. It probably would have been better for both our nerves if Peter was driving ...
Next up - making our way to Cape Town and our final goodbye to Africa. Coming soon - I promise!
Love,
Laini and Peter
P.S. If you didn't manage to see all the photos from our last blog "Discovering Namibia with Dusty" - then please revisit the blog in a few days as we are in the process of reentering the missing photos. Please give us a couple of days to get them all back in! We just found out from TravelBlog that there was an issue with the server on the day we posted. Sorry for the incomplete blog!
P.S.S. Don't forget to view all the photos by clicking on page 2 at the bottom of the entry! 😊
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charlene
non-member comment
good to see even from home you can add to the blog I loved the seals and dolphins Welcome home sorry I could not make it to the party but had to work. We need to get together soon!